No DL Tailgate Parties Here

When I moved to Beijing, I unsubscribed from many New York-centric email lists about events, concerns, local groups of which I was a member. Each email made me miss the city and its quirkiness, an example of which is below:

date Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 10:48 PM
subject Dalai Lama Tailgate party

Let's down beery marys and grill some veggie dogs before the happiness lecture.

Wear your favorite jerseys and paint your face NFL style. Bring balls
and giant foam hands.

How awesome is that subject header?

I've traveled a bit and lived in New England through college, but never experienced homesickness until my move to Beijing. How funny -- I couldn't wait to start this new chapter in my life last February. Now every three weeks I'll long for things New York: diversity, fresh tasty non-Chinese foods (especially pesto and Couscous Royale), crisp relatively clean air, my group of creative and driven friends, street art, edginess, late night no-holds barred discussion about taboo subjects with strangers and living no more than four blocks away from a green space more beautiful than Central Park, a bodega which stocks Lindemanns, a stop for 2 subway lines and a restaurant which serves awesome cocktails (Kiss the Sky, mmm) and juicy burgers.

Above photo was taken in my old Brooklyn neighborhood. I miss you Park Slope!

I am not quite ready to admit that living in New York has spoiled all cities for me. However I will admit that being away from my comfort zone of all things familiar has made me know myself better, decide what I really like, really dislike and can survive without. When I leave Beijing, I wonder if I'll long for this city as well.