Adjusting to Urban Life on the East Coast

Posted October 12, 2017 by Josie Snow

Things I love:

• Access to almost everything: Concerts, shows, stores…stimulation is everywhere.
• Being at a nexus of the literary world
• Boston is a very literate city, with many events promoting literacy. In the span of a month, I will have attended the Boston Teen Author Festival, and the Horn Book Globe Awards and Symposium, and the Boston Book Festival. These events all bring me close to authors, editors, and agents.
• The Dress Code: It is nice to be able to dress casually more often. Even though I strove for comfort in my professional clothes, nothing beats jeans and a t-shirt.
• The diverse environment:  Like any city, Boston is home to a wide variety of people, from a wide variety of locations. It also helps that my residence caters to international students, so I get to meet people from many different countries, and learn from, and with them. It is amazing how diverse the group is, on my floor of nine residents alone; there are residents from 5 of the 7 continents.

Things I will need to get used to:

• The dress code: Casual here=formal at home…(not for everyone but certainly for some). Looking at all the girls in their cute dresses and heels makes me both relieved and ashamed that I come from “The worst dressed” state in the Union.
• Being inside all the time: It is crazy how many people I meet who haven’t been outside for longer than it takes to walk from the “T station” to their destination in days.
• The prices: Boston has a very high cost of living. I am often flabbergasted when I go to pay. “What do you mean this sandwich is $9 dollars? It’s a ham sandwich, not a grass-fed beef burger.” On the positive side, I am less likely to go buy lunch if I can avoid it.