In a couple of weeks, Bill may have to visit New York City for the first time.  I’ve been there a few times, though my most recent visit was in March 1998.  I went there for a job interview.  If Bill goes there, he will also be interviewing for a job.

In 1998, I was totally broke.  I had only been back from Armenia since September and was temping at the College of William and Mary, not making a whole lot of money.  I got a call for an interview in New York City, but I had to pay for transportation and lodging.  I ended up taking a train from Williamsburg, Virginia and staying in a cheap dive.  I want to say the place was called Hudson House, but I can’t remember for sure.   I found it in a New York City travel guide.

I took the train to the Big Apple and managed to take the subway from Penn Station to the area where the hotel was.  I had booked a cheap room… it was $80 with a bathroom in the hall.  I got the sense I was the only one staying at the hotel, though, so it was no biggie.  The room was kind of drafty and cold, but had a TV and harsh fluorescent lighting.

The interview was not successful, but I had an interesting two night jaunt in Manhattan… all alone.

If Bill goes to New York, he’ll probably be very busy the whole time.  I expect the company interviewing will pay for his transportation and lodging and they’ll probably take him out to dinner.  It’s a big four consulting firm.  I feel pretty confident they will interview him, but he won’t know until next week.

I’d like to go with him, since we’ve been wanting to visit New York for awhile now.  Maybe if he gets a job offer, we’ll take the time to go…  Chances are, if they do hire him, we’ll have to move.  But I’d like to go to New York just so we can visit Eataly.  We went to the flagship one in Torino.  Eataly is a very cool gourmet Italian store.  There are several locations in Italy now, but when we visited in 2008, it was still very new.  The store in Torino is amazing.  I’m sure the New York location is equally interesting, though probably ridiculously expensive.  Seems like a lot of things in New York are pricey.

The other times I’ve been to New York, I went as a member of a choir.  Those were very different experiences, since we were there for a specific purpose and we were all in a group.  New York on your own is a solitary experience.

I remember being in New York during a big snowstorm and being trapped…  we watched people skiing down Broadway.  I’ll probably never see anything like that again.  The first time I went to New York, I hated it.  But every time I’ve gone back, I’ve liked it more.  Paris had the same effect on me.