New York, what a year. As we start to slow down for the holidays, we’ve had a bit of time to look back on the year that’s been; and bloody hell it’s been a big one. This post isn’t a recap of our activities, more of a reflection of the friendships we’ve made.
Packing up your life and moving across the world is such an adventure. America has been extremely good to us and we’ve been really lucky with how things have turned out. Work has been really fulfilling, clients love the accent and (most) locals love the lazy way we talk with our abbreviated words. But socially it’s been interesting; when the fakes are better than the LVs you pick up on your way through Hong Kong, it’s hard to tell who’s genuine and who’s not; but you find out soon enough.
It does takes a while to find you tribe in a new city, let-alone a new country, and it’s taken a while for us to navigate around the social norms, but we’re getting there. There’s been a lot of face saving along the way, which was a surprising cultural difference. There’s a lot of enduring people who you really, truly can’t stand, which is accompanied with a lot of smiles and shallow laughs. Free time spent with friends seems more like an obligation, which has been slightly bizarre to observe. I was talking to a girlfriend here about it, who had some really interesting insights. Her perspective was that it could stem from America’s marriage to religion, being a good Christian / Catholic /etc and pretending everything is okay M-F and then repenting all your sins on Sunday. Could be ??♀️ I don’t know, but it was an interesting take.
It’s been on my mind for a while now, the unusual social interactions we’ve experienced and the way people, friends, and colleagues treat each other here. Its been particularly interesting to observe women in the workforce too. There are a lot who are extremely savage to each other 9-5 and then go for drinks together after work ?
It’s so important to find that sense of belonging, no matter where you are in the world. For expats, you really do feel part of a global community once you find your tribe, or even just tribe members, here and there. People you connect with, who get you. We’re all on this journey together, and you can choose to ride alone with your car full of fake LVs, or hop in a passenger car with your nearest and dearest.
Amongst all the strange observations, we have been lucky enough to have found some of the best people the USA has produced ??. When I think about the highlights over the last year and a half and the friends we’ve experienced these moments with, I couldn’t feel luckier. Thank you to those who have been real, to who have been genuine, and to those who are always so inclusive. It means more than you know.
