First Impressions and a Little Culture Shock

Hello all. I've been a little busy lately. Sorry. But I have gathered some thoughts on our first impressions here. (New, edited pics courtesy of Cacey via Flickr. Click the pic to see the rest of the photostream!)

Weather - Ok, it's bloody hot here now. The last few days have all been in the 90's and it's clammy by evening, which makes it very hot inside at night. But until just recently it's been nice. We had cool mornings (low-to-mid 70's), hot afternoons (mid-to-upper 80's), and decent evenings (70's). It's been sunny for the last week, but we've had lots of cloudy days and light rain since arriving 3 weeks ago.

Cost of Living - Everything costs a ton up here. Groceries and gas cost more. Rents are much higher even though people live in tiny spaces. Etc, etc.

Landscape - Let's just say the beach is not the Gulf of Mexico. I'll put it this way: we haven't worn any swimsuits to the beach yet. The water is cold and it smells fishy. But it's very pretty, nonetheless - especially if you go to the right section of beach (and there are places where it doesn't smell). There are piers to walk out on. There are lots of boats to watch. On a clear morning you can even faintly see Long Island across the sound, and there are lighthouses and sailboats all over too.

This area, from NY all the way to New Haven, is highly urbanized. I haven't seen anything like a field or a cow since we've been here. (Although there are lots of seagulls here.) I know other areas in New England are more rural (New Hampshire for example, even other places in CT), but I haven't seen them yet. It's all roads, buildings, and businesses. But that makes sense because this area was one of the first to be colonized by Europeans. Of course, New York City was established by Dutch fur traders in the 1600’s (they called it New Amsterdam, naturally), and New England in general (not counting Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay) was the first region in the New World to be thoroughly colonized by the British. The Hartford and New Haven colonies were founded not long after the Massachusetts Bay colony (due to growing dissatisfaction with the puritan theocracy there) in the early-to-mid 1600’s. In other words, all the space is long since claimed. And all the between spaces have been claimed. And spaces between those have been inhabited. There are 40 miles between us and the New York state line. If you were traveling on I-75 in Georgia, you might expect within 40 miles to pass through (or around) 5 or 6 cities. On our stretch of the New England Expressway it's more like 15 with lots of towns as well. There is an exit (if not two) for virtually every mile on the highway from here to New York, and every one will drop you off in a long-established city, though some are smaller than others.

Culture - Yes, people talk fast and funny. But they're not cranky and cruel as per the stereotypes. We've met lots of very nice people and I haven't met anyone who supposed we're dumb or unsophisticated because we're Southerners. Everyone is very interested when we tell them we're from Georgia. Oh yeah, the accent is not that Boston type of yankee accent either (where the o in Boston sounds like a ("Baston") and the letter r gets dropped off the end of words ("get in the cah"). It's more like a New Yorker accent and is definitely delivered in New York-speak, which I would describe as having a lot to say, getting it out very fast, and stating half of what you want to say via a question, and most of all, with a little bit of attitude.

(And people drive CRAZY here. I've never seen anything like it. I also haven't seen any state troopers on the highway, and I suppose that has something to do with it. But people drive any speed they want on the highway (like the Autobahn in Germany). They rarely signal, swerve in and out and weave through gaps to get ahead, even off the highway. It's like Formula 1. If you ever hesitate the tiniest bit, the car behind you will most likely blaze around the side of you even if you could have sworn there was no room and you honestly had to yield for some reason. I've honestly seen people going through red lights (and sometimes stop signs) even when they could have very easily stopped. Sunday morning the car in front of me stopped at the red light, and then decided he was tired of waiting and took off through the light like it wasn't even there. I sat there another minute waiting for the green. He was long gone.)

In fact, New Haven and this area of Connecticut is really a sub-culture of New York. It's funny, because CT is technically "New England." But due to the proximity to "the city" (as everyone calls it, since it's understood you're talking about New York), its at least as New York-ish as it is New England-ish and maybe a little more. For example, most people root for the Yankees instead of the one New England baseball team, the Yankees' arch-rival, the Boston Red Sox (although there are plenty of die-hard Red Sox fans around). I've learned that New Haven is included within what's called the Tri-State Metropolitan Region (stretching from northern New Jersey, across New York City, and into southwest Connecticut). All the radio stations are broadcasting out of New York (which means all the weather and traffic reports focus on the 5 burroughs, but they do include the greater tri-state region).

(Cacey on the corner of Fifth Ave and 59th St, with the Empire State Building behind her. To her left is the Plaza Hotel, to her right is FAO Schwartz, and in front of her is Central Park.)

And people here are nuts about Major League Baseball. Anywhere you might go, the vast majority of males (all ages) will be wearning baseball caps. (And most of the time, the bill of the cap will be a tiny bit off-center for some reason.... see pic below) There are three AM radio stations dedicated to sports talk, and they discuss baseball almost all day every day. The neighborhoods look to me kind of like Queens (although more spacious, which for me is hard to believe), meaning the houses are all very tall and narrow, very close together, and very old. Since no one has air conditioning, people go outside at night, where its cooler. Since they don't have yards, they gather in groups on street corners and hang out (not as in thugs or gangs, by the way--it's not threatening to walk by them) or go for walks and bike rides. People keep the windows of their homes open, so there is always noise to be heard, indoors and out: cars, people talking, horns, baseball games on the radio. (Since we don't have cable, every evening I listen to baseball on the radio, which means either the Mets or, more often, the Yankees.)

Likewise, the culture is very, very diverse ethnically, which is great. There lots of demographics here, including whites, Italians, Puerto Ricans, ethnic Jews, African Americans, and many others, and they don't split off accordingly. Even among the teenagers (who can be found walking and bicycling the streets in groups in the evenings) everyone hangs out with everyone else. In any given section of town (not just downtown) you can find virtually every kind of cuisine. There are especially lots of Italian restaurants and delis galore. The grocery stores also have lots and lots of terrific Italian food and cooking items, which is great for us!

Oh yeah, pizza is religion around here. Apparently New Haveners introduced the New World to pizza. Whether that's true or not, you can find at least one (and usually more) pizzeria on every single street. That includes downtown, the outskirts, and in neighborhoods. If you look in the Yellow Pages under "pizza," you have enough reading to keep you busy for at least an afternoon. Ironically, there are no Dominos or Papa Johns places. They're all family owned businesses that have been around forever.

As to the New England dimension of culture, many cities between here and New York have a harbor and marina and there is also a lot of seafood here. There are seafood restaurants of course, but also lots and lots of options at the seafood counters. New Haven is a harbor town, so the Sound is full of freight vessels, etc. There are also sail boats and lighthouses all over and grey, cloudy skies to fill out the picture. Our grocery shopping reflects the culture a bit more these days: Cape Cod potato chips, Nathan's hot dogs, Drakes Coffee Cakes (which I only previously knew from Seinfeld--see pic below), and plenty of clam chowder.

Sigh. I have to go now. Bye, and I'll try not to wait so long for the next posting.