Monday, November 24, 2008

Adjustment difficulties

I think the reality of this move has finally set in. For the first week or two everything was new and exciting and seemed like more of a vacation than a permanent situation. One of my friends from Boston came to visit this weekend and when I took her to the bus station last night all I wanted to do was hop on a bus back to Boston as well.

I am trying really hard to jump into a life here. I have contacted everyone I even remotely know in the city and have been looking for activities to keep myself busy, but it's been really hard leaving behind all that I had in Boston.

I know I will be fine in time but I am having a particularly hard time reminding myself of that today.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

A surreal life

I have technically lived in NYC for a week now. It still seems surreal to consider myself a resident.

There is an energy about this city that you can never escape. I feel it walking down the streets, riding the Subway, and even in bed at night as I am trying to fall asleep. There is never a quiet moment and I always feel as if there is something big happening around me.

I have moments in which something will cause me to flashback to my days spent living in London. And sometimes I find myself wandering around the city feeling all out of sorts.

The city doesn't feel like home yet and it hasn't been long so I don't really expect it to, but I also wonder how long it will take. It's such a big city and so different from anything else that I have previously considered as home - even living in London. I wish I had the words to describe it more effectively, but they escape me so I will leave you with a few pictures in the meantime.

My apartment building




Gramercy Park - We have a sweet view of the Chrysler building from my corner!


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Officially in Manhattan

Here I am laying in bed listening to the sounds of cars honking outside my window. It's my first night as a resident of Manhattan and it's a weird feeling. The move went pretty well. My dad ended up coming out on Monday and we loaded everything but the bed up on Tuesday and headed to NYC. The drive was pretty as the leaves are still on the trees here and we made it to my place pretty easily. We were lucky enough to score a parking spot right outside my building and one of my roommates helped unload everything. We spent Tuesday night in NYC and got up early Wednesday to head back to Boston to pick up the bed and the few things I decided to send home. Stayed in Boston Wednesday night and then headed back to NYC this morning. This time we weren't quite as lucky to find a parking spot and I started to worry that we would be moving a mattress set a few blocks in the rain. After about eight trips around the block we found a space large enough to park in and unload the mattress. My dad headed back home around 3 and I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and organizing. I think I am mostly settled but it still seems weird to know that this is my new home for awhile.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

All relationships are different

For the past five years I have been in love.....in love with a city.

From the very moment I got my first glimpse of London the city captured my heart. Whenever I am there I get this feeling that is so hard for me to put into words and probably can't be understood by very many. I feel like I belong there. I always felt like I was free to be anything I wanted to be and would still be loved and accepted. I knew I could be completely and totally happy living in London for the rest of my life and nothing would be lacking if I could get my friends and family to come with me.

The feelings I had for London were everything I thought love was supposed to be. I loved that city so much that the trials and tribulations of living in the city were invisible to me.

So you can see why my relationship with Boston confused me at first. There were none of the initial feelings of exhilaration and giddiness. Everything was exhausting and frustrating from the beginning. I began to wonder if we were ever going to have any type of relationship and, if we were, if it would be worth all the effort.

I think that was partially because of the circumstances and my prior experience with London. After a relationship as intense as that, of course another city was going to have to work extra hard to measure up. I was already convinced my heart was taken. Also, I was so stressed about the move and so busy with school that I don't think I gave the city a fair chance in the beginning.

It took awhile, but the more time I spent with the city, the more Boston grew on me. I learned all of its intricacies and have come to appreciate them. I find myself excited when I see the skyline lit up at night and feel that I have found myself here while also being challenged to grow.

So while the feelings weren't initially the same, all relationships are different. It took me some time to get over my first love but I have also come to realize that another city has stolen a piece of my heart as well.