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How the city you live in becomes your own
Bindiya Apr 15, 2010
Article Source: The Roving Travellers' Store
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Bindiya Apr 15, 2010
Its a very mixed
feeling when you move into a new city. Trust me, I know, having done it
4 times in the 6 years that I have been married, two times within my
country and twice outside. There is a sense of excitement, nervousness
and the fear of unfamiliarity. You are about to see a new place, hence
the excitement, more so for those of us who love to travel and explore.
But you don't know anything about the city; you don't know where you'll
live, who your neighbours will be, how you will commute; you don't even
know where you will buy your grocery! And you know that the first few
days without this knowledge, especially in a foreign land, would be
strenuous and full of all kinds of searches, online and otherwise,
hence the nervousness.
The last time I moved was to a city I had barely heard of, thousands of miles from my country. It was nearing the peak of winter and with a baby who had just turned 1 year old, my feelings were indeed mixed. We were visiting Scotland for the first time and had heard it was a beautiful country, but there were just so many unknowns. I can never forget the day we reached Edinburgh. My feelings tilted towards a bit of anxiety the moment we got out of the cab. We were greeted with very heavy winds and rain, the kind we had never experienced before. I rushed indoors with my little son who could not figure out what had hit him and was bawling away. My husband struggled with the many suitcases we had brought to drag them inside as fast as he could. The city also received its first snowfall of the season that day, which we were later told was not that often in that area. We somehow fought the weather to get a shuttle into the city for something to eat and necessary grocery shopping. Luckily we found fellow countrymates in the shuttle who gave us some basic information about the place. The first few days with that bad weather, not knowing anybody AND my son falling ill too, made us apprehensive. We did not identify with the place at all.
It was as if, this city could never be our own.
Slowly we found our footing and things got better. We found ourselves a nice furnished apartment with great public transport connections. Cable and internet was set up and we felt connected to the world again. Nearby grocery stores, big departmental stores, great shopping streets, bus routes to important places, polite and honest people - the city opened its arms for us. From the second week itself, the gloomy weather did not look so gloomy. And the streaks of sun that shone through the curtains off and on brought more cheer. The initial setup nervousness and fears had gone, and now it was time to EXPLORE! The best place to begin was the internet, which told us everything we needed to know about the amazing city we had landed in. The history, the people, the tourist spots, everything. Weekends turned into city breaks, with us taking the bus to every worthwhile place inside the city and a rented car to few outside. I started doing mystery shopping assignments in my spare time and that made me more aware of different parts of the city. We never did get to know our neighbours ;), but made a few friends from my husband's office.
With time, a sense of pride and fondness had set in, for the street we lived on, the areas we frequented like our usual grocery store, the library where I used to take my son, the store where I bought his clothes, the beautiful parks in the vicinity where we went for walks and my son's swings excursions, the malls we visited for window shopping and the occassional sales shopping, the food joints for eating out..and so much more.
Now I could be the one telling newcomers what they needed to know when they came to the city, where to and where not to live, where to and where not to shop, where to and where not to eat. What else is there to know!
It was as if, this city was our very own.:)
The last time I moved was to a city I had barely heard of, thousands of miles from my country. It was nearing the peak of winter and with a baby who had just turned 1 year old, my feelings were indeed mixed. We were visiting Scotland for the first time and had heard it was a beautiful country, but there were just so many unknowns. I can never forget the day we reached Edinburgh. My feelings tilted towards a bit of anxiety the moment we got out of the cab. We were greeted with very heavy winds and rain, the kind we had never experienced before. I rushed indoors with my little son who could not figure out what had hit him and was bawling away. My husband struggled with the many suitcases we had brought to drag them inside as fast as he could. The city also received its first snowfall of the season that day, which we were later told was not that often in that area. We somehow fought the weather to get a shuttle into the city for something to eat and necessary grocery shopping. Luckily we found fellow countrymates in the shuttle who gave us some basic information about the place. The first few days with that bad weather, not knowing anybody AND my son falling ill too, made us apprehensive. We did not identify with the place at all.
It was as if, this city could never be our own.
Slowly we found our footing and things got better. We found ourselves a nice furnished apartment with great public transport connections. Cable and internet was set up and we felt connected to the world again. Nearby grocery stores, big departmental stores, great shopping streets, bus routes to important places, polite and honest people - the city opened its arms for us. From the second week itself, the gloomy weather did not look so gloomy. And the streaks of sun that shone through the curtains off and on brought more cheer. The initial setup nervousness and fears had gone, and now it was time to EXPLORE! The best place to begin was the internet, which told us everything we needed to know about the amazing city we had landed in. The history, the people, the tourist spots, everything. Weekends turned into city breaks, with us taking the bus to every worthwhile place inside the city and a rented car to few outside. I started doing mystery shopping assignments in my spare time and that made me more aware of different parts of the city. We never did get to know our neighbours ;), but made a few friends from my husband's office.
With time, a sense of pride and fondness had set in, for the street we lived on, the areas we frequented like our usual grocery store, the library where I used to take my son, the store where I bought his clothes, the beautiful parks in the vicinity where we went for walks and my son's swings excursions, the malls we visited for window shopping and the occassional sales shopping, the food joints for eating out..and so much more.
Now I could be the one telling newcomers what they needed to know when they came to the city, where to and where not to live, where to and where not to shop, where to and where not to eat. What else is there to know!
It was as if, this city was our very own.:)
Article Source: The Roving Travellers' Store
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