It's the little things in life.
Some of these things I never realized I would miss when coming from the West Coast to the East. The phrase you always hear but never take to heart, until you're living in a moment that forces you to understand why it is a phrase at all.
Ah, what I would give to have a ventilation system in my home or parking lots in front of every shop. Often times, you dream of moving to the East Coast, to a city like New York City. You dream of dreaming. You dream of the lights, the charity balls, the fashion, the shows and the wondrous architecture. You want to live somewhere with the brown stone brick walls, stone buildings and you desire the seasons. All of this certainly has a way of pulling you in.
After your a few weeks into living out East, realization hits and the seasons were more than you knew. You fashion requires a lot of change, for some people that may be a good thing, and you realize in the big city, things were more fast paced than you'd imagined. (Even though you told everyone you understand). You see why people say big cities aren't as "laid back"... Or so you hear.
If you are a big city dreamer, and you want to be in the city; not near it, you may find yourself applying for every job to get there. Preferably, we all want something our hearts are in or our degree should get us, but life after college is not always as promising as it seems. For some. For myself, it is still a challenge.
Until one day, you sign a lease for your cute four-story walk up, whether you are in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Chicago or any other city out East, and everything changes. You walk in and see the old wood, the floor squeals and then you wonder what the big metal thing is under your window. Spiders and bugs have a bigger presence here for sure. You really do need to get an umbrella and rain can ruin shoes. These are some of the things you may learn if you were not familiar already.
Some people may not actually get to see an apartment in person before relocating to a city, especially if there's a time restraint. Sure, you try to Skype or make the best of the photos, but it is all about the details.
If you are from the Western portion of the nation, you truly may not have paid attention in watching shows like "How I Met Your Mother," where that metal thing in your apartment, is called a radiator. Those things on the outside of the buildings are called fire escapes. (I am sure you would have guessed.)
Again, it is the little things in life that you never knew mattered to you, the things you never thought twice about previously.
You never imagine missing an air vent or changing one out, or you never knew how long winter could truly last. All homes are different and you will find some anywhere with air vents or without but the change is still there.
You do not think you will miss wearing dresses without tights and you always go to put on some shorts, forgetting you can't! You realize you cannot turn it to a temperature you want in a lot of places... you have to accept the heater on or off on the building's terms.
When you have a change like this with a big move, you start to pay attention to requirements on your next home. Sometimes, you find yourself missing the West Coast and how much more spread out it was, for the most part. (Think, big parking lots and single story shops everywhere.) I suppose the Western part of the nation has that general vibe to it and out East it can be that way too, just less than what a person may of been used to if never visiting a different part of the country prior.
Once you get to a city like New York, you start to miss your open spaces, new bathrooms, the square footage for the price, the type of paint on the walls, the smooth asphalt and new pavement... then you look around, stare out at this historic brick and the history that surrounds you and you know, you wouldn't change it for anything in the world. (Even though I just learned what a poncho is.)
If this is what you wanted, you don't intend to waste the opportunity to be where you are. You start to fall in love with gloves, the way you love the heat the radiator gives off, walking everywhere, and all the people you start to meet from all sorts of different places! You may realize that you wouldn't have it any other way; change could be a good thing. Those few things and the change you adjust to is worth it.
