I'm an Alien, I'm a little legal Alien...

Howdy. That's what we say over here, I think.

So I've made the move, and nearly 3 weeks in I've actually started to settle a little bit despite moving to 3 different places in 3 totally different areas of NYC. I'm now staying put for 2 months in the East Village whilst I work out the longer term plan which will probably involve me getting my own place. By place I mean something the size of your living room, places here are tiny unless you pay a huge amount.

But that's all good, it's slowly coming together, am waiting for my social security, got a US bank account (Well it's HSBC through my UK one, but I'm counting it) and am currently looking at how on earth I do my taxes for my first pay check. I say pay check, but it might literally be one, it seems banking here is pretty backwards.
In fact that brings me onto part of the reason I wanted to do this post, apart from a token update, but to just outline some of my observations that I'm sure you'll be aware of already but still worth a bit of a ramble!

So here's some things I'm either very slowly, or will simply never, come to terms with:

1. Grocery Shopping
I know we can account this to cost of living, and it's simply just what you have to pay, but I don't think I'm going to get my head around how expensive simple grocery shopping is. They just seem to mark everything up, and no matter how you look at it, I'm not best pleased about paying £3 for a bag of Doritos. £3 for a simple Orange Juice. £3 the going starting rate for basically anything. Might not seem like a huge amount, but multiply that for every item you buy and it certainly adds up!

2. Trader Joe's
Speaking of grocery shopping, there are multiple options available. You can go to a local market/bodega and get essentials and they do some other bits, that'll be a tiny bit cheaper potentially. Or there are some more well known chain places, that would be more like a Tesco Express. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are the best example. Not a bad store by any means, but the one by me - I have literally never seen the queue not stretch halfway round the store!! And I've been there early morning, late night, random times of day, anything just to try and not queue for eternity. Impossible. I've now accepted this is my life.

3. Bikes
It's good, it's healthy, it's easy to get to work and they have a city bike scheme like some places in the UK. Great. My only issue with this is, I cannot for the life of me who has right of way on a green man. This might sound ridiculous, but honestly, these cyclists NEVER STOP. They will carry on at 0.1 MPH if it means any momentum and have no qualms just cutting across you, regardless of the traffic light situation.

4. Humidity
This one speaks for itself, but I arrived at the end of Summer, and it's meant to be a pretty mild one. WTF. I'm petrified for next Summer! Don't think I've spent more than a couple hours (usually in a well conditioned office) without sweating profusely. Multiple showers a day, fans, open windows, etc, do not help. It is horrendous.

5. Lack of self awareness
I think you can apply this to many places, but I've just really noticed it here more than even London. People just don't have self awareness, both walking and talking. Often it'll be intertwined with being on a phone, either shout/chatting with someone or just staring at the screen and having no qualms walking into you as they can't see where they are going. Even if they could, I suspect they wouldn't deviate course.

6. Subway system
This conflicts me massively. As the subway runs well, it makes sense (those rigid blocks NYC is famous for helps with the subway hugely), and getting from one end to the other doesn't take as long as you may think. But, pricing wise, it's cheap if you're going distance. You pay a set fare of $2.75, which basically means if you don't leave the subway you can go as far as you need to, making changes etc all within that fair. But as soon as you leave the subway, then it's gone and you need to get another ticket. Even if it's for one stop. Though it must be said, they do offer a weekly/monthly/annual unlimited, but if you're just a tourist passing through it can be a bit annoying.
Also, perhaps more amusingly, the ticket is basically a like our train tickets, but you have to swipe it to get through the barrier. No one can do it first time, it's hilarious with all the bleeps for rejected swipes. It's a real art!
Honestly, the NYC system could learn a thing or two from London's, in fact they are probably very aware, but just refuse to pay for any of it!

7. Pints
They aren't pints, quite simply. They will charge you more than the UK and give you less ML. It's upsetting to say the least.

8. Happy Hour
It's a big thing here, and always a good concept for cheaper drinks, no issues there. More with people, soon as it's over 90% of people just leave. It's almost like they don't want to always get smashed, the silly sods.

9. Banking system
See 'Subway System'. Basically it's like ours from the 80's. Still charge you to make bank transfers, and not just a few dollars, a solid $30 per transaction. They still use checks, a lot. Things take ages to clear. But on the flip side, they do use an app called Venmo for moving money which Paypal owns, that seems to go down well, since Paypal themselves charge for transfers. I can't use Venmo as have a UK phone, which is great.

10. Every car beeps for no reason
It just happens. All the time. For anything. Relentless

11. Forms.
The Americans absolutely bloody love forms. Fill them in for everything. The amount I've had to do thus far is ridiculous, and that's without even getting to my taxes, getting an apartment sorted, a proper bank account, or a US phone.


Well there we go, that's about it really. Everything else is going quite well, apart from my issues with what to have for dinner each night (Tiny kitchen, expensive shopping, cheaper to eat out but not wanting to dine alone, no access to the main delivery app here!). But it's a great city and is so cool being here, I'm enjoying it all and finding even the things above more like quirks than just straight up dislikes. Hopefully I'll be able to do something similar for the great things pretty soon!

Cheers,
Dan