The Windy Apple

It's been a few weeks since my last substantial post/non-365 project related post. It's also been a week since I packed up my bags and flew across the country to start a new life in a city I've never lived in, work a job in a field I've never had experience in, and somehow expect to survive in despite getting paid slightly above minimum wage.

Needless to say, it's been a bit of a juggling act the past month with trying to pack everything up and saying goodbye to the ones I love (but just for now). The busy-ness doesn't stop now that I've made my way out here -- there's that whole adjusting to a new environment thing too.

It's not to say I've never experienced sudden and massive lifestyle changes before. Just a short two years ago, I made the same kind of move cross country when I became an expatriate of Los Angeles and attempted to settle into Chicago.

This time around, it's different. I lasted a whole 3 months out in the Midwest, and I can attribute the exact reasons why. One thing is the maturity level I was at during the time. When I made the move, I had to make the adjustment from living in a college town with all the people I had grown with and learned to live with and had started a life with to suddenly being isolated from everyone in a strange new place. The sudden loss of camaraderie coupled with the fact that I practically knew no one out there led to some really lonely days. I filled in my time with some personal sightseeing, went out by myself a few times, and even met a lot of interesting people along the way. But the sudden change from having a relatively large social circle within a close proximity to having none had a profound effect on my psyche. Yes, I met some good people who I still talk to today, but back then I was trying too hard to match what I had back in college...and one of the things you learn after you leave college is that it will never be like college again.

That I know now, and so I'm not expecting to replicate the same experience I had in college. Actually already knowing people here in NYC also helps out a tremendous amount.

One more important factor is the fact that I am actually employed out here in the Big Apple. Having a full time job to meet and greet people and keep myself occupied has had a huge impact on my sense of belonging here. I've only been working for a week, but I feel like I've met more people here in NYC than I did my whole time in Chicago. I was in Chicago for school, and at the time, I only had one class which met once a week in the evenings. Hardly a chance to interact with anyone in that situation. Also, with the inordinate amount of free time I had, I felt like I was squandering a chance to do something else with my life. And as such, I felt less and less of a need to be there.

So it may be a bit too soon to determine where I've had a better experience, especially since I've only been here a week. But by far, I'm definitely enjoying my life here much more than I did in Chicago. Not to say that I didn't enjoy Chicago, but I do feel I wasn't ready for it at the time.

But there's one thing that is for sure: Chicago deep dish pizza > New York pizza
Also for future reference, someone already put together a Chicago vs. New York infographic, comparing the two cities on all the important factors, like sports teams, demographics, and of course, type of hot dog styles sold on the streets.

"a hot dog? a hot dog?? how dare you call it a hot dog!"
-TR