Wednesday, September 5, 2007

My Long Overdue Post

So so much to get through....this is gonna be a long and convoluted post

First things first, I am in New York now....got here safely with all my stuff so thats something to be happy about. LOL! My room is nice and I love the neighborhood that I am in. Overall, I really cannot complain....at least not yet..........

But lets start shall we

#1: My roommate bless his heart........he has to be one of if not the most socially awkward people that I have ever run across in 22 years. He kinda has a stuttering problem so it takes him a really long time to get what he wants to say out there. As a result when you try to talk to him or ask him a question, he pretty much just says that he "doesn't know" or that "he isn't sure" because I suppose that is easier that actually trying to say what he wants to. It makes me feel bad because he seems like a pretty nice kid who just kinda got the short end of the stick. Through my interactions with him thus far, I have realized that if i don't look at him when I ask a question, or when he is speaking, it makes it much easier for him to get his thoughts out there. It is gonna be an adjustment for me because I am not used to interacting to people like that. Oh well.

#2: Even though my room is pretty large for New York standards, it is still not what I am used to. It is gonna be quite an adjustment, and I had to send some stuff that I brought up with me back with my parents. Kinda upsetting, but necessary in my situation. I even had to send back some of my sneakers because I could not find room in my closet...hahaha! Those of you who I talk to on a regular basis will realize what a big deal this is.

#3: Everything is sooo fucking expensive! LOL! Obviously this is something that I knew coming in but I guess I didn't fully take it in. Looks like K is gonna have to get a job this semester. This is something that I didn't want to deal with having to do the first semester, because I wanted to be totally focused on classes and hopefully participating in some exciting research but it looks like I might have to revise my plans. Again...oh well.

#4: My poor parents are being even clingier than usual. I suppose I would be too if my only son was moving 1000 miles away to a big city, but my god people........let a brotha breathe! From Sunday to yesterday they insisted on spending like every single moment with me, it was quite stifling but I let them have the time because I know it must be really hard for them :(
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Ok, let me stop complaining and lets talk about my first couple of days here....

Sunday:

I moved into my place, and I went to IKEA to buy some shelves. By the way, what is really the big hoopla over this store? I just do not get it. As you may or may not know, IKEA has yet to open a Florida store, so Sunday was my first time in one...what a fucking madhouse! The aisles are way to narrow and the carts are too big for those aisles and all the merchandise in the showroom is so cobbled together throw in what seemed to be about 100,000 people constantly bumping into you and needless to say I was extremely irritated at the entire situation. In fact, I would put it on the top of my list of my worst shopping experiences ever. If it wasn't for the bookcase that I bought for $25 bucks, the entire excursion would have been a waste.

Monday:

Ok this was a fun, fun day. I met up with one of my best friends who just so happens to be working with a public relations firm here in the city. We will call him PR boy from now on, LOL! Anyways, I have known PR boy since 10th grade and we have been really good friends ever since. We went to UF together and we even pledged the same fraternity Freshman year....he went through with it, I dropped out w/in 2 weeks. The hazing situation did not sit well with me and I have a real problem with people trying to get me to do silly shit...but I digress.

When he found out that I was moving to NYC for school he was really excited and so was I. We are very much alike personality-wise and we share a lot of the same interests, minus the fact that he isn't gay. Haha! Anywho, on Monday he decided to show me around SoHo. We did some shopping and had a good chat about our futures and what we are trying to get out of living in the city, it was a really pleasant afternoon and it just reaffirmed the fact that he is a pretty open-minded guy and probably handle the fact that I am gay (when I do decide to come out) relatively well.

In addition to shoppping and chatting, we also had a celebrity sighting (my first in NYC after only 2 days). While we were in Uniqlo attempting to buy the entire store my friend runs up behind me and taps me on the shoulder......."OMFG bro look, its Leelee Sobieski. Surely enough, when I turned around, there she was in all her (what seemed to be) 5'10+ glory. She is quite pretty in person but she immediately lost points when I saw she had a personal assistant behind her carrying her little Yorkshire Terrier IN THE FUCKING STORE.

Ok, let me rant for a second. I cannot understand these people who take their dogs out shopping or to a restaurant etc etc. I mean really, what does little Fido need to be in a store with you while you are buying jeans? Bonus points off if I catch you toting them around in any sort of specially made Louis Vuitton/Gucci/Prada/Armani doggie carrier. No no no, leave the dog at home and stop carrying it around as if it is some kind of accessory......it is an animal for god sakes! Those people inevitably end up looking ridiculous 100% of the time IMHO.

Yesterday:

I bought some of my textbooks for the upcoming semester..always fun to part with hundreds of dollars worth of books that you will probably never use past graduation...but oh well. The afternoon was pretty nice, I spent it with my parents on the Upper East Side. It was their last full day there and my mom wanted do some exploring. We (slowly) made our way up Madison Avenue and eventually decided on ending the afternoon in Central Park. It was a wonderful day out and it was nice to just stroll and people watch for a while. Inevitably my pops proclaimed that he was hungry and we found our way to The Central Park Boathouse. Personally, I wasn't too impressed with the food, but my parents seemed to love it and you really cannot complain enjoying this kind of view during lunch!

After that, they drove me back to back to Brooklyn and we said our goodbyes. Unsurprisingly no one cried as my parents are pretty stoic people who tend not to show much if any emotion on their sleeves. I am still undecided on whether or not that is a good thing...but it is what it is I suppose.

Today:

The day of reckoning.....my first day of class as a grad student! ECK!!!!!! I am kinda nervous but I am trying to play it cool and keep it all in perspective. I just hope that I luck out and get really cool professors and have interesting people in my classes. I am only taking 9 credits this semester to make sure that I ace every single one of them...hopefully I can follow through with that. In the back of my mind I am also hoping that I have some hotties in my class that I can ogle/befriend (for anyone who has talked with me on a regular basis realizes that this comes as no surprise)! We will see how that works for me.

I am also doing lunch with my friend who just started up @ Columbia. She is another one who I would include in my top-10 list along with the others that I have mentioned. I have known her since 10th grade as well and we also went to UF together. Of all the people that I have been thinking about coming out to first, she always ends up at the top of my list. I will have to work out how I am gonna handle that situation in the future, but I am about 80%-90% sure that she will be cool and supportive. She has the bonus factor of also being one of the most outgoing and sociable people that I know....so maybe when I come out to her she can help me find a bf HAHAHA! She also told me yesterday that she had a feeling that good percentage of the guys in her program at Teachers College are gay. Obvious she was kinda upset because that kinda hurts her chances with the limited amount of guys in her program (only 20% are male). Personally, I don't see how she will have a problem meeting a guy as she is really pretty and has an amazing personality. Hopefully when I come out I can put her to work to scope out some guys for me....LOL I am horrible.

I better get moving quick tho, she already said to me an PR boy last night that she has some girls that she wants to introduce us to....

AWKWARD!!!!!

4 comments:

Closeted said...

Have fun on your first day of class and I hope you meet lots of hotties, let me know how it goes.

Pete said...

Great story! Keep us informed. And stay away from the Swedish sawdust furniture, even though you can fix it with matchsticks if it breaks.

Unknown said...

FYI - Ikea is building a store in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm not exactly sure where, but I think it's somewhere in the Davy/Plantation area near 595. If it hasn't opened yet, I'm sure it must be going to open real soon. Personally, I've only been in the one in ATL and I agree it's certainly overwhelming!

J.R. said...

NYC is so much fun, man. I can't wait to read about all your adventures, I know you're going to have some good ones.

I remember when they expanded the one in Houston (to being the then-largest Ikea in the US) there were people camped out for days so they could get free shit on opening day. Madhouse indeed. I only went to my first Ikea here in SOCAL... It's an alright place. Ha.

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