Staten Island Ferry Ride
Today we were in for a treat as Ms Rosy, our tour leader, took us on the Saturn Island Ferry ride. Everyone was very excited as the ferry left the Whitehall harbour and we could see the faint silhouette of Manhattan in the mist. We raced to the deck of the ferry and snapped plenty of photos as it passed by Ellis Island and New York’s most famous icon—The Statue of Liberty!
Walk Around NYC
After the ferry ride, we geared ourselves up for a walk around New York City with our guide, Bill. It was a cloudless day; the sun was shining brightly and the skies were of a beautiful shade of blue. We took a stroll past Wall Street(where we caught a glimpse of the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall), visited St Paul’s Chapel (where we saw the various mementos left behind for the first responders of 9/11 and learnt how the church was a place of refuge for the 9/11 recovery team) , spent a moment at the North and South pools of the 9/11 memorial (where we learnt about the touching stories of the people who perished in the 9/11 attacks including that of Mr Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla gave his life while trying to evacuate others),
saw The Woolworth Building (which was one of the world’s tallest building back in 1913),
strolled past New York City Hall, United States District Court and New York City Supreme Court,
caught a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge,
cruised through Chinatown(which is home to the largest enclave of Chinese People in the Western Hemisphere with an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people) and Little Italy
before having lunch at Congee Village and heading off to the Tenement Museum.
saw The Woolworth Building (which was one of the world’s tallest building back in 1913),
strolled past New York City Hall, United States District Court and New York City Supreme Court,
caught a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge,
cruised through Chinatown(which is home to the largest enclave of Chinese People in the Western Hemisphere with an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people) and Little Italy
before having lunch at Congee Village and heading off to the Tenement Museum.
Tenement Museum
The Tenement Museum is located at 97 Orchard Street and was built on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1863. It was home to nearly 7000 working class immigrants and its main purpose is to preserve and interpret the history of immigration through personal experiences of the generations of newcomers who settled in and built lives on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
They have many featured tours like Neighbourhood Walking Tours and Tenement Tours, but what we did was the "Meet the Residents" tour in which we, split into two groups, took on the identity of either a Russian or Italian family back in the 1916s that have just immigrated over to the United States and were looking for a place to stay- and were subsequently brought to meet one Victoria Confino, who was staying at that particular apartment to learn more about how it was like to stay at the Tenement Apartment and subsequently how being an immigrant in US was like.
Now, what made this museum so special and different was that when they said "meet the residents", they did mean to literally meet the residents. We were brought into a small room, modelled to look exactly like how the apartment did in the 1916s and there was an actual person, costumed to look like how people would look like then in the 1916s right there in the middle of the room to answer our questions and forge an awkward friendship with.
It may not sound interesting now, but when you were actually there- and the tour guide knocks on the door only for an actual person to answer it - trust me, its amazing. And everything was so real. (We actually sat on a bed.)
After going through the Tenement Museum experience, we learnt a lot about what a normal immigrant goes through back in the days. Victoria Confino was really welcoming to us (which could be due to our choice of a family then) but at that time, would there really have been someone so nice? And subsequently, how much different is their experience from back in the 1916s different from what it's like now? Perhaps there may no longer be anymore outright discriminations- or there still may be- but does this still exist in our thoughts, words and slightest little actions?
And in the city of today, will there still be such a welcoming neighbourhood for us?
How much have we actually changed?
(And, deep thoughts aside, can we have a museum like that in Singapore too? Or is our history too shallow, too little or are there even more constrains beyond what one can forsee? Is this sort of museum effective? )
The Tenement Museum marks the experience of a lifetime. (Quite literally, too.)
"I mean, the Tenement Museum... what it documents- its the life of a normal person. You don't have to save the world to be remembered." -our tour guide.
Fun-Fact #1: Victoria Confino was an actual person.
Fun-Fact #2: Miss Low and Miss Chew became the parents of 19 children then.
Fun-Fact #3: It cost 20 (bargained to 15) pounds to rent an apartment then.
They have many featured tours like Neighbourhood Walking Tours and Tenement Tours, but what we did was the "Meet the Residents" tour in which we, split into two groups, took on the identity of either a Russian or Italian family back in the 1916s that have just immigrated over to the United States and were looking for a place to stay- and were subsequently brought to meet one Victoria Confino, who was staying at that particular apartment to learn more about how it was like to stay at the Tenement Apartment and subsequently how being an immigrant in US was like.
Now, what made this museum so special and different was that when they said "meet the residents", they did mean to literally meet the residents. We were brought into a small room, modelled to look exactly like how the apartment did in the 1916s and there was an actual person, costumed to look like how people would look like then in the 1916s right there in the middle of the room to answer our questions and forge an awkward friendship with.
It may not sound interesting now, but when you were actually there- and the tour guide knocks on the door only for an actual person to answer it - trust me, its amazing. And everything was so real. (We actually sat on a bed.)
After going through the Tenement Museum experience, we learnt a lot about what a normal immigrant goes through back in the days. Victoria Confino was really welcoming to us (which could be due to our choice of a family then) but at that time, would there really have been someone so nice? And subsequently, how much different is their experience from back in the 1916s different from what it's like now? Perhaps there may no longer be anymore outright discriminations- or there still may be- but does this still exist in our thoughts, words and slightest little actions?
And in the city of today, will there still be such a welcoming neighbourhood for us?
How much have we actually changed?
(And, deep thoughts aside, can we have a museum like that in Singapore too? Or is our history too shallow, too little or are there even more constrains beyond what one can forsee? Is this sort of museum effective? )
The Tenement Museum marks the experience of a lifetime. (Quite literally, too.)
"I mean, the Tenement Museum... what it documents- its the life of a normal person. You don't have to save the world to be remembered." -our tour guide.
Fun-Fact #1: Victoria Confino was an actual person.
Fun-Fact #2: Miss Low and Miss Chew became the parents of 19 children then.
Fun-Fact #3: It cost 20 (bargained to 15) pounds to rent an apartment then.
Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)
When we reached MOCA, most of us felt more at home due to the strong Chinese heritage in this musuem. We started off the visit to MOCA with a mini activity. We were divided into 6 groups and each group was given a box filled with photographs and artefacts depicting the lives of 6 different Chinese workers back in the days. We were then asked to fill in a worksheet which required us to state the background information of the Chinese worker who had lived in America.
After we had filled in as much as we could, we then moved upstairs to the main gallery, where we could find more information about the Chinese migrants. The galleries showed the challenges faced by the migrants and their daily work lives, which we took down on the worksheet too. One of the most common problem faced by the Chinese was discrimination. Many of them were looked down upon and were not accepted into the American society.
However, the Chinese did not back down and worked hard to achieve their success- they were indeed independent and strong-spirited people.
We were surprised with a task after heading back down to the classroom. Our tour guide suddenly requested that each group had to come up with a short skit to show the challenges faced by the Chinese workers back then and also ways to counter these issues. Most of us were rather taken aback as we were not expecting any other tasks except to complete the worksheet. Nonetheless, all of us stood up to the challenge (or rather we did not have much of a choice but to adhere to the instructions given) and started to plan out our mini performance. Everything went quite well and some of the short skits earned praises from the guide herself!
Today, in New York City, there is a thriving Chinese Community. The past has been hard for them as they were persecuted and discriminated against but with their undying determination, they managed to build the huge enclave that is Chinatown today. With sheer perseverance, they lived through the torturous times, got past the Chinese Exclusion Act and are able to bask in their success now.
Fun-Fact #1: It takes USD10,000 to place your family name on a tile on the Journey Wall.
After we had filled in as much as we could, we then moved upstairs to the main gallery, where we could find more information about the Chinese migrants. The galleries showed the challenges faced by the migrants and their daily work lives, which we took down on the worksheet too. One of the most common problem faced by the Chinese was discrimination. Many of them were looked down upon and were not accepted into the American society.
However, the Chinese did not back down and worked hard to achieve their success- they were indeed independent and strong-spirited people.
We were surprised with a task after heading back down to the classroom. Our tour guide suddenly requested that each group had to come up with a short skit to show the challenges faced by the Chinese workers back then and also ways to counter these issues. Most of us were rather taken aback as we were not expecting any other tasks except to complete the worksheet. Nonetheless, all of us stood up to the challenge (or rather we did not have much of a choice but to adhere to the instructions given) and started to plan out our mini performance. Everything went quite well and some of the short skits earned praises from the guide herself!
Today, in New York City, there is a thriving Chinese Community. The past has been hard for them as they were persecuted and discriminated against but with their undying determination, they managed to build the huge enclave that is Chinatown today. With sheer perseverance, they lived through the torturous times, got past the Chinese Exclusion Act and are able to bask in their success now.
Fun-Fact #1: It takes USD10,000 to place your family name on a tile on the Journey Wall.