I’m all moved in and Jeff just left to head back to Roanoke.

It was extremely hard to watch him drive away and I think it finally hit me then (about how different life is going to be for the next year). It feels like I’m in a foreign country because it’s such a change in lifestyle as far as the pace of it, the whole subway system and having to rely on it, and the fact that there are people everywhere, walking around and crowding the streets that are lined with stores I’ve never heard of. And of course there aren’t any big-name chain stores around here either–I needed to get a wireless router and instead of going to a Best Buy or Circuit City, we found Wizard Electroland around the corner from where I live which sold me a router just fine. Also, where I live (Greenpoint, Brooklyn) there is a very large polish community so hearing all of these different languages everywhere I go makes me feel like I’m in a different country as well. I like it.

My roommate’s name is Meghan and she is also a film photographer which has me really excited since there are so few of us left. She’s really talented and works as a freelance photographer, shooting mostly portraits–I think we’re going to have a lot of fun checking out our new neighborhood together and shooting at places you wouldn’t necessarily want to venture by yourself.

My apartment is nice, but my room is kind of awkward. It’s a great size but not really because I only have one wall that I can work with or put things up against (the other two either have a closet or a radiator that I can’t block). The apartment is railroad style which means it’s long and you have to walk from one room through the next to get to the kitchen and bathroom and front door. And of course my room is in the middle of it all so it kind of doubles as a hallway (which is why I can’t put anything up against that fourth wall). It’s kind of like how it was living in a dorm as far as having everything open and people walking through, so I suppose I’ll just have to get used to that again. I’ll post photos once I get everything in place.

The move was pretty painless since I only had one car load of stuff but as you can imagine, my car was packed to the brim. On the ride from Lancaster to Brooklyn, I was wedged in the front seat, sitting with my legs crossed with crap over my head and under my feet. It was lovely. Packing it took me about an hour and a half but unloading the car only took a matter of maybe 20-30 minutes…so that was nice.

After Jeff helped me set up my high-class queen sized, double-high air mattress and shelving unit, we decided to go to Times Square since every other time we’ve been to the city it’s only been for day trips where we had to leave early and make it back in time for the last train. I know Paris is the city of lights but man, we didn’t even need to use our flash when we were taking photos out there. It was really strange to think about living in such a touristy place and also neat how it was dark out but really, it was so bright with all of the billboards, HD TV screens and neon signs. We shared a delicious ham and pineapple pizza from some place that I forget the name of but their sign boasted of being New York’s famous or favorite pizza so we of course had to try it. No regrets.

I’ve already decided that traveling on London’s underground and Paris’s metro is far more easier than using the subway here. It was just more organized (and cleaner) in Europe and I’m nervous about figuring out how to get to the studio on time or if it’ll be different every day. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of the system eventually.

Right now I’m sitting in a coffee shop called Café Grumpy which is really really chill and very spacious (something that I’ve found is rare around here). I think at every other table someone has a mac. It’s a nice view.