Lessons Learned

Well it has officially been two weeks since I moved to New York City and it still seems so unreal. I still wake up everyday asking myself “Am I really living in the city that never sleeps?” and once I get out of bed, get on the crowded subway (using Hop Stop of course) and shove my way to work, my question is answered: Yes, I am.

Although I am already familiar with the city, I still continue to discover new things about it everyday. For the next six months I will be living in Midtown West or Hell’s Kitchen as some people call it.

In between going to work, lounging on the weekends and running errands all around the city, I have learned a few things. So far I have discovered that Times Square is just a few blocks over, right in the middle of my subway stop to work. This is not ideal to say the least. Without fail, day or night, Times Square is a zoo, full of tourists and those who hate tourist’s, aka New Yorkers. I have also discovered that Duane Reade is the Holy Grail. If you ever move to New York, you will discover that large chain grocery stores are a dime a dozen and if you do luck out and find one you will be spending the next two to three hours in line, waiting to buy that pasta you so desperately need for dinner tonight. Truthfully you’re better off buying the $1 pizza slices on practically every New York corner. Who cares if it’s 1000 calories? You’re in New York. So, in place of grocery stores, we New Yorkers (yes, I do consider myself a New Yorker now) choose to purchase all the necessities at Duane Reade. Trust me, I never thought that I would be buying all of my kitchen essentials at a drugstore but ya do what you gotta do.

But finally, the most important thing that I have learned in the past two weeks is that it is essential, and I mean absolutely essential, that you have some comforts of home in your apartment. While New York City is big and full of thousands of people, it can still feel like the loneliest place on earth. Make sure that you spend time with friends, call your parents or just bring along some memories of home.

New York City really is the city that never sleeps, so here’s to not sleeping for the next six months because I don’t plan on missing out on anything that this city has to offer.