Ok fine, that last post was a cop-out. But I meant every word of it.
I am a firm believer that some of the most basic ingredients for a happy life are the beach, baseball, and family. In less than a month, I am moving away from all of the above.
A little background about me:
-The college I went to was an 8 hour drive away from home.
-After college, I moved an additional 10 hour drive away, and at the same time my home (and by home I mean parents) moved clear across the country to San Diego, which made it a 39 hour drive, should I feel the need to attempt it.
-About two and a half years later (which is oddly enough two and a half years ago from the present), I did feel the need to attempt it, so I moved to San Diego, too, because I missed my family and some how most of them had ended up on the other side of the Mississippi at this point.
Flash forward to right now:
-I’ve fallen in love with this city.
-I’ve gotten seriously use to having my family so close and actually getting to be around during the holidays. I work in an industry that rarely allows me to have peak days off, so at least I can be around for some of the festivities, even if I can’t be there for Thanksgiving dinner itself, etc.
-I work for a company that I love, but in a job that I’ve grown out of. My current bosses have made it clear that they have no intention of ever promoting me to a position that I actually want. (They did offer to put me at a desk in the corner where I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone, though…)
So what’s a girl to do?
Apparently, a girl is to pack her bags and move 1,800 miles away to a city she’s never been to in a state she’s never set foot in, where the only person she knows will be her boss. And while I’m sure New Orleans has it’s amazing qualities, the things I’ve been hearing lately are less than enticing.
I’m trying really hard to stay positive about this move. After all, no one is making me go.
I’m choosing to do this. Sometimes I just need to remind myself why I’m doing this.
It’s a great opportunity for me, from a career standpoint. As I said, my current bosses don’t seem interested in helping me get to where I want to go. My new boss seems very interested. So interested, that he’s holding the position open for me until I can get there. And to do what I’ll be doing in New Orleans of all cities is pretty exciting. Plus, that alone will look great on my resume. And hey, I hear the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is pretty cool. But that’s about where the positiveness ends for me.
Since I’ve never been to New Orleans, I’ve been doing some research. I think the city needs to hire some new PR people. If you do a Google image search, most of the pictures that show up reflect the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. (You can actually see some pretty wicked pictures of the building I’ll be working in, which was one of the hardest hit buildings in the CBD) And while it’s expected that everything looks wrecked after one of the worst natural disasters this country has ever seen, if you do a Google Maps street view of the city, it doesn’t look much better in a lot of places. I don’t know how old the images are on Google Maps, but it’s unsettling nonetheless. I’ve also been following Nola.com on Twitter, and it’s basically one crime report after the next. I read two books about the city last month- both written post-Katrina, and both not every likely to be endorsed by the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. One of the books was really interesting, describing the lives of 9 different individuals living in the city, starting back in the 1950’s and ending a few months after Katrina. But it highlighted the violence, poverty, and corruption that seems to be so prevalent in the city. At the risk of sounding like a spoiled suburbanite, it just makes New Orleans sound like a scary place to live. Especially since I’m a single woman moving by myself.
Plus, New Orleans doesn’t have a beach. It doesn’t have a baseball team. (Houston is five and a half hours away, Atlanta over seven.) And it doesn’t have my family. My closest relatives will either be my aunt and uncle in Orlando (10 hour drive) and my sister who just moved to Illinois (13 hour drive).
People have such firm opinions of New Orleans. They either love it, or they hate it. I haven’t met anyone that has said “Oh, New Orleans? Yeah, it’s ok.” It’s either “Ah man, it’s such an awesome city!” or there’s “Ah man, why on earth would you ever want to move there?!” (which is the opinion my dad has made clear to me…) I’m hoping to love it. I’m hoping I can keep an open mind.
I just worry that it will be too much change at once. It’s a lot to process: New job. New city. (Hopefully) New friends. No family. Nothing familiar about the city at all.
We shall see…
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