Pop Goes The New Year: The Times Square Experience

If you couldn't tell by now, I had an incredible night yesterday.  If you also couldn't tell, I'm a story teller.  I like to tell stories.  So, as if you haven't heard enough about it, I'm going to tell you the story about how I ended up in Times Square, New York, New York, to ring in the year of 2011.

For me, it all started at 7:30am, when I woke up.  Well okay, it started before that, with a devious plan.  I have always wanted to go to New York for New Years, just never had the opportunity, the money, or the drive.  This year, me and my friends had all 3, so we came up with a plan to take the train into New York to have the experience of a lifetime.

So, like I said, December 31, 2010 started off at a delicious 7:30am.  I was barely awake, but I managed to stumble my way into the shower and wake myself up with my daily cleansing.  A few vitamins and clothing layers later, I was laying on my bed, when it hit me.  Cold feet.

I texted my friend Amanda and told her that I didn't think I would be coming.  I didn't have any way to get to the station, and I wasn't sure how much I really wanted to go, anyway.  My room is a mess that I still need to clean, and maybe I just needed a quiet New Year's Eve at home.  Luckily, I got over myself, got dressed, and she graciously came and picked me up.

We went to Hamilton Station, which looks like this

bought our round-trip ticket to Penn Station, and boarded the train soon after.

It was about an hour and some change to get to New York, and along the way we enjoyed the beautiful (not) scenery of North Jersey.  Now, for all of you who have never been to New Jersey, North Jersey is probably what you think of when you hear someone mention the state I'm from.  It's industrial and polluted and the people have funny accents.

Mm, delicious.  But this is South Jersey, with lots of farmland and beautiful forests and ocean and less....  dirty, places.

Hey, I've been there!  And here's something awesome that I've passed quite often during my travels.

Yes, there is that giant thing calmly sitting in someone's backyard.  I think it's a movie prop, but I forget which movie.  The eyes glow red.  Visible from a major road.   THUMBS UP, SOUTH JERSEY.

Anyway, you came here to listen to my story about New Year's Eve, not get a lesson about the difference between North and South Jersey.  So, we finally made it to Penn Station, and we were getting kind of excited.  We had a few hours to kill until we were going to stand forever in Times Square, so we decided to make the most of the day and visit a Pret A Manger (if you've never been, I highly, highly recommend.  I first came in contact with one in London, and I fell in love with the delicious sandwiches on baguettes and the handmade brownies.  You'll have to go to New York, DC, or Chicago, though.)

From there, we walked along 5th Avenue, shopped at H&M, then hit up a Duane Reade for 5 Hour Energy.  We were going to need it.  Then, it was time.  Time to go to Times Square.

We walked for a while, and eventually it got to the point where we just followed the general flow of traffic to find it.  It was an absolute madhouse.  If you tuned in at all during the celebration, you saw how many people were there.  Now imagine all of those people, clamoring for a good spot, and a one-by-one filter through the police barrier.  Basically, they made us go through one at a time, jackets open, then patted us down, also one at a time.  There were hundreds of thousands of people waiting to get through that checkpoint, crushing each other.  I was constantly pressed up against strangers, and they were pressed up against me.  Sometimes I couldn't even breathe, I was so trapped.

Finally, we made it through the barrier.  After half an hour of being shoved and choked by a hoard of almost-violent people, we made it.  We were corralled in another barriered-off section, but this time, it was where we were going to stay.  We were right next to a flashing Westside Story sign, and right behind the 24-hour McDonalds.  I can't tell you how that store tempted me as the night continued.

This was all around 3:30, 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  We settled in for a long stand, excitement quickly waning as we realized that we had 8 hours left to go.

On the hour, we would do a countdown for New Year's all around the world.  Sometimes it was the only thing I had to keep my mind off of the pain of being in an unmoving, standing position for hours on end.  We were right near one of the stages (the one that Ke$ha and NKOTB/Backstreet Boys performed on), which was also cool, when I could see onto it.

Basically, we waited for an eternity.  There were Spanish people from San Antonio on our left, Taiwanese girls to the front, a creepy Indian man and his son behind us.  For 8 hours, we dealt with them.  We went through the confetti, the violent fighting over balloon wavers and Nivea hats, the time between rehearsals and shows where we half-heartedly danced to whatever music was playing, just to move.

8 hours, we waited.  I took a swig of my Redbull Shot every hour, but it didn't help much.  I was tired, hungry, very thirsty, and extremely done with people, but there was no way out except surrender.  And that's just not how I do things.  So, I stuck it out.  Sometimes I thought about purposefully dropping things just so that I could crouch down and give my knees a break.

After hours and hours, and an entire lifetime, it felt like, midnight finally came.  It was magical!  At 11:59, we all counted down, I watched the tiny glowing ball that was very far away, slowly drop down.  Then, whammy wham!  Confetti, all sorts of beautiful shapes and colors, came from everywhere.  It was so amazing.  Where it had been a challenge to collect my confetti before, this just fell all over me, in my hood and on my face.  I was giddy with excitement.

We had to meet up with someone before we could leave, so we forged through the million-plus people, now all trying to leave, to find them.  There was confetti everywhere: in the air, on the ground, on the people.  Everyone was smiling, excited.  2011 began in style, that's for sure.

This year, if any of you watched the coverage of Times Square, they added a box full of confetti that people had written their New Year's wishes and hopes on, then they added it to the final confetti that was dropped at midnight.  I was determined to find one of these wishes, so while we were waiting for the people that we were meeting to find us, I scoured the confetti on the ground for writing.  I quickly made a collection of beautiful, wonderful wishes, some of them in different languages.

We found who we needed to find, said hello, then basically sprinted off to catch our 1:12 train back to New Jersey.  

Blocks and blocks had been barricaded off for New Years, and once we got out of Times Square, there were times when there wasn't anyone else on the street for a block or two.  It was an apocalyptic scene, with the confetti still falling from the sky as our ashes, the people dead and gone.  At least, that's what I thought of with my crazy, strange mind.  That's a memory that I'll keep with me for a long time, though.

Anyway, with speed walking and sometimes jogging, we made it to the station with time to spare, so we got ourselves some much-needed victuals, then headed to our track.  The ride home was much more subdued, but also more crowded, than the ride in, as we all listened to our iPods and absorbed the events of the day.

Yeah, it was long and arduous and often painful, but I am so glad that I didn't chicken out.  The feeling of a million people surrounding you, celebrating the beginning of the new year, the knowledge that even more people were watching on their TVs what I was experiencing, was incredible.  I won't say that I loved every minute of it, but I will say that, without a doubt, it was the best start I have ever gotten to a year, and I would do it again in an instant.

So, if you ever find yourself presented with the opportunity, go, and go early.  Get situated, bring food and water, bring good, patient friends, and be ready for the coolest, largest celebration you'll maybe ever attend.