Thursday, October 27, 2011

Apartment hunting!


For the first 2 weeks after we arrived we went apartment hunting, neighborhood hunting and furniture hunting…I guess the one I hate the most is the furniture part, probably because it seems to be never-ending! Probably also because it hurts to know that we HAVE furniture and pots and pans and books and cups and bed sheets and all that in an attic in Brussels instead of here with us and knowing that we have to buy all that stuff that we already have because we can’t ship it really really sucks! Yes, it’s fun to decorate and start all over again but not when your rent is so ridiculously expensive…it really takes all the fun out of doing that stuff!
Honestly, why oh why is New York so expensive???
Yes, I love that I can go to the theather and the cinema, museums and gallery openings, Broadway shows and great restaurants but damn does that stuff add up! Since J is working already I get to spend my time (other than scouring the net for jobs that is!) in coffee shops and furniture shops and simultaneously in coffee shops looking at furniture shops (online) and most of the times I've been in coffee shops I hear at least one person complain about how much rent they have to pay and how much they have to sacrifice just to live in New York! Tell me again why this is the greatest city on earth ‘cause my wallet begs to differ!
Yes, I know, shouldn't complain, really shouldn't but I can’t help but grip that’s all…
I started attending these spouse workshops that are provided by J’s institution, it’s been helpful but when I hear that some of them have been here for months even years and they still don’t have a job, well, you can imagine what that does to one’s nervous system!
Right so, now that we’re done with apartment hunting, I need to get on the job hunting train! Until then, I guess I’ll just keep looking at furniture…

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

New York, we have arrived!



Well, two weeks ago to be exact!

For those that have only started following me now (if I can be so presumptuous as to think that I have followers!) my story is anything but simple, it hasn't been a straight line but it has been quite a ride (so far)!

I've recently moved from a country that most people don’t know or have even heard of to the one that EVERYONE knows about, even if they either love it or hate it. To be precise, I've moved from Lao PDR in Southeast Asia (yes, the only one that is landlocked!) where we (the hubby and I) were ‘stationed’ for a year, to New York City, USA where we will be for the next 2 years! It’s a drastic and traumatizing change to say the least, the one that is suffering the most from this change is my wallet, and well, my tan!

So, the way this blog will work (or attempt to) is just what the title indicates…ramblings, sometimes diatribes, of life in this concrete jungle that is New York, especially after life in the real jungle that was Laos (p.s. I have another blog that precedes this one just in case you’re interested: www.lifeinlaos.tumblr.com, feel free to check it out!)

Join me, follow me, or not, whatever, I’ll still probably keep writing, if not just
for my sanity…of what I see and encounter in this big big city that we've all come to love (yes, you know you do!): New York, we have arrived!!