Skip to main content

The Simple Joys


Central Park
My answer to people when they ask me how I like New York is to say something diplomatic like “I’m glad it’s only for five years” or “I’ll get used to it” or “It’s the complete opposite of Turku.”

This last answer is my favorite to think about. Turku was quiet, peaceful, homogeneous, clean, easy-going. New York is loud, aggressive, diverse, dirty and rushed. I felt at home in Turku, I do not feel at home here. (Though diversity is one thing that New York has going for it over Turku)



But there are small pleasures I have discovered and so I will devote this post to those small moments of joy in my new, temporary home.



My version of coffee


1.     Coffee. This is not unique to New York— in fact, I actually make it at home so I could make it anywhere—but I have found that nothing compares to making a cup of Indian style cappuccino (hand whipped instant coffee with lots of sugar and only milk) while I read articles for class.

    2. The Teacher’s College Campus. Teacher’s College is the graduate school for education at Columbia. It is old and therefore, the architecture is beautiful and majestic. It feels like important things must happen within these walls. Also, the TC library is wonderfully cozy and my favorite place to study even late into the evenings.

3.     Architecture. While walking down a commercial street, you will suddenly notice a building that looks like it came out of the early 1900’s. It might now be a CVS but you can tell there is history in the walls. Sometimes there are plaques that give you a snippet of this history.

4. The parks. Central Park is a mile away and a very accessible place to go on a stroll. I now understand why New Yorkers are so proud of it. There are so many nooks in the park that you could spend a week exploring it and still not find all the secret spots. I love going on runs through the park or taking some readings I need to do and sitting in the grass with my aforementioned mug of coffee. There are also other parks which are also wonderful running spots.

Teacher's College
  5. The diversity. I do enjoy the many different kinds of people here.  My cohort has people from all walks of life, from teachers who have taught in New York for almost two decades to some who have been studying for longer than we have taught (like me). There is racial diversity, diversity in ages and diversity in experiences. It makes for interesting conversation and interesting class discussions.



So, in the times that I feel lonely or poor because of the exorbitant New York prices, I try to remember these small moments that make New York worth coming to. I know there are many more things the city has to offer but I have found that it is better to take my time. New York is not going anywhere and neither am I. At least for a while.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finnish Differences

Time is a funny thing. It seems to move in leaps and bounds at times and at times it moves slower than molasses. Right now it's doing both. I can't believe it's only been a week and yet I can't believe it's already been a week. Sunset in Helsinki This week I've been in Helsinki for our Fulbright orientation. We learned a lot of information and it would be impossible for me to fit all of it into a reasonable amount of space so I will leave that summary for another day. But a week has given me some time to notice some differences in how things work in Finland and how they work in the US. I thought I would highlight five here that encompass a fair variety of my experiences so far. I have to give credit to my friend Marie who helped me with this list. Many of these are her ideas. 1. Nature is Everywhere This one is first because I think it is the most important one for Finns. Finnish people love nature and it shows in the way cities are built (at least th...
5 comments
Read more

A Few of my Favorite Things

I just came back from a trip to Estonia. It was my first trip where I was completely alone the entire time. No travel companions, no friend anticipating my arrival, no one else dictating my schedule, unless you count my rather overbearing couchsurfing host. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a pretty town to visit but I think the biggest thing I learned was that I prefer traveling with people. Places are more fun to see and food is more fun to eat when the experience is shared. That being said, I don’t think I would have done what turned out being my favorite thing from the trip if I had had anyone else with me: taking pictures of doors. To be clear, these aren’t just any doors. They are colorful and happy. Each door I saw was unique, either in color scheme or detailing. Here are a few examples: And here is a collage of some of my pictures put together.  I took 30 door pictures so this is only about half. This whole project started when I chan...
1 comment
Read more

Happy Vappu!

There aren’t many events that bring throngs of Finnish people together. Finns tend to avoid situations where they have to be with many people at once. This is a country, after all, where they sit one per row on the bus even when traveling with friends and hold their time in their summer cottages as sacred. But Vappu is one of those exceptions to the rule. I admittedly have been avoiding Vappu all week. We’ve had plenty of emails telling us about all of the parties and events going on around campus. Every one of these promises copious amounts of alcohol. This is decidedly not my scene and so I resolved to skip Vappu altogether. That resolve did not take long to thaw away. Curiosity got the best of me. In the most basic sense, Vappu is like Labor Day in the US. It is meant to honor those who work by giving everyone a day off. But it also heralds spring and after the long Finnish winter, everyone in Finland is ready for color and life to come back. The first par...
Post a Comment
Read more