Myself and my best friend Anouk Govil both grew up here in Connecticut and we also both decide to study at university in New York. Living on the East coast of the USA is wonderful and for all the west coast may have the weather, I would argue that the East coast is where it is at in terms of beauty and of course, the fact that we have the best cities in the world on this side of the country. The difference between Connecticut and New York for Anouk and I was absolutely crazy and it did take us a while to get settled it. Here were the main challenges that we had to face, coming from such a quiet area to the city that never sleeps.
Everyone Is In a Rush
We both arrived in New York about a week before the introduction for students at the university and so we decided to use that time to get settled in to our new accommodation and of course, go check out the city. The first thing that hit us is the fact that every single person here appears to be in a mad rush to get somewhere. For two softies from Connecticut we had to get tough quickly as we were being pushed and pulled from all directions, especially on the subway.
Costs
Connecticut is not necessarily a cheap place but in comparison to New York the difference was huge and in all honesty I could feel my bank account wincing ever so slightly at just walking around the place. After a while of living in New York I have learned were to go for the best priced stuff but in terms of getting a shock when you first arrive, this is exactly what happened to both myself and Anouk.
Rudeness
In Connecticut we are a pretty laid back group of people, we enjoy taking our time with life and we are pretty respectful towards one another. Imagine my surprise then when I arrived in New York to find everyone being rude to each other, balling and shouting from one side of the street to another, absolute chaos. It was only after some weeks that it dawned on me that these people are not in fact being rude to each other it is just the way that they converse. If you ever have the chance to listen to two New Yorkers having a chat, you will see exactly what I am talking about.
Transport
It is fair to say that Connecticut is not the best in terms of public transport and things can get a little slow out there. Here in New York however the subway is like a bullet train which takes you throughout the city in a heartbeat. How I long to have a subway system like this in Connecticut, perhaps it would speed things up a little!