Gary Vaynerchuk and Wine Library

The whole day was about one thing: See what all the fuss is about!

Gary Vaynerchuk is the son of an owner of what used to be a small liquor store in New Jersey. Growing up, Gary was not allowed to drink wine but he read about different flavors and tastes in the Wine Spectator and similar Wine Journals and tasted the flavors mentioned in these magazines. For example if Wine Spectator characterized a wine to have a black currant or rose taste, he went to the stores and tried them and learned about these tastes. By the time he turned 21, his palate was already developed and he was able to differentiate the various flavors and tastes that wine has to offer.

In 2006, Gary started a videoblag, called Wine Library TV where he tasted wine in a very down-to-earth and fun way. The show attracted over 90,000 viewers in 2011. With the success of Wine Library TV the liquor store grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million dollar business. The success can be traced to the use of Social Media which he wrote two books on. Due to his books I became very interested in how companies can use Social Media to improve their business. I am looking forward to an internship with Reto Stuber, who has his own Social Media company in Brooklyn.

You can see past episodes of WLTV at this link: http://tv.winelibrary.com/

The Father of Will DosSantos (my couchsurfing host) drove me to the store in Springfield, NJ where I obtained an impression of what had happened to the once small liquor store.

2nd Floor of the Wine Library in Springfield, NJ.

The Wine Library is a beautiful, well organized wine store with a huge selection of wine organized by country and grape. In addition, there is a Slow Food section with delicious cheeses and meats. Slow Food is a movement from Europe to balance out the widely known, unhealthy Fast Food habits. When I return home, I will try to send samples of our great Tuscan salami to Gary because I believe it would fit perfectly in his store.

Unfortunately, I just missed him so I shopped for "schwag" as he calls shirts and other merchandise of his show. I bought two bottles of wine as gifts for Will and Zapo as a thank you for staying at their homes.

Queens

First couchsurfing experience
I left Manhattan heading to Queens for my appointment with Nat Chua. I arrived at the agreed time but no one responded at the door. So I waited in front of the building for 15 minutes and was not sure wether I was at the correct address or if I was mistaken with the date. Just when I asked the next person who passed if the address was correct, Nat appeared at the door and let me in. He did not hear the doorbell and was not sure if I was coming or not. After showing me his house, Nat and I had breakfast. He said that he is about to go to Upstate New York to plant some corn. After the meal he left me the keys to his entire house. A little overwhelmed, I started to realize that for the next three days, I would have my very own town house with a little terrace and wireless internet.

Nat and I in front of his house

Laundry and more
As it is very hot and humid in New York during Summer I was glad to have the possibility to do my laundry. During the entire day, I did nothing but taking care of my laundry and writing. Both assignments were finished during my stay in Queens, which was a huge relief. There was another thing that needed to be taken care of: As I will have a lot of contact to different people due to couchsurfing, I decided to buy a US cellphone. It has been many years since I used another phone than the iPhone, but it is fun typing a message on a keypad like this. The total cost was USD 150 including unlimited minutes and texts to US phones. If you are in the USA, please give me a call: 347 649 4394!

Photo of my phone

Be a tourist
Caspar, my friend from Switzerland was still in New York, so we decided to do some sightseeing. We visited Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island.

Times Square
Being the centre of Broadway's theaters, Times Square is one of the main tourist attractions in New York. With so many billboards and advertisement screens, Time Square is illuminated both by day and by night. Times Square is situated at the intersection of Broadway and 7th avenue.

Times Square

The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a sign of freedom and was a gift from France to the United States of America. The size of the statue is impressive. Being constructed in France, the 150 feet (46m) statue had to be disassembled in different pieces in order to be transported from France to New York in 1885.

The Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island
For immigrants between 1892 and 1954, Ellis island was the first encounter with the land of endless possibilities. Before receiving the final permission to immigrate, people had to pass through a long procedure. Since 1990, Ellis Island has a museum explaining the mandatory procedures immigrants had to pass.

Queens
As mentioned, Nat lives in Queens which is to the North East of Manhattan. It is usually quickly reachable by Metro. But at night, the trip from Greenwich Village to Jackson Heights took sometimes over 90 minutes. I read in the Lonely Planet, that Queens is "the most ethnically divers county in the country". It was great! It has been 5 years since I have been to Mexico, and it was only in Queens where I tasted the real Mexican food outside of Mexico. One will not find the real Mexican flavor in fast food chains such as Taco Bell or others. However, you can find the real thing at the street vendors in Queens. They may not always have the highest hygiene-standards but the food is very delicious.

Taco for as little as USD 2.50.

The High Line, a garden on the second floor
At first, the unused railway track was planed to be torn down. Fortunately, the Government changed their mind and designed a place of true beauty. The High Line is now a 1.45 mile (2.33 km) park about 30 feet (10m) over the streets of New York. I spent many hours walking and reading in this quiet place which is not more than 5 minutes away from Bank Street.

The High Line

Staying (or getting?) in shape
The United States of America are known to serve a lot of unhealthy food. And the organic meals one can actually find at various places tend to be more expensive than a slice of pizza or a shish kebab from around the corner. But as I promised my girlfriend that I will not come back chubby and I need to do sports to stay happy, I did two more runs: One was a sightseeing-run over Brooklyn Bridge and through Battery Park, and the other one was through Central Park. I tracked both runs with my iPhone using "Runkeeper". You can find my routes here: http://runkeeper.com/user/Maettu/activity/41705277

Next couch
I moved back to Zapo's home at Bank Street before getting to my next couch in New Jersey on today. I am looking forward to meet Will DosSantos. If he would have received another car, he would have invited me to spend the weekend in New Hampshire with his friends. Unfortunately, I have not received an answer and the stay at his place is uncertain at the moment.

At this link you'll find selected photos: http://gallery.me.com/maettu712#100085&bgcolor=black&view=grid
At this link are is my complete gallery from the US: http://gallery.me.com/maettu712#100071&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Please comment..!

First days in Manhattan

Finally, all my papers are submitted and I can focus 100% on my stay here in New York. Thanks to Skype, Dropbox and Co. the exchange of all documents and thoughts went perfectly. I wrote about the trip to D.C. in the last post and finished it with Pepe, Caspar, and me leaving for Darien, CT...

alive @5
Pepe has been working in the United States as ja coach for junior sailors for many years and is currently living in a room of a mansion out in Tokeneke Woods in Darien, Connecticut. Unfortunately we just missed the "alive @5 Festival", a festival with live music in the streets of Stamford, CT which takes place every Thursday in June and July, so we decided to check out some bars in the area. Stamford is the place to be in the area, with many universities and bars. I talked with Anne Culver who works for the Royal Bank of Scotland and we talked about Stamford and the festival. It was the first talk with an "native" American person during the first three days. All the others immigrated from Argentina, France, Netherlands, or other places.

Mac and Cheese
Before leaving for New York, we were invited for delicious macaroni and cheese by very good friends of Pepe. The Enkema Van Dijk family is very lively and very open-hearted. Their youngest son sails Optimist and left on the same day for the US Nationals in Los Angeles, CA. Their daughter is 17 years old and has been in the local news due to her success in Tennis competitions. She also teaches tennis to children and maybe I can book a private lesson with her.

Quiet neighborhood in Tokeneke woods.

People in New York
We reached New York at around 2pm and organized to meet Zapo at five in Washington Square Park which is in Greenwich Village, near the New York University. The humid and warm weather made us sleepy and we decided to wait an hour in the park rather than walking around with our luggage. We just looked at the people strolling through the park which was very interesting: We saw Hare Krishnas singing themselves into trance, homeless people high-fiving the clean-up personnel, many people who must just have thought that it would be a good opportunity for them to take their shirt off... there was almost no "regular" person walking by. But who am I to judge, sitting there with my large rucksack...
Zapo arrived around 5, just after finishing an intermediate exam. He is already a lawyer in Buenos Aires and is now studying American law in New York. He just moved from Harlem to West Village and is now living with a friend on Bank Street in the West Village. He let us sleep on his couch and said that I will always be welcome during the time I am on my stay abroad. This makes organizing my sleeping arrangements a lot less stressful and I am very thankful for that.

Zapo's Place
New York's streets are generally organized in a grid-like way with avenues alining from North to South and streets oriented from West to East. Except for the place where Zapo lives. Zapo lives on 42 Bank Street in West Village where the streets are no longer numbered but named. They change direction and are headed diagonally and some avenues that stay North to South and others change names and direction. There is even one corner in West Village where one arrives at the corner of 12th street and 4th street. Other than the confusing streets, it is really beautiful in West Village. Zapo lives on the third floor in a small but pretty three-room apartment with another guy who is subletting one room. The apartment does not have a balcony but one can use the fire escape just like one.

Reading a book on the "balcony"

Being part of a minority
The Neighborhood is not only very pretty and quiet, but also colorful. During the time we arrived, it was probably the most colorful time of the year. West Village is considered to be the place where the gay rights movement started in the 1980s. There where so many gay and lesbian couples in the streets and in the bars that they outnumbered the straight couples at least by factor ten. There where so many colorful and funnily dressed people. The state of New York has just voted in favor of same-sex marriage and it was gay-pride week with a major parade on 7th Avenue, on the same weekend. For the first time in my life, I understood how gays must feel in other places. I felt like an outsider and it felt not good. But I am really glad that gay people can express their love for each other in the same way straight people can. At least in New York and seven other states. Let us just hope it stays this way. In California, the Mormon church raised over USD 43 million with the help of the catholic church to forbid same-sex marriage in the state.

Happy store owners after the vote

Writing for PH Bern
In order to have an internet connection, I had to go to restaurants. I spent 3-5 hours daily consuming delicious organic beverages and food in order to finish papers and communicating with Annik and Nadja. Thanks to Dropbox and Skype, we where able to finish all of our assignments on time and are happy that everything worked out well.

When in Rome...
Before going to a Baseball game, we wanted to hit some balls ourselves, so we went to the Upper West Side to a batting cage where we tried to hit the balls a machine threw at us at 65 miles per hour. It was not so difficult to hit the ball, but very difficult to hit it good. When we went to see the New York Yankees, the most successful baseball team in the world, we realized that the 65 miles was nothing. Not only did the machine trow the ball to the same spot almost all the time, but a professional baseball pitcher (the person who throws the ball) throws the ball with more than 90 miles per hour.
It was not the first time that I went to see a baseball game but it is always great. There are many people generally in a good mood and the prices are not unaffordable. In the end, the Yankees won with 6 to 4 after having trouble in the beginning where the Colorado Rockies lead 3 to 0. Before leaving Manhattan for three days, I went to play golf. There is a driving range in Chelsea (about 10 minutes by foot) that is built on an unused pier at the Hudson River.

Training in the batting cages and enjoying the Yankee game. 

You can find more photos at the following link: http://gallery.me.com/maettu712/100085
Please leave a comment..!

Washington D.C.

Going to D.C. has improved my sleeping arrangements for my stay abroad. Pepe, an Argentinian friend, organized a bus from New York (near Penn station) to D.C.. The bus was equipped with wireless internet and was actually the place I uploaded the last blogpost. We stayed in the apartment of Pepe's girlfriend Pili (short for Pilar), who lived only a few blocks away from the White House. As it turned out, a friend of Pepe and me is studying American law in New York and he contacted him immediately. Zapo, short for Ignacio Zapiola, was my host for the days when returning to New York (more about that in the next blogpost).

Appreciating D.C.

There were three things I wanted to do in D.C.: Walking down the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol, visiting the famous Smithsonian museum of American History and eat a burger where Obama had lunch with Medvedev. As I had only planed to stay in D.C for one and a half day, I had to figure out a way in order for all my plans to fit in.
In the first part you will encounter my activities and in the second part I will describe my impressions of the Museum of American History in more detail.


National Mall

I decided that in order to enjoy the famous burger at noon, I was going to need some workout. So I ran from the White House to the Washington Monument, to the Lincoln Memorial,d to the Capitol, and back to the White House (had I not not have taken so many pictures during the run, I would have had a better pace... all my friends are telling me that I was slow!). The National Mall is oriented from east to west and the total length from the steps of the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial is 1.9 miles (3.0 km).

- The Lincoln memorial was built to honor Abraham Lincoln who was the 16th President of the United States. (More about the famous presidents in the historical paragraph)
- The Washington Monument, which is a 555 feet (170 m) tall obelisk, was built to remember the first President (George Washington). The construction dured 36 years between 1848 and 1884. The obelisk was completed nearly 30 years after the architect's death. The delay was caused by a lack of funds and the American Civil War.
- The United States Capitol can be compared to the Federal Palace of Switzerland, and it is the place where the Congress holds its session. The Congress consists of the Senate (two senators per U.S. state) and the House of Representatives (435 voting representatives proportionally distributed to the 50 U.S. states) and is the legislative power.

Details and pictures on: http://runkeeper.com/user/Maettu/activity/40382383

Ray's Hell Burger

Coming home hungry from running, Pepe, Pili and I left D.C. for Ray's Hell Burger. Even if it is just a few Metro stations away, we were no longer in D.C. but in Virginia. This trip may seem very time-consuming just for having a burger, but it was totally worth it. On the menu were only burgers, but the variety was incredible. One was able to choose either one of the 13 burgers from the menu or customize his own choosing from many different ingredients. I chose the "B.I.G. Poppa" which contained a juicy "au Poivre Burger", aged Danish blue cheese, Cognac and Sherry sautéed mushrooms, and grilled onions.

The B.I.G. Poppa

Smithsonian Museum of American History

The most interesting exhibitions of the Museum of American History were in my opinion "America on the Move" where the evolution of transportation in the US was documented and "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden" which was about the lives of the the 44 American Presidents of the United States of America.

America on the Move

The Museum's transportation exhibition consists of 26,000 square feet (over 2300 square meters) of history about the methods of transportation. Detailed documentaries about the Mississippi waterway telling the most impressive stories about the obstacles that the old paddle steamers encountered. Difficulties ranged from shoals due to moving sand banks to the Black Death (also known as pest) because of hygiene problems on the boat. Even today, the Mississippi River is very important for the transportation of corn, wheat, and cotton.

The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden

On most dollar bills in circulation are faces of one of the Presidents of the United States except for the 10$ and the 100$ Bill.

1$ George Washington
5$ Abraham Lincoln
20$ Andrew Jackson
50$ Ulysses Grant

But what did they do to deserve such honor? The exhibition about the American Presidents held a lot of information about who they were and their accomplishments as presidents.

George Washington (President from 1789-1797)
George Washington was commander in charge and considered to be responsible for the victory in the American Revolutionary War 1775 until 1783. He is regarded as the "Father of his country" initiating the Constitution from which the Swiss Federal Constitution is deviated.

Abraham Lincoln (President from 1861-1865)
Having led the country through the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the first president being assassinated. He's most known quote is about the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy.

Andrew Jackson (President from 1829-1837)
Although Jackson is praised as protector of democracy and liberty of the American citizens, he is criticized for his support for slavery and Indian removal. Jackson was the last president to have been a veteran of the American Revolution.

Ulysses Grand (President from 1769-1877)
Grand was military commander during the Civil War. After Grant left Office, he made a bid for a third presidential term which was unsuccessful. Even though Grant won many battles for the USA, he dyed being bankrupt.

After the assassination of Lincoln, there have been over 20 known attempts to kill Presidents of the United States. The most recent one who was killed was John F. Kennedy during a political trip in Dallas, Texas. The shortest time of presidency was 31 days by the 9th president William Harrison. Even though the weather was cold, Harrison held a long inauguration speech. He died 31 days after of pneumonia.

Eisenhower's Golfclubs

I left D.C. with Pepe to his home in Darien about which I will write in my next blogpost.
I uploaded all my photos here: http://gallery.me.com/maettu712#gallery

First Post from New York

Change of plans

As I have not receive a positive reaction on my requests for couchsurfing for the first week, I decided to slightly change my plans. I have always wanted to visit Washington D.C. to learn about the capital of the United States and see the sights D.C. is famous for. People usually call Washington, District of Columbia, only D.C., that is what I will do as well. Fortunately, a friend of mine has an apartment in D.C. where I will be allowed to stay for two nights. At the moment, I am in a bus (with wireless internet, which is great) in direction D.C..


Arriving in New York

After landing at John F. Kennedy airport in New York after a long flight, one has to know that it is still a long way to Manhattan or even to fresh air. The line in front of the customs inspection seemed shorter than it actually was, taking me almost 90 minutes to pass. Fortunately, I had my ESTA form (I wrote about it in a previous post) and my declaration form filled out correctly. If one fills out the form incorrectly, as happened to an older asian couple when I was in line, one has to go all the way back to where the forms are, fill them out (still without assistance), and wait in line again for another hour and a half. At the customs inspection every visitor is greeted by the personnel of Homeland Security that scans their fingerprints (not just one, all of them), takes a photo, and lets them pass to the baggage claim. After that, there is only one short line where declaration forms are checked, and then the heavily climatized airport can be left.

I would guess that 80% of all motorized vehicles are taxis.

Economize wherever it is possible

As I have to economize money wherever it is possible, I did not take the a taxi or shuttle bus to the city but took the AirTrain to the nearest subway station. From there I rode the subway into the Big Apple. This passage cost me USD 7.50 and compared to a USD 35-40 fare for a taxi it was money worth saving for other things. I spent the first night in a hotel in the middle of the city. It was one of the cheapest places there was (at USD 150!) and I was glad to share it with a friend who happened to visit New York during the first week I am here. On monday 27th I will meet Nat Chua who is going to be my first host in New York.


Modifying my to-do list

I just wrote that I have to save money in order to spend it on other things. And there are many other things, some on my to-do list that cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, some of the tasks on my list are to be delayed for to various reasons:
One activity was to climb the stairs of the Empire State Building. Due to security reasons, the stairs are for emergencies only, except on the first weekend in February, when there is a race up the Empire State Building. The only way for me to reach the observation deck and enjoy the magnificent view was to take the elevator. The advantage of taking the elevator is for one that it takes only a few minutes to reach the 86th floor and that one is not all sweaty when arriving on top.

The Empire State Building, 381m (1250ft), built in 1929-1931

View from the observation deck on the 86th floor, direction NE.

Another thing I will probably not be able to do is to see a Broadway show. The musical I wanted to attend was "the Book of Mormon" by the makers of South Park. The show is such a success that it is sold out until October and the only legal way to obtain a ticket is through a broker, who is asking for USD 400 or more, and has tickets available only from the end of July. As this is beyond my financial possibilities, I am not going to be able to see that musical. Unless maybe, if I happen to pass at the entrance and someone is selling a ticket for less... We will see about that. Of course, if anyone would like a customized photo of the inside of a Broadway Theatre, I would be happy to make you an offer.

Preparations

On the day before leaving for New York, there are several things that need to be taken care of:

Proper Goodbyes

As I will be leaving my family, friends and my girlfriend for two months, proper goodbyes were in order. As there was very limited time to visit everyone after the exams on friday, I decided to say good-bye to my grandparents and my aunt over the phone, and my family I visited during the week of the exams. With my girlfriend, I had a great last weekend including watching a double rainbow form the Uetliberg (the mountain next to Zurich, http://tinyurl.com/6xbsele), having brunch in a nice Moroccan restaurant and sailing the the 29er (an extremely athletic sailboat, http://tinyurl.com/69cctm4) on the lake of Zurich. However, saying goodbye is difficult even when leaving for a city as great as New York. I will miss you guys a lot! Special thanks to Caspar Buettner who hosted me one more time in Zurich before leaving for a distant country.


Task List when in New York

Due to the seven exams I had during the last two weeks, there was very little time to prepare my stay abroad. I started to go through the New York City city guide from Lonely Planet on saturday night. It seems that New York has unlimited possibilities and thousands of sights worth visiting. Looking at the city guide, I decided that the following activities are mandatory for my stay in New York:

I will...

...climb the stairs of the Empire State Building.
...jog through Central Park.
...ride a classic yellow New York Taxi Cab.
...see a Broadway Musical.
...eat something indefinable in Chinatown.
...visit a Jazz Club.
...learn how to dance Salsa New York Style (On 2).
...use the Staten Island Ferry.
...visit a public school in New York.
...see a game of the New York Yankees.
...visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
...learn about the history of the United States.
...memorize all the States and their nicknames.
...take a stroll on the High Line.
...visit the Museum of Modern Art.
...cross the East River walking over the Brooklyn Bridge.

If any of my readers have any suggestions for other sights or actions one needs to see or do, feel free to comment in the comments section below. If you want a customized photo of New York, visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/5scofkm.

Never miss a post - use an RSS Reader

With over 184 Million blogs worldwide (count 2008), it is difficult to maintain an overview of the blog one is currently reading. There is a possibility how to stay up to date with all the different blogs. It is called Really Simple Syndication, more known as RSS. The RSS Format shows text and pictures in a very simple layout, which can be imported to an RSS Reader or an email application as Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook. One sees a new blog entry almost as if receiving a new email.


In order to obtain the so called RSS Feed in your email, following needs to be done:


1. A click on the blue RSS-button on the right hand side of the URL.
2. A click on Actions - Subscribe in Mail
3. The posts are now in the email application and a new post looks like a new email.


If one wants to use the email application for email only, the download of a dedicated RSS Reader is necessary. Good RSS Readers are NetNewsWire or Reeder.


http://reederapp.com/
http://netnewswireapp.com/

Mobile Test

This is the first post from my iphone. I downloaded the app BlogPress in order to post blog entries directly from my mobile phone. The developers of BlogPress advertise their app to be the easiest way to blog from a mobile device.

I write directly from my second work place Pizza-Blitz. I applied for a job as pizza delivery guy a few weeks ago, in order to earn money for my stay abroad. The money earned is directly transferred to a banc account specially created for the mentioned purpose.









Pizza Blitz on a lazy afternoon. May 1st 2011

This post is mainly a test on how this tool works, that is why I also inserted a picture and tried to change the font to italics in some parts of the text.

Made on my iPhone

4 steps to the USA

When planing on visiting the USA, there are different steps one needs to take to fill the requirements for a visa-free entry.


The traveler needs to be a citizen of a member state of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Switzerland is one of 36 countries in the VWP, that are considered as developed countries with high-income economies.
For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/3bln5e


Secondly, the passport needs to meet the criteria required. The Swiss Government has changed the Swiss Passport 4 times in the last ten years. One can visit the USA without a visa if in possession of a "Passport 03" if issued before October 25th 2006, a "Passport 06" or the new "Passport 10". With a "Passport 03" issued later than October 26th 2006 and a "Provisional Passport", one needs to apply for a travel visa which would be a big administrative effort.
Fortunately, I possess an early "Passport 03" meaning I will not need a visa.


When not in need of a travel visa, the traveller nets to fill out an ESTA travel permit. With this ESTA form, one declares to not have illnesses or addictions, not to have any criminal intentions or not to plan on applying for a citizenship or a work visa. It is only since July 1st 2010 when the green form one had to fill out on the airplane disappeared. Since then, one needs to fill out the same ESTA form online at least 72 hours before departing. This form refers only to getting there, the actual permission of entering the country is still given by the local authorities at the airport.


Before take off the Airline sends all the personal data including passport number and address in the USA and so on to the local authorities. If all 4 criteria are met, one is allowed to enter the USA without a visa.

First Blog entry

This is my first blog entry on this site. On the left side you can find entries about school visits (I hope there are going to be many) and couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.org) experiences. On the right side is the actual weather in New York and the total of my page views and you can also share blog entries over Facebook, Twitter or email. 

There are different goals I would like to attempt. As I already visited the United States of America, I adapted an American accent which needs to be perfected. My reading and speaking is not as fluent as I wish it to be and I am sure that I am going to improve that while living two months in New York. Furthermore, I believe that a teacher of English is more believable if he can implement some personal stories and experiences while teaching. 

I still have not given up on the thought that I could find a job in the United States. I will ask in restaurants, small stores or schools if there is work for me. If any of you, dear readers, know anyone who owns a restaurant, a little office or is CEO of a major company in New York (or close by), feel free to leave a comment in the section below.