BUILDING A HOME. AND A LIFE.

I've been in New York for 20 days now. Which is more or less 3 weeks.

Of which more or less 2 and a half (a.k.a. 17 days) in my new apartment. My new home.
And 4 at the new job. The very reason I moved. 

What have I learned in these past weeks?

Well, the most prominent thing is that I AM A FUCKING SISSY. A sissy that NEEDS to hear her mum's voice on a regular basis in order to not go batshit crazy. 

This "feeling like going crazy" is supposedly called a "culture shock" and supposedly EVERYONE experiences some of it. It's just that I kind of thought that I was too good to be suffering from it. Overestimating much? 

Oh, yeah… 

;)

SOTD: The Shins - Nothing at all. Because it just feels appropriate.

I've prepared myself for some hardship and if I look at the whole thing rationally, I'm actually doing quite well. But all the little unpleasant things that happened (trust me, there weren't that many, it's just that I'm SUCH a drama queen) shook me more than I ever expected to get shaken. 

I still feel like New York is exactly where I belong RIGHT NOW. But somehow, I still feel I could be doing so much better than I am. Which is a complete nonsense, I know. 

Now, let's see where we stand:

THE GOOD:

• apartment
• successfully turning on the gas and electricity in said apartment and getting WiFi
• money in general
• job
• social security number application, vaccinations etc. all sorted out
• lounging in Central Park with a book, munching on grapes (yepp, I have my own favourite spot)
• evening walks around my neighborhood
• loving my neighborhood and my city!
• Grom! 
• random happenings around NYC, such as a free concert at MoMA's sculpture garden or Shakespeare's Richard III in Central Park
• MoMA membership
• an Italian supermarket a few blocks from me (yay Lavazza and Barilla and tomatoes that do smell and taste like tomatoes!!!)
• superbly good coffee half a block from work
• regular texts from friends
• although I don't use the Subway on a regular basis, I do navigate it like a pro. 

View from the Staten Island ferry, June 2012

THE BAD:

• attacks of loneliness from time to time
• constantly craving a mojito with my homegirl M 
• a somehow cold reception at work
• one of the packages with my stuff got lost in the mail
• really unhelpful staff at my neighborhood USPS office re: the above-mentioned package
• the whole IKEA-all-alone thing (it was bad, but it's over!)
• sweating like a moron because it's 8693 degrees outside and then freezing to death in over-air-conditioned spaces. What's up with the superlow a/c, New York???
• stupidly feeling like I' missing out on SO MUCH of the GOOD back at home

So. If we sum it up, there's way more of the good than of the bad. See, rationally, I'm all good.

Now all I need is some buddies to share a bottle of wine with and I'll be grand, rationally AND emotionally!

Cheers!

Jules