Saturday, November 1, 2008


I know this is a day late, but don't these pumpkins look so happy? This is from a pumpkin festival I went to a couple of weekends ago. There were over 10,000 of these guys covering a city plaza, trying to set pumpkin records. (Photo is by Tracey, a fellow Boston transplant/knitter.)
I'm going to try and have a better week than the cat vomit-y one I had last week. I think the problem is that I'm having some major homesickness. It's not that I want to move back to San Diego, I just want to feel like I'm home. And Boston is not there yet. Everything is different and weird, and it's not so exciting anymore. The intial culture shock is one thing (accents! pizza on every corner! Harvard students on the T!), but the subtle effects are starting to sink in, and I feel like being from the West Coast is seen as a liability by some people (It has also been said to be a liability in one case, but I'm not going to go into that on here). I do and say Californian things all the time, and it's weird to see it contrasted so dramatically with my enviroment. I hear my (unnoticed before) accent, and I cringe. I wish I could just buck up and throw my West Coast weight around with some self confidence. "Here it is. Like, what the hell?". BOOM.

I do want to point out that Boston accents make overheard bus conversations better. Also improved: radio dedications, customer service calls, and WHAT THE HELLs directed at errant drivers/pedestrians. This might eventually get old, but I hope not.

Don and I are going to see The Decemberists next week! Yay!

Big day for Frisk coming up. Our apartment building is being fumigated, and Tracey kindly offered her place as an escape from the fumes for us. Frisky is going to take public transportation for the first time! I'm imagining a trail of molting fur and bunny poos all the way down the Orange Line.

4 comments:

Kimberly said...

As someone who has moved up and down the country a few times...it takes awhile. At least a few months, if not more. And while there isn't as large an accent difference, the Pacific Northwest isn't really friendly to Californians, either. I did end up defending the state a few times. I TOTALLY got a traffic ticket this one time because of my CA plates.

But, you meet people, you find cool places, you get used to it. It just takes awhile. Even if it never feels like home-home, you will grow to love it for what it is.

And I don't think you could ever stop thinking those accents are funny!

Michelle Koury said...

homesickness blows. i got a case of it still after 6 years.

Carrie Donovan said...

We're on opposite ends of the spectrum- you're homesick and I'm sick of home. If I have to avoid one more bar or party so I don't see people I can't stand, I might have to blow this joint early.

Just think of 8 months from now when you'll be the old hand and I'll be the newcomer =) It'll get better and bath bombs can only help (never tried the shampoo bar before, sounds a little iffy).

Happy Election Day!!

Ilan S. said...

What are the California things that you and say and do and how to they contrast with your environment? I'd love to hear more about this.