Why, after a year of life, I'm still leaving New York - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

Why, after a year of life, I still leave from New York

New York. Photo by Elena Base

New York. Photo by Elena Base

I sat down the other day to reread my posts a year ago about my first impressions when I first arrived in New York. When I read it, tears of tenderness came to my eyes from my own naivety. I look like a child there, not yet beaten by emigrant life - I admire Empire, claim that there is no “other mentality” and enjoy my work. Oddly enough, over the past year I have changed my perspective on many things.

From the side it seems that the year passed incredibly fast, but for me the time went just as it should. And this year I experienced more events and changes than all my 23 years before. When I arrived here, I did not expect anything, did not make any plans and did not think whether I would live here or not. But by the end of the year I decided to return home to Kiev.

The creative director several times offered to stay, they were ready to apply for a new visa, and they wanted to serve me as a blogger (apparently with a hint that I have more merits in blogging than in design). But in the end, I still refused both the visa and the work contract. Why?

Work. New York is perfect for work and career, I already wrote why. Before coming here, I already worked in the office, and was a year and a half on freelancing (also wrote), and here again returned to office. For this year, again convinced that I was not an office man. Because at the height of success, I decided to end my career as a web designer. I can't work only for money. My experience here is invaluable, but when my career ceased to be a priority for me, I again decided that there was no longer any sense of sitting in an office, even if it was in New York.

Rent. Suffice it to say that I pay half my salary for a room (!) in Brooklyn. Yes, can you advise me to find a better paying job? But then I will want to move to a normal apartment, which will again cost half of my new salary. Find a more expensive job and stay cheaper? In theory, yes, but what's the point? Sleeping on the floor on a mattress for years to - what? To show off on Facebook that I live in New York?

Medicine. This is such a pitfall that many simply forget. For me personally, medicine is closed here. Yes, I have insurance, but it does not cover 100% costs. A doctor's consultation costs $ 200, I’m not talking about the cost of any treatment or a small operation. Put a seal? Go for grinding? Delete a cyst? To make X-ray or ultrasound? Ahaha. I don’t have extra hundreds of dollars, but I’m not ready to go without examinations. My friends go home every six months, they run to the doctors and come back. For me personally, this is not the level of self-care I was used to.

Beauty service. Oh, this is my favorite topic. I’m sure many will not understand why the absence of this ruins my life so much. I often tell stories about the worst manicure. In New York, there is no good manicure (of the quality we are used to in the CIS), styling here is done with the left foot (in hipster salons), in the cheapest salons, body and facial care costs $200 and more. I haven’t even had my hair cut once in a year because I’m just afraid. I generally keep quiet about hair removal, massage and pedicure. Moreover, I’m not the only one who notices this - everyone I talked to in the USA agrees that the service here is of strange quality. Yes, you can find Russian girls and go to Brighton Beach, but again...

Friends. You can prove to me endlessly that it’s easy to make new friends, and that I’m just not trying. I made new acquaintances with Instagrammers, talked a lot at my blogging events, I have a couple of good English-speaking friends, but I can’t call them friends. I wasn’t particularly eager to join the Russian diaspora, because being friends just because you speak the same language is a dubious pleasure. As a result, we communicate with only one Nina constantly. Once it seemed that I had two and a half friends in Kyiv, but now I look from the outside and understand how many people are waiting for me, and how much I miss everyone. And what makes me happy is not Kyiv as such, but my friends and family, who are all there.

Language. I once condemned this in other emigrants, but now I realized how much I miss it myself. Due to the fact that English is not my native language, it is difficult for me to understand a person’s intonations. That is, we seem to be communicating, but I don’t understand his feelings at all, especially since our English here is the same as at school, “very good oak table.” Yes, it will get better and easier over the years, but, to be honest, I don’t even have the desire to wait and hope that one day I will begin to understand emotions in a conversation. I manage to understand only one Frenchman from half a sentence; with the rest it’s difficult, even after a year. But this is my personal thing, I know our guys who are absolutely comfortable making new English-speaking friends and communicating only with them.

Background This is also my problem personally, but due to the fact that there are people here from all over the world, it is impossible for me to communicate in everyday life. We don’t have any common background (culture, childhood, etc.), and a new acquaintance always turns into an interview - what are you, how are you, how are you? And always the same questions. And if you don’t watch local TV and local shows, then it’s a lost cause, especially if you find yourself in the company of American citizens who are not visitors. There is a joke there, and you are like a ram at a new gate. So I need to integrate a lot to feel comfortable.

People around. I'm only talking about my perception. At first I was amazed that people were open, easy to get in touch with, easy to get to know. But as time passes, I understand that I simply cannot live among these people. They are not bad - they are different. New York is a heterogeneous society, and I feel uncomfortable in it.

And so it turns out, the rent is cruel, medicine and care are not available, there are no friends, people around me are annoying, and working in an office is not my thing. I don’t have a soul for this country at all, there are dozens of other cool countries around, so I just don’t see the point in staying here now.

So that you do not think that I do not like this city, I will also tell you about the pros.

Food. Just a stunning selection of everything that you can imagine, especially I am pleased with the meat without antibiotics and the availability of fruit in the winter.

Establishments. There are so many “right” restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops in New York that even in a year I couldn’t see everything in my Foursquare.

Opportunities. Here you can fly to the very top, just by meeting the right people, but in this city it is easy.

Architecture. It has it all: from the magical underground in Brooklyn to the hi-end fashion in the Upper West Side, which only cost brown townhouses in the West Village and Central Park itself.

Freedom. Here you won’t be judged for anything, they won’t be surprised by your hair color or strange shoes, it’s comfortable here to be gay or raise a child with two fathers. You can realize all the freest views in this city, the only question is - do you really need it?

State. Even as an emigrant, I feel protected by the state. I can complain about anything, and the truth will be on my side. Well, the fact that the state is serious about the architecture of the city, public spaces, protection of citizens, etc...

Well, I also like that parcels from Amazon and Sephora arrive in 2 days, that any new books can be bought on the day of release, any brands, any products - everything is available. But much of this is available in Europe, of course.

New York

Washington Square Park

New York

New York

Woops williamsburg

New York

New York

New York

New York

Laduree NYC

New York

Sixty Soho

New York

MoMA

New York

New York

New York

I have an eloquent story: a year and a half ago, I came across the LJ girl from Moscow, who lived with her husband and child in New York, and her last post was that she was returning to Moscow because she simply could not live comfortably in New York, does not want to raise a child in this city, misses friends and relatives, the Russian language and usual things. Then I read it and thought “oh my God, how you need to be narrow-minded to miss the Russian language! Do not want to raise a child in America! And friends? You can make new ones! ”.

Now, I think the same way as she did then: I miss my language, I don’t want to raise children in America, and no, I don’t make friends right away. This story very well taught me not to condemn when I myself have no identical experience. Anyway, do not condemn.

I notice 2 more subtle points. The first is that almost all my friends moved to the USA with their families, that is, husband and wife together. This is generally a key detail, because it makes you feel safe. And when you come alone, it’s a completely different experience and different experiences.

And second. People often write to me on Instagram: “Oh, I was in New York for a week and fell in love so much, I don’t understand how you can want to leave this magical city!” There are so many comments like this that I’m already laughing. Well, baby, you came for a week from a dull CIS city to New York, ate oysters here every day, walked through Central Park and Times Square, bought all the cosmetics, saw off the sunsets with a cocktail on the rooftop and then returned again to your rainy city . Well of course you will fall in love! For the first six months, I also idolized every little thing here. But sometimes people forget that tourism and emigration are two completely different experiences. Of course, I can write 10 more posts like this, but until you feel it for yourself, you won’t understand.

It was an amazing year - with a lot of travel, new discoveries, new experiences and impressions. But somehow everything got too twisted and changed.

I love New York, I am grateful to this city and the people who brought me here. For invaluable experience, for the opportunity to travel throughout America. For sharing my life in Before and After. Thanks to New York for taking me out of my comfort zone, which in June brought me to the very bottom, which in August changed my outlook, which allowed me to become a blogger, which made it possible to open up and look at relationships from a different angle, which closed my Gestalt “I want to leave the country”, gave me money, showed what I can do, and opened up new opportunities.

Over the 2016 year, I visited Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and rode Kubrick in New York State. And she sang along with Tom Radio on Radiohead, cried at Riana’s concert, admired Florence and the Machine’s voice, jumped at Bonobo at the club and, of course, went crazy and broke her voice along with Kanye West. Completely changed my wardrobe and thoughts, moved to a new apartment, 6 went to the gym every day, bought a professional camera, a fur coat and heels, every 3 month was on vacation, went ankle-deep in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, finished her career and finally figured out what i want Dad always joked: “Who understood life - he quit his job”. And now I think it was not a joke.

What am I going to do in Kiev? Manage commercial Instagrams of stores and restaurants, advise designers on working in America and brands on design. And I will work on my projects. And finally, just enjoy life. Otherwise, before, I was constantly waiting for something, now someone will come into my life - and everything will be cool, now I’ll move - and it’ll be cool, now I’ll find a new job - and it’ll be cool. Constantly waiting, but nothing inside changed. But the universe brought me here so that I could look at myself from the outside, thousands of kilometers away from my comfort zone, and New York itself became a trigger and an ideal place of upbringing to show me that everything is possible, that I can get everything I want. I dream, if you are not afraid of change and do not come up with hundreds of excuses.

Of course, I don’t talk about a lot of personal things on my blog, but there are even more changes and colors there. So my return home is not the end of the fairy tale, but only its beginning. And I can’t wait to see how it will turn out. I know for sure that I will miss New York, but I will have all of Europe and Asia at my fingertips! And for me it is much more beautiful and diverse than America: Paris, beloved Berlin, London, Iceland and Dubai are ahead. The light did not converge like a wedge on New York alone - and thank God. And I can return here at any time, so why make some kind of tragedy out of it, right? ?

And on Instagram my new adventures - @elenabazu.

Blog text published on Online Elena Base. Reprinted with permission of the author. The material used by the author.

If you want to be the author of the column on ForumDaily, send your stories to [email protected]

See also:

Personal experience: New York through the eyes of a novice

7 of things that New Yorkers lack

10 tips for tourists on how to ride the subway in New York

Personal experience. How to get kids to school in New York

 

New York New York loudspeakers
Subscribe to ForumDaily on Google News

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis. 



 
1063 requests in 1,270 seconds.