New York has made a bad impression on me: it's overcrowded, overcommercialized, overdiverse. The conference has been very business-oriented, so that there has almost no fun. The people have been quite reserved and egocentric. Luckily, I've had an roommate who is of Pakistani origin and met Russian participants representing other countries (US, Germany, and Hungary). They are more focused on friendship and are likely to be my friends in the future.

Unlike New York, Toronto is a nice and friendly city. In the airport I met an old Canadian lady, who made me an introduction about Toronto and accompanied me on the subway. I live in the very downtown near major bars, Deloitte's office and my training centre. The hostel is cheap and very convenient: I have a single room, breakfast&dinner, and free Internet just for 25$ a day! I've had to pay 20$ for just the Internet in New York.

New York New York

I'm currently in New York City living on the 27th floor of a Mariott Hotel on Broadway. It sound cool, but I'm not excited somehow. It all looks like a huge supermarket with crouds and lots of commercials. People live to consume. I've been also surprised with diversity - there were almost no European looking people in the subway yesterday.

The conference itself has not started yet. It is likely to suggest 60 executives and about 160 students from the US and other countries. There are some Russian immigrants who I'm going to catch soon.