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[SIZE=3]I’m a Brazilian man, 39 y.o. In my job I’m often required to speak English and I know I need to improve my skills if I want to progress. I ’m planning a 30 days trip to the U.S. next February when I’ll be on vacation. I’m going to study in a English school in the mornings and be a tourist the rest of the day. As I have already visited a few American cities in the south before (Miami, Atlanta, etc), I’m considering cities in the North this time: Boston, Seattle, Chicago… maybe not so north: San Francisco, Denver... I just can’t decide. I know February is winter and it is very cold, I think I can handle it unless the weather is so extreme it will be impossible to walk around or I can walk around but the streets are empty, everybody is at home watching TV under tons of blankets. So I would really appreciate to get some advice from the locals. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]This is what I search:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]1 – A city with many things to do: museums, parks, shopping, restaurants, bars, night life, concerts, etc.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]2 – Where people is friendly and warm. J[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]3 – Where it’s easy to move around (walking, subway, trains, buses)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]4 – Where the weather won’t stop people to do things. Where temperatures are not soo low. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]5 – I’m going to stay with a family the school will provide, so it’s better to pick a city with few resident foreigners. A friend of mine went to the west coast a couple of years ago in a similar journey. The school provided him with a lovely family… of chinese! So, although people in the house were extremely nice to him, they spoke English worse than my friend. He found himself teaching them English actually and missed a great chance of learning from watching native speakers.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Please sorry if i made mistakes in english.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Many thanks! J[/SIZE]
Josh.
If it's your first visit, definitely New York City. You can also take short trips to Boston, Washington DC or Philadelphia from NY via train. It's only 90 minutes to Philadelphia and 4 hours to either Boston or Washington DC. There are also low-cost buses (BoltBus or MegaBus) that make the trips too at slightly longer travel times.
Many thanks for the replies!
Yes, NYC would be my first choice. I have already been there and I love it! But besides sight seeing I'm also interested in getting to know locals, chatting a lot and grab every chance to practice english. In NYC life is so busy that maybe that interaction wouldn't be easy. That's why a smaller city like Seattle should be an option. It's not as cold as Chicago, not so big, but it seems to offer lots to do throughout the week (does it?). There are Portland and Vancouver for weekend trips. People say that the region is one of the most beautiful in the U.S. The problem here maybe the famous Seattle rain. Although some say it's like a drizzle and people just keep on doing their activities. It doesn't make people stay at home just because it is raining. I hope so!
Based on your stated interests, I'd go with Chicago or Washington, D.C. Another good choice is Boston. I suggest these cities before any others (besides NYC of course).
February is of course quite cold in northern cities. It is uncomfortable for walking outside. So, if you want to avoid that then go with San Francisco.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 10-12-2010 at 09:03 AM..
Boston is not really that cold in February. It ranges from the mid thirties to the mid forties during the day and is often very sunny.
It also has the largest Brazilian population in America.
I would deffintely Go with Seattle it has the mildest weather of any northern city .It is surounded by water on three sides wich work to cool the city in the summer and insulate the city in the winter mild winters. Seattle has many world class Museums we have Pablo Piccasso in the art museum . The museum of Flight Is the largest private non profit Air and Space museum in the world. It has a piece of the space station in it you can walk in. Seattle is a hot bed for glass art in tacoma at the museum of glass they have the bridge of glass its like made out of 30million dollars of glass art conects museum to the waterfront. Downtown seattle is very easy to get around its very dense.Seattle is home to the coffee shop culture people hang out at coffee shops when ive been in Seattle and lived there I met many people at the coffee shops and the urban parks. With the mild weater and large mass of museums in Seattle and also metro area you might think about Seattle.
I've seen some temperatures charts here and there on the web. It's interesting to see that although Chicago has similar temperature averages to cities like Boston, NYC or Philadelphia, it's widely known as a place one should fear to be in the winter. Of course the famous Chicago wind must be the reason why, making people feel even colder.
I'm telling everyone that I as a Rio de Janeiro man, born and raised under tropical temperatures, have the courage to spend vacation somewhere like Chicago, bellow the freezing point. But actually I have to admit that I am not that confident. I've been trying to convince myself that I can cope with that kind of weather.
I had a dream a few days ago in which I was already in the USA, walking under a snow storm, pretending everything was ok and trying to make my crazy vacation plan work. I was like dying because of the cold but I wanted to see the landscape, shop windows but all I could see was white, white, and white. I could also see people looking at me through their windows and they were puzzled. They were offering help, asking me to come inside and save myself, but I was like: No! It's wonderful here. I was disappointed because people were sheltering in their houses and I wanted to see the city working, vibrating, even if it was snowing!
I have never seen snow.
I have a friend from inland Brazil that only went to see the sea for the first time when he was almost 30 y.o. I took him. That amazing sight touched him in a manner he was not able to articulate. The tears kept running from his eyes for many minutes. Nature is really breathtaking.
That's why I dream about seeing snow for the first time.
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I just can’t decide. I know February is winter and it is very cold, I think I can handle it unless the weather is so extreme it will be impossible to walk around or I can walk around but the streets are empty, everybody is at home watching TV under tons of blankets. So I would really appreciate to get some advice from the locals. [/SIZE]
[/SIZE]
I hope so!
I was disappointed because people were sheltering in their houses and I wanted to see the city working, vibrating, even if it was snowing! 
