There is not an adventurous nor a travelling bone in my body, but I consider myself to be lucky to have visited two world-renown cities; Paris and New York. It is a big shame that I only got to stay in these cities for a couple of days, but I really enjoyed every moment in these two places. After these rather short voyages, I got the impression that Paris and New York do share a few similarities that are widely known and yet, the differences of the two places are night and day. As we all know, Paris and New York have many things in common. First, they are fashion capitals of the world. Many designer shops are concentrated in these cities. It is a big shame to tell you that I spent a big chunk of my trips window-shopping in both cities, wishing to have enough money to buy fancy designer bags and shoes displayed in the shop windows. Second, both have iconic monuments; the Eiffel tower in Paris attracts scores of tourists around the world all year around, and so does the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbor. Vive la tour Eiffel! It was far from an eyesore. It was rather a true beauty to behold! I went to see it in the evening during the Christmas season and I was so lucky to see the Eiffel tower lighting ceremony which lasted only for a short period of time. It was a truly magical moment. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to visit the Statue of Liberty, so I do not have any interesting stories to share regarding the landmark of New York city. Last but not least, they are both densely populated metropolitan areas that have huge influence on the world in terms of politics, art, media, entertainment and so on. In spite of the similarities that I have described above, the two cities are quite different in many aspects. One of the most striking differences is the characters and styles of the buildings. When I went to New York, back in high school with my cousin who lives in New Jersey, I was mesmerized by sleek modern skyscrapers over my head. In contrast, you can hardly see tall buildings in Paris. Paris boasts buildings from the Medieval Period, the Renaisssance, Neo classicism to contemporary buildings. This is the place where the old and new co-exist. As you walk by on the streets in Paris, you see numerous century-old buildings that look like something straight out of your history book. The insides of these buildings were renovated while preserving the traditional looking exterior and this is what makes the city so beautiful. Another difference is people's attitude. During my short stay in Paris, I felt that Parisiens have the attitude that is typical of people living in the old continent. It does differ from individual to individual , but in general they were less friendly than those living in New York. I went to Paris during the Winter vacation last year, and there were not many Asians in the city. I could hardly see smiles on people's faces and most of their faces were stoic , which made me a bit reluctant to ask for directions at first. I am not sure why I felt this way, but I could sense a imperialistic pride in people inhabiting Paris that I found to be a bit off-putting. However, as strange as it may sound, I did not feel one bit foreign in New York. I found people in New York to be more approachable and less standoffish. Maybe, it was there were a lot more Asians Americans that I felt more comfortable in New York than in Paris.
|
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
pg119 second draft comparison,contrast essay 200601024 Noh Young Sun
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.