I know it's Sunday, which means I should come with videos, and I will! I just still have to edit them and until I'm waiting for my program to load in, I thought I should share my thoughts with you.
On Friday it was a big holiday in America. Independence Day, which means people in America celebrated when they became an independent nation. This year was my third July 4th here. In the past two years I didn't really care about it. Both times I just watched the fireworks with my family. In 2012 we just went out to Sunset Park, where there is a beautiful view of Manhattan Skyline and also the Statue of Liberty. Last year, we went down to Coney Island (where there were millions of people) and watched the celebration there. Both times, it wasn't that big, wasn't that unusual. Every Friday night during the summer there is always firework on Coney Island. Maybe not that big and long like on July 4th.
However, this year I celebrated a little bit differently.
As a Hungarian girl, I don't consider myself as an American. Even though I kind of "celebrate" different holidays. In the past two years when we had Thanksgiving, we bought turkey and we ate it. I know it's not a big thing :D But it's a start. Step by step probably I'm going to take some American habits to my everyday life. And this is not going to happen because I don't want to be Hungarian anymore, but it will happen in a few years, because I will live here as a teenager and as a young adult. If I would be a 60 year old woman, I would probably not take the American habits. But I'm still young and I'm still learning and looking for my path. In one way I don't mind it. The United States is one of my favorite countries and I like the people here, the cities, the holidays and the way American people act. I always imagined myself like what if I would born as an American girl. Probably I would be very different from the person who I am now.
Even though I will live here for many years and I will become "American", I will always remember where I came from and what my country gave me. I will never lose my love and pride for Hungary, doesn't matter where I will live. Even if I will become a very famous American writer and I will live on the top floor of a skyscraper and I will have a bath in 100 dollars, I will remember Hungary. -- But this probably won't happen. :D
So let's get back to July 4th. This year I went to one of my friends house, to Nikolett's, and we spent the day together watching movies and with silly games like 'Cards Against Humanity'. We ate burgers, chips and drank Coca Cola and it was a lot of fun. Clearly it wasn't like a usual 4th of July celebration, because people in America they do barbecue, watch baseball games, spending the day on the beach, having picnic and watching fireworks at night. (Well, we did the last part too) For us, it was a usual nerdy-girly day. However, it sounded like that, but for me it was a big thing. Since I came to the United States I didn't really spend a whole day in one of my friends house. Everyone of my friends are always busy and sometimes it's hard to get from my house to theire house. I'm also a busy person or I just feel better at home. And that's why this Friday was different, because I finally did something what I did many times in Hungary. And I missed it.
So it was a lot of fun and I will share it with you through a vlog:)
At night with Nikolett and my family, we went to a very beautiful park which is close to the Brooklyn Bridge. That's why the name of it is Brooklyn Bridge Park. My Mom read it in the news that there is going to be firework there which is organized my Macy's. (It's a big shopping company where you can buy clothes, bags, make up, shoes and everything from different kinds of brands. The prices are hitting the starry night so we don't really buy things there. Even though it's amazing.) So my Mom thought it would be a good idea to go there.
So many people were there and we did not even know where should we get close to the piers. By the way, it was planned that they were shooting fireworks from ships on the East River and from the Brooklyn Bridge. We had to find a good place where we are close to the river and we can also see the bridge. Even though there is a high park, which is above a high way, in Brooklyn Bridge Park, we had to go down to the piers, because less people were there. We needed to walk for like 30 minutes to get to Pier 4, to get closer, but the road was closed so we couldn't go in. But, for our luck, a police car came out from the pier, so the cops had to open the gate to let the car pass. When the car came out, everyone who stood there, ran in to the pier, didn't give a heck about the police and it was insane! Like when they open the gates for the ships and they run down the hill. It was something similar. When the police said, 'Okay, go down the pier and don't block the way.' we went after the 'crazy ships' and we found a nice place for ourselves. After the crazy run, the police closed the gates eventually and didn't let anyone else in. We had a HUGE luck!
It started to get chilly soon, but I didn't mind it. Fireworks popped up in New Jersey, I could see it, because New York and New Jersey is very plain, so you can see very far. The first ones were very small and we didn't even hear the sound of them. But then soon there were bigger ones, closer to New York in New Jersey. They were nice but not as good like the ones we had in front of us later in few minutes. When the fireworks still went on and on in New Jersey, suddenly from three Macy's ships and from Brooklyn Bridge, fireworks were shot and the emotional roller-coaster just started. When the early fireworks showed up in the sky, not so high so it was comfortable to look at them, I could see them reflecting on the glass buildings behind them, in Lower Manhattan. People were cheering next to me and the fireworks were just beautiful. They used national colors and golden colors a lot. From the bridge there was a kind of firework which we call in Hungary the Greek Fire and it was just simply amazing! Twice I had to stop myself to not start sobbing like a child. You know there are some situations when you see something so beautiful and you are speechless, you just want to cry. Or maybe it's just me. And American people there were like cheering and they were happy. I don't think they were drunk or high, they just loved it! And their spirit was so nice for their nation. That's what I miss in Hungary. People are so negative and they can't be happy for small things. Of course not everyone, but most of the people in my country are so depressing. Which I can understand in one way, but in another, you just have to be happy for what you have because it can always be worse. The only thing I missed from the fireworks is there was no music, not even the National Anthem. In Hungary we always have music under the big fireworks in Budapest when we have our holiday on August 20th. But otherwise it was very beautiful and I felt warm inside, even though the night weather was cool.
If one day I'm going to call myself as an American/Hungarian born woman, then I will be happy, I guess. That's just only going to happen if I will live here for more than ten years and most of the things in my life (like job, relationship) will connect me here. I will probably see many fireworks until then. But I'm never going to forget this one. Because this firework, even though it's just a firework and I saw something like these in Hungary too, but these showed me, I wouldn't mind at all if one day I will be American. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to live here. But then I realize, maybe I would not want to live in Hungary neither. And then I remember my other favorite country is United Kingdom, and what if someday I would live there. Well I would not mind that neither. But so far, I feel like my future connects me here and so far I can see myself living here, after ten years. Maybe not in New York City, I don't know. I love this city. I love every single corner of it, especially of Manhattan, but what if someday I'm want to try something new, something fresh? People always want something they don't have and they always want to try out something new. So I really have no idea where I will be in ten years. But the only thing I know, I will remember this day, in my whole life. The day, when I felt home in New York. The day, when I saw the true beauty of this city. And the day, when I almost cried because of simple damn fireworks. :')
- Timi
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