Yangnan (Paul) Liu’ 12 – It was totally a surprise when I received a text message from one of my fraternity brothers inviting me to come and hangout with the rest of the FIJI group in midtown Manhattan in the middle of the night. I never thought many of us could meet in New York City and I really miss everyone back at Wabash. (Spring break was Mar. 7-11)

The place we were about to meet was at a famous ‘Rice and Chicken’ street-food stand on fifth avenue.  Upon getting ready for the next day’s work and finished my mid-term journal, I left my apartment walking straightly to the place. I recognized all of their faces far away from the food stand and hugged each one of them. No one seemed changed and all of us were extremely excited to see each other. After finishing the unbelievably delicious Rice and Chicken bowl, seven of us including Paul Buescher, John Bogucki , Chet Riddle, Brian David, Dolton Boyer and Sumit Kovoor walked down to Times Square. I felt I never left the house when I heard funny stories back in the house and the nasty snow storm visiting campus.  

We took a photo in the busiest intersection of the world. It was absolutely amazing to see seven of us in the picture in Times Square. Who knows when will be the next time a bunch of us can meet in Times Square.

The next day, Brian David, who grew up in New York area took us to the best Chinese dumpling place in China Town. Having been a frequent visitor to China Town and a food lover, I felt shamed for not even knowing this place called Joe’s Shanghai.  It took us a while to find this restaurant and their signature pork dumpling was freshly prepared and juicy. In the United States, Chinese food is categorized into Americanized and Authentic. Among Authentic, there are various cuisines such as the Spicy Sichuan and Sweet Canton. The dumpling place is an authentic Shanghai cuisine restaurant and I recommended both Chet and Dolton to try some of their famous Loumen (stir-fried Chinese noodle) and Yangzhou Fried Rice.

We walked around China Town and Little Italy a little bit after our dinner. For the first-time visitors, some of them said this was the very cultural tour and they were very into this hybrid culture center.

Although I do not have a long spring break, I was really happy to see my brothers for two days and got to hangout with them in the city. Some of them will study abroad when I get back in my senior year. I am sure I will miss them and I believe they will have as much fun as I have in another city.