First Impressions

First impressions are fascinating. I’ve been in New York for just about a week now, and the experience of packing up and moving to an entirely new city has been both exciting and overwhelming. To preface, I’ve spent the last week doing a combination of settling into my new place, attending orientation session after orientation session, and running around Manhattan (aka getting lost) acquiring furniture, textbooks and groceries. As such, while I’ve spent plenty of time in Greenwich Village and made my way to the Brooklyn IKEA, and the Costco in East Harlem, I haven’t actually been to many of the more traditionally “touristy” places: Central Park, Midtown, Times Square, etc. New York is undoubtedly exciting. It’s larger, older, and more steeped in history than the West Coast. I get that sense when I walk under the Washington arch or wander past old brick buildings. In the first few days, Greenwich Village seemed crowded and confusing, but it’s beginning to feel like a nice respite from the sheer size of the rest of New York City. I love the plethora of restaurants, food trucks and cafes surrounding NYU, eating lunch in Washington Square Park, and the fact that there’s at least some greenery between the buildings, even if it is just hanging ivy and strategically planted trees.

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At the same time, I miss Seattle and the West Coast quite a bit. I miss living in a green city surrounded by lakes and almost always being a short walk from the waterfront. Walking through less crowded streets, knowing I could navigate the city using the Space Needle and whatever body of water happened to be closest. I miss sunshine and 70 degree days in the summer, while knowing that I could get away with just wearing my peacoat, sundress, and boots in the winter. I most definitely miss Seattle customer service, and not hearing extended, warring car horns outside my window on a regular basis. After two experiences of getting lost on the MTA, I miss knowing where all the King County Metro routes went (and I never though I’d miss the Metro, of all things). Growing up twenty minutes from a Microsoft Campus, I had always been aware of the prevalence of technology and tech companies in Seattle and the Eastside as a matter of course, but now that I’m in New York, I find myself missing that tech-y vibe, and struggling to adjust to the fact that, as far as I can tell, Microsoft is that far-off tech company, and not our neighborhood corporate campus.

I’m fully aware that I’ve barely begun to scrape the surface of New York City, and the prospect of becoming familiar with the city is exciting to me. At the same time, I think I can anticipate a deeper appreciation of Seattle when I return for breaks, and a little less complaining about the rain, and spotty public transportation this time around.