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I’m dangerously close to having my first week in NY under my belt and it still feels a bit like a business trip. After a few hiccups checking into my corporate apartment (they gave the wrong name to the concierge but the relocation people had it cleared up within a half hour) I was settled in and met my new coworker (and friend who helped get me the job) for a bite to eat at Vynl (www.vynl-nyc.com ). Bookmark that one, Vynl is getting added to my list of favorites.
The corporate apartment is very nice, kind of like living in a hotel room with a great kitchen and the cleaning lady only comes once a week. That’s another odd thing… I came home Monday night and I had clean towls, the garbage was taken out, new linens were on the bed, and everything smelled nice and clean. I better enjoy it while it lasts. Also it’s on the same street as Times Square… literally, at the end of my block there is the big Hershey’s and M&M’s stores. Yes, life is slightly surreal right now.
Saturday Kellie was in NYC from Michigan to visit some friends and we all met up for brunch at this place that was what New Yorkers think is “country food”. It was delicious but nowhere near The Broken Egg or Angelos, portions too small for real Midwestern food and no biscuits and gravy to be found. Must be how they all stay so slim ;) After we headed to see my first Broadway show as a local… “Avenue Q” funnier dirty version Sesame Street with a story line about a muppet looking for PURPOSE in the big city…sounds vaguely familiar. After that we made our way to the Morgan Library for the Saul Steinberg exhibit which was really great. Not sure how long it’ll be there but I highly recommend it. Then to the Village for dinner at Gusto (www.gustonyc.com) another to add to the bookmarks. The food and service was excellent and the wine selection was very reasonable (hey how NY was that!) Now the sad part… Kellie and the girls came back to my place and I had to say my last goodbye to my Michigan friends. I hurried past a concerned looking doorman to my apartment to talk to Rodney and just be sad.
80% of the time I’m doing perfectly fine but I think I’m doing well with the move because I’m in this fancy apartment and it’s not really like the live here yet. It’s as if in a few weeks I’ll pack my bags again and head back to my cozy apartment with my wonderful fiancé and we’ll go to the farmer’s market for a pie bite and then go to Sweetwater’s for a Vietnamese Coffee…
The first day of work was just as surreal as my housing. I had your standard orientation in the morning… where to enroll in benefits, where to start direct deposit, what hr resources are available, tax stuff… and then went to an excellent lunch with my mentor Faye. When I got to my desk Rodney had a big bouquet of flowers sitting there and of course before anyone on my team knew me they knew that I had the best fiancé in town… even if he’s not really here yet. Faye is pretty much a perfect match for me. She is married to a guy who is doing his PhD in Japanese Art and did the JET program, she comes from an ad agency background just like me and they live in Brooklyn right in the neighborhood we’re interested in. I really hope to get to know her better and we get along really well. Then I did a few more IT registration things and our whole group left the office at 4:30 to get tickets for the David Letterman Show. Letterman was fun and a great way to get to know the rest of the team. I think I’m going to like it here.