Welcome to New York!
First Month Recap
A month ago, I was flying to New York and starting a new life here. Time hasn’t really flown by as I’ve been exhausted through it all especially with the start of grad school last week. I find myself at the brink of burnout even though things are just getting started!!! I feel as if in grad school, it’s this constant imposter syndrome mentality mixed with the feeling of being perpetually behind, ahhh! Honestly, from complete social isolation and confinement for a year and a half due to the pandemic and then back-to-person everything here at Columbia and in New York, I initially had a bit of a shock when I first arrived. Perhaps, I still do but processing it subconsciously. I’m still journaling every day and will include some snippets here and there in the blogs. All in all, it has been a heaps of change and I’m still adjusting but I feel a lot more settled in and grateful for this next chapter :,) This is the first of what I hope many more monthly recaps of both the highs and lows of grad school and life in New York! Just putting it out there, this will be as much of a truthful reflection and a recap of the whole process ~
*you’ll have to forgive me for grammar, I’m pretty much capturing this verbatim!
Arriving in NYC (First Week: Aug 16 - Aug 21)
The day I left for New York, I was more nervous than excited. In my head, there were about a bajillion things that could go wrong. I had packed most of my bags months in advance and replayed various scenarios during COVID-19 so that I could have the right documents and be prepared. Luckily, on the day of everything went as planned. No delays arriving into LGA, no missing baggage, no obnoxious passengers, a very nice US border security agent, on-time planes, so forth. I was very fortunate to have my dad coming with me to New York to help me settle in and move things into my apartment the next day (17th). It was his first time on the East Coast US and so I felt incredibly happy that I could walk him through the Columbia campus and that we could spend some time together. In fact, I got to know sides of my father I hadn’t especially as he had college and high school friends here that we got to visit. Shortly put, the first week was him and I commuting on NJ transit to visit his friend (who I call Uncle). For the next week, my dad and I got to be driven around by Uncle on various trips (Princeton, NJ; Rutgers University; UPenn, PA). It was a hectic but fun week to get to meet my dad’s childhood and university friends. It gave me an opportunity to piece together who my dad was when he was my age! The life of the party it seems haha. We did get a chance in between these road trips to actually move my stuff into Columbia Residential (graduate housing apartments), pick out some furniture items, and do a few grocery runs. Let’s just say previous tenants (ie. Columbia students) must have had too lit of a time to upkeep the place so lots of cleaning and maintenance was required.
Settling in NYC (Second/ Third Weeks: Aug 21 - Aug 31)
After my father left, I took more time to unpack, clean, and decorate the apartment. I caved into US Amazon Student prime and got things easily shipped (cloths, small organizers, etcetera). I will have to say that NYC is super convenient. Anything you want, you can get shipped free. I can see how this can feed shopping addictions and consumerism… so I’m being mindful of that. First step to change is acknowledgement. Noted. During this time, there was a big storm (the first of two) that would hit New York and other New England states. Lots of rain. Like Toronto, when it rains here, it absolutely pours.
In fact, here’s a snapshot of a journal entry from the night it was pouring heavily. The day I left Vancouver it was raining and I always love the rain for some reason. Nostalgic feelings.
Because of how tired I was with the road trips and moving in, I really enjoyed falling asleep to the sounds. It was very therapeutic. Though because there was also a heat wave going on in New York and because I didn’t have AC, the rain was like a way of offsetting the heat for me. I also found that since I was so tired, I often curled up with my kobo to finish a few books (Pachinko, Crying in H Mart, and The Friend Zone).
Aug 31 - Sept 9 At this point, an option math camp began so I had classes for three hours each morning. I decided a bit brashly that I would take advantage of the afternoons and evenings to explore the city (as opposed to say reviewing my notes and doing the optional homework to better prepare myself). *To be fair, I knew that once school started I would have less time to explore…so I began to explore the parts of the city that I hadn’t got the chance to cover as in-depth when I had visited NYC prior to 2017 and 2018. Places like the Guggenheim and Whitney Museums (but of course had to revisit MoMA as well). With all the touristy things and monuments under my belt from previous visits, I loved to just wander through different neighbours kind of like I did in France. It was glorious because rather than specifically checking off a to-do list, I could serendipitously encounter cool places. Journal entries from Sept 3rd and 6th are below. On the 3rd, I went to the Whitney Museum, which 10/10 recommend! An incredible gallery with spectacular exhibitions and breathtaking views on the terrace. On the 6th, I recap my time at Madison Square Garden. I had a busier day by checking out the Union Square fresh green market and then seeking out a take-out dim sum place for dinner.
As you can tell by the photos, I had a great time seeking out sweets and indulging my sweet tooth. I tried Barachou’s cream puffs and revisited Milk Bar on the UWS. A note on Barachou, I am at the moment craving their puffs and their special tiramisu some of the best I’ve ever tasted. And well Milk Bar is not what I remembered from that time I got it in 2017. Maybe it was little me enamored with New York and thinking it was the best thing I ever tasted. Now, the soft serve at Milk Bar seems to be diluted down a lot and so much sweeter than I can take (which is saying a lot considering me)! Also the Union Square greenmarket, is so fresh. Berry season is officially over but I bought some blueberries and raspberries before they were gone and such a bang for my buck. A whole bucket for $5 usd and it lasted me a week and a half (so much fresher than the ones at the store). Organic and supporting local, sign me up please! That is why, I go every week now even if it’s a 30 minute commute. Highly worth. Oh and the other thing I started loving about Manhattan were the convenience of the subway lines. Bless the 1 line. And the yellow lines (I think the N, Q, and R?). Anyhow, for $2.75, you can get anywhere your dreams are calling you. Oh and how could I forget, the highlight at the Whitney was spotting Georgia O’Keefe from literally a mile away. One of my favourite artists and I was like OMGG! The last things from this week were my desire to check out Everlane and Reformation IRL. I tried things on at both stores but only ended up buying a 50% discounted dress on the sale rack at Reformation (which you’ll see me in *one day, say you’ll remember me…standing in a nice dress starting at the sunset babeee and yes Wildest Dream’s TV was released today so a homage to Swift).
Fourth Week: Sept 10 - 17
I don’t think I’m numbered these weeks correctly but eh, c’est la vie? Let’s just say, I just adapted to New York, the USA, a new life living by myself after a pandemic year with my family, and then bam, school starts. Full time. In person. Socials. People. Professors. Excitement. Classes. SO MUCH TO DO. More classes I want to take but can’t. More excitement. Adrenaline. Exhaustion. Books. Books. Books. READING! HOMEWORK! I can’t take it my body said on Wednesday after eight hours of class. It fully collapsed onto a pile of books and fell asleep. Seriously. I forgot the last time I felt so physically and emotionally drained. Perhaps, a year ago when I was making the decision to apply for ten grad programs. Never again. Except, here we are. So that happened! I adjusted accordingly and preceded to take the next night off from homework and thought I would have the self control to stop myself after watching the 9/11 documen-series on Netflix but nope, straight up jumped to Private Practice. In all seriousness, the biggest highlight of my NYC life at this point in time are my two to three 8-10km runs a week in Central Park and my breakfast combo (poached egg w/ arugula + avocado on toast with a berry banana smoothie). Keeping myself hydrated, healthy, and rested are the top priorities and I’ve been doing that relatively well. The exception was this past week: with school going full speed ahead and a thing called ‘shopping week’ at the Ivys. Essentially, I took 1.5 times extra courses because I was like why not? Decision paralysis from all the choices. In the end, it worked out. At this point, I think I’m just word vomiting but there’s a point to this. I’ve grown a lot in this past month on showing myself more grace. I’ve worked on maintaining accountability in terms of my own well-being by setting boundaries and communication in my personal life but also worked on growing my time for mindfulness in the mornings. I try at the least to do a 10 minute morning stretch every morning (NTC app) or to do 10 minutes of meditation (Headspace) or to journal for 10 minutes or read my daily devotion (Bible app). The best days are the ones where I wake up early to do them all AND get a long run in Central Park under my belt. Seems almost impossible these days though… On days like that, I feel super boss (like a mix between Harvey Specter and Jenn Im)!
And so below, we see some screenshots of digital diaries. Unfortunately, no consistency in how I numbered them. This is a reminder for next time. Please forgive me, my fellow meticulous friends.
So moving ahead, I’m going to be more mindful of my bandwidth and how much is on my plate when there are so many new and exciting opportunities that have just unfolded in literally less than a week. Next week, I’m hoping that my swimsuit will finally arrive (after being lost in the mail 2x) so that I can try out Columbia’s swimming pool. I love swimming and it’s been two years since I’ve done so. I also discovered a very cute plant store but very pricey plant store (Plantshed) on the UWS. I looked and I touched but did not buy. Hurrah, self control! But tell me, can you resist a succulent in a giraffe container? No, I didn’t think so… except the price tag was a whole different story :(
I spent Labour Day weekend just relaxing on a picnic blanket in Central Park reading Crying in H Mart and tearing up by listening to childhood songs (mostly Taylor Swift). Oh and how fun! I got a record 20 mosquito bites from 3 picnic outings I had with 3 separate friends. Actually, a very cool story. All three I met via Linkedin (through many mutual connections) and I’m so lucky I got to do a picnic with them and hear their life stories! Then I saw 3 other friends I hadn’t seen in a while. One from Trinity College! One from the UN Youth Assembly conference in NYC (2017), and my childhood friend of sixteen years. I got to recreate a four-year memory photo at Bow Bridge and hit up two restaurants that are highly acclaimed (Altro Paradiso and La Mercerie). YUMMY, the food was so good. Let’s be honest, my food is also very good and healthy but all I have is salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and soy sauce as my spice cabinet at the moment. To top it all off, I had my first pouring rain run in Central Park. My toes were squishy about 1/3 of the way in. And there was another storm, a deadly one, that passed through NY and unfortunately, many people passed from flooding. I felt a lot of guilt and also spent some time journaling in Central Park on why the victims of the flood had to pass away. I still think about what it means to live and why or how I’m afforded time on this earth.
Goals for Next Month
Get a better grip on grad school!
Visit places such as Pebble Beach, Coney Island, Governors Island, Williamsburg, Met Cloisters, LIC, LES (dive bar on the east side, where you at?), and hopefully the Hamptons?!
Journal and meditate more consistently
Get some eggs benny brunch + waffles
Take advantage of the warm weather!
