New York, New York

As Sinatra sang: 'If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere... '

Perhaps it's because of this that New York is the most popular destination for those looking for a MEC scholarship for foreign language courses abroad. Because if you manage to get good marks in your English classes here and avoid all the temptations this city has to offer, you'll manage it anywhere!

Let's stop and think for a second though... if you're thinking of choosing New York as your destination, are you concerned about how useful your English classes will be?

There's no shortage of sights to see here: the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Rockefeller Center, the Metropolitan Museum, Fifth Avenue, Wall Street, Broadway, Central Park, Staten Island, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village... and of course Times Square! What you really need to do is organise yourself if you want to be able to see even a third of all the good stuff there is to see in New York (.... yes, the minimum length of the English courses is three weeks, but don't think that you're going to have bags of time, be warned! ). Luckily there's a metro system, although at the beginning you may not understand it all that well. It's all a question of practice. And if you really don't get it, there are taxis too!

I recommend you bring a good memory card with you in your camera for taking photos: you'll want to take photos of absolutely everything. And speaking of electronic devices and plugs in general, remember that the voltage in the US is different to in Spain, which means it's very likely that things you'll bring with you from home such as hairdryers, shavers, battery charges (including mobile phone chargers) won't work, or at least won't work as well as they should. Don't forget then to buy an adapter.

For those of you who prefer to travel light and buy the things that you need when you get there, it's a good idea to take advantage of the outlet stores: you can find designer brands there at really affordable prices. Also, remember that the dollar is quite a lot lower than the euro, meaning that you should make the most of your stay to go shopping (you can get lost in department stores like Macy's...it's the biggest shop in the world! ).

As well as the New York bargains, if I had to name three things nobody should miss seeing in New York, it would be these:

• The Empire State Building observatory: the best time to go is in the evening, to avoid the long queues (and it's better to go on a weekday than at the weekends). You can watch the sunset over Manhattan from the top of the observatory (oooohhh... )
• Times Square: not a place for paying a single visit to, better to go there every day! There are street shows, operas and sometimes even political persecutions! The moment you first see Times Square is when you really realise 'Now I'm in New York'.
• Central Park: it may not be the most exciting sight New York has to offer, but this doesn't make it any less gorgeous. If you were hoping to stroll through it for a relaxing day, forget it, since this 'little park' is over 50 blocks in size. If artists such as Sting, Simon and Garfunkel and Bon Jovi have performed concerts in the centre of it, just imagine how big it must be... The best thing to do is to hire a bike for a few hours to get around the park easily: around the outskirts, you'll find loads of slow-moving (but pleasant) bikes to rent.

The truth is that I could spend hours and hours talking to you about New York... but I'm worried that Erasmusu readers would be put off by the length of the article and do a runner.;)

All I can do is offer my advice and offer to respond to any questions any users may have, and say that if I'm lucky enough to repeat this experience one day, I'd be thrilled to share it again with Erasmusu. :)