Whoa whoa whoa…hold on just a minute! Ordinarily I’ll let it slide, but all of this talk of having the best time ever, and being with the coolest people you all have “ever met” requires a defense on behalf of the Enterprize trip! I’m sure that the Xtreme and London-Israel trips were nice and all, but the Enterprize ‘09 trip DEFINITELY had both the best speakers (i.e. the CEOs of Kenneth Cole and Iconix, and the attorney that is the reason Mcdonalds has “Hot” on their cups, to name a few) but also the coolest participants…and I’m not just saying that because I was one of them! With no further comment I would like to rest my case, slam the gavel and drop the mic.

-Eze

It was Thursday night when I received the email that started it all. “Only 2 spaces left on the NYC Men’s Enterprise Business Trip!” Then I remembered what Rabbi Shmulik from Vancouver told me about Aish – I had previously attended the Vancouver Metrofest and had an absolute Blast. With only 2 spaces left, I had to act fast - The program was scheduled to start on Sunday. I filled in the application, submitted it and hoped for the best.

I bought my ticket on Friday to fly out on Saturday. I would arrive by Sunday morning – just in time for the program – Perfect! I didn’t really know what to expect – I had never been to the big apple and I didn’t really know what it was going to be like to stay with a bunch of other guys I had never met before in my life. I was excited about the trip, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t think I was going to get along with the guys. Boy was I wrong! But I’ll come back to that.

I arrived on Sunday Morning and schlepped my luggage through NYC and over to Passaic. As soon as I stepped in the house, I was overcome with a strong combined feeling of relief and well being. It felt like home. The ‘vibe’ was just really good – I don’t know how else to explain it. Greeted by a couple of friendly faces, I settled into my room and was nervous/anxious/excited about the 10 days ahead of me. The other faces arrived one by one and I soon found out that everyone else on the trip also didn’t really know what to expect. We were all in the same boat so to speak – most of us from business oriented backgrounds and around the same age – just finishing up, or recently graduated college or university. I made friends really quickly with the guys sharing my room and said that we’d stick together for the duration of the trip since we didn’t really know anyone else. We soon found out that this was definitely not required - everyone else was also really chilled, laid back and overall – really nice people.

Today has been well and truly the first day of the May Enterprize trip. The guys have got to know each other and after a brief ice breaking session, it turns out the two greatest skills 30 Jewish students have are the ability to throw a football really far, and an uncanny ability to play pitch perfect air guitar. No one is quite sure yet, but for some reason this air guitar can not be tuned in.

The thirty next Donald Trumps (or little me’s as I like to call them) are about to head into NYC for the first night out. The plan is to head to the top of the Empire State Building and then stop most of them from throwing a penny off “just to see if the stories are true”. The most interesting question we have had so far is, “do you know that you spelled the Enterprize with a Z instead of an S? Was that on purpose or by accident?” …….We are dealing with this person.

Everyone has been pretty cool so far and as soon as the last two people arrive, our Summer trip will be in full swing. I will let you know what is going on when I know. From just outside New York, this is Michael Apfel saying, bring on the next ten days and ROCK ON!