Little Victories

I have now been in New York for a full week. The apartment hunt is not going well, so don’t ask about that. But other things have been good, and I’ve had a lot of moments when I have felt like a success or genuinely excited to be here. Here are a few:

• I managed to not look naked in my ID photo

While standing in line to get my FIT ID photo taken I suddenly realized I was wearing a sundress with spaghetti straps. Depending on how the image was cropped, this could result in no clothing appearing in my photo. I had this problem with my international student ID I got for Vienna. You think, “well, maybe no one will notice.” Everyone notices. I explained the issue to the photographer, and even though he pretended not to care, he cropped it just right. Visible clothes! Success!

• I survived my first week of class

This week was not the official start of school, but was instead the “proseminar” in which they made sure we were all on the same page about reading, doing research, and writing papers. Five years ago it was a full semester class. After that it was two weeks. This year they decided to condense it to one week, and the result was about what you would expect. We had papers and presentations all week and all got kind of burnt out. The plus side was I think it helped me make the mental switch back to school mode. I had a freak out about the work on Tuesday, but then got organized and it came easily.

• I have generally felt appropriately dressed

One of my big fears about New York was that my wardrobe—oft complimented in Seattle—might as well be socks and sandals by New York standards. It turns out frump exists in New York as well. A couple of weeks ago I put on an outfit and commented to Elise that I was sewing my tacky oats before I moved to the big city. This week, that outfit was one of the only things I could locate in the messy pile inside my suitcase. I wore it, and no one threw rocks at me.

8/24/09 First city rats, first day at FIT

I can’t believe I have only been here for three full days. Yet, one week ago I was still in Seattle, having drinks at Linda’s. Since I have arrived I have mostly been recovering from general physical and emotional exhaustion of moving across the country. Today however, was the first day when I think I got really excited about the city (oddly, I was a bit excited yesterday when I saw my first genuine NYC rats in the subway station, but I’m don’t think I’m supposed to find that charming). Since my cab ride from Penn station, today was the first time I’ve gone back into Manhattan. There is really something thrilling about coming out of the subway and being in the middle of it all. Instead spinning around and throwing my hat, I felt happy to stomp down the street with my fast New Yorker gait and act like I knew where I was going. When it turned out I was, in fact, going the wrong way, I tried to act appropriately scowly.

I was in Manhattan because today was my first day at FIT. In the afternoon we had orientation, and later in the evening we had our first class. The group is all women (even “Patrice” whose name seemed suspiciously male when I saw it on the list), most are in their twenties, and many have quite a bit of experience under their belts. Clearly, not everyone has museum experience though, as a couple tried to bring food and drink into the conservation lab (most of you reading this are probably shrugging, but I know a few are gasping in horror). There is one other West-Coaster (Carmel, California), a few from various places (Toronto, Detroit, Israel), but most are from New York state. Oh, and one poor woman is commuting from Philadelphia.

As interesting as it was, I’m finding that I haven’t quite switched over to school mode yet. It seems weird that I am officially a “graduate student.” When our professor was talking about all the different libraries we could use and how the special collections were open by appointment only, one woman raised her hand and asked if they would allow us to make appointments and what kind of connections we would need to have. Our prof. responded by saying “You are graduate level researchers. That is what special collections are for.” Oh, yeah! You’re right!

8/22/09 I Made it to New York!

Because of the way my new train room was laid out, it seemed logical to sleep on the top bunk rather than the bottom has I had been doing. This was a mistake. The tracks were really rough, and the train shook violently all night. The upper bunk has a safety harness, but even so I wasn’t eager to get thrown into it in the middle of the night. So I slept sporadically, rolled over toward the wall as much as possible.

I slept through Ohio and Pennsylvania, and spent most of the day in upstate New York. There were rainstorms moving through the area, which apparently train tracks can’t deal with. My train ended up being delayed by about two and a half hours. My fellow passengers were grumbling (especially since the snack car had gone to Boston when the train separated in Albany) but I was a bit nervous about arriving, so was happy to sit tight.

When I finally made it to New York, I had to figure out how to get more stuff than I could carry to a cab and then up into an apartment. I also needed to get the cab to stop twice: once at a bar to get keys and directions from Kate (who I am staying with), and a second time at a Brooklyn apartment I had never been to. It ended up working out, and as the cab drove me through midtown and across the Brooklyn bridge, I stared out the window like a starry-eyed tourist.

Today has mostly been a blur. I’ve responded to some apartment postings, tried to finish up the last of my assigned reading, and wandered a little in the neighborhood. With a bit more sleep tonight I’m hoping I’ll be more alert tomorrow, and with orientation staring on Monday, I’m excited to see what this grad school thing is really like. Thank you to everyone who has called, e-mailed, or texted over the last couple of days. I really appreciated it!

8/20/09 Train Trip Day 3

Today was mostly the same routine. I got to see Minnesota and Wisconsin before the train stopped in Chicago (so add Illinois to the list if you are keeping score). Milwaukie wins for having the grimmest train station. Most of our other stops consisted of a little station, some outdoor benches, and a paved platform. I got in the habit of getting out to walk around every time we had a long stop so I figured Milwaukie would be no exception. However, the stop was under some kind of overpass (so it was dark), had no visible station (nothing to look at), and something near the station smelled really bad (possibly poop). I returned to my cabin immediately.

Once in Chicago I hauled my pile of stuff to the first class lounge and I camped out there for most of my layover. Like the train-attached hermit I had become, I went out only once to search for food. I followed signs for the “food court” and was led to the bottom of a set of escalators that were only headed down. I stood there for a while, staring longingly up to the unreachable food court. Eventually I found my way to the secret up escalator and was able to locate a pretty decent sandwich.

Later in the evening I boarded my second and final train. I still had a roomette, but this was on a “Viewliner” train so it was a bit different. The train was not double-decker so the rooms had higher ceilings, and I had my own toilet and sink. Having the toilet made the room bigger, but it still seemed weird. The toilet was not in a separate room, it was sort of like if you had a toilet attached to the end of your couch. It would be convenient, but weird. I assumed I wouldn’t have to use it but it turned out there were no public restrooms in the hallway. So I pulled the blinds closed and used the creepy room toilet.

Soon after the train left Chicago, we entered Indiana. Even though I was nowhere close to Richmond, I got strangely excited and a part of me felt like I was coming home. I think this bodes well. I love Seattle, but if I have a place in my heart for Indiana, I think there is room for New York too.

8/19/09 Train Trip Day 2

Basically, this is how cross country train travel shakes out: each morning you wake up earlier than you want because there is always some time change in the middle of the night, you eat three meals a day in which you are seated with people you don’t know, and at any and all long stops you get out and walk the platform in an attempt to re-invigorate your legs. Otherwise you sit and read, talk to people, or stare out the window.

Today we toured Montana and North Dakota. In the morning we were going through beautiful mountain areas, and for the rest of the day it was pretty much farmland. One thing I like about train travel is the chance to really see the country. Before I end up in the big city, it is an interesting contrast to remember all the parts of the country that are still very rural. In the morning I was given a free copy of a local Montana newspaper. The two lead stories were Troublesome Griz Killed and Quilt Judge Illuminates Art of the Stitch. The third item down was actually a kind of interesting story about a 63-year old woman who was lost during a fishing trip, and was presumed dead. She had gotten stuck in some brush and was found sunburned, dehydrated, covered in insect bites, but alive. Her son was quoted as saying, “She’s always out doing something that she probably shouldn’t have been doing…Like this.” Brutal.

In the late morning I decided to walk the full length of the train and see what there was to see. What there was to see was several sleeper cars, more coach cars, the dining car, and the observation/lounge car. The best part of the lounge car was the Amish people. I sat down to read right next to this older Amish man and his daughter. He and another woman on the other side of me (not Amish) actually talked to me briefly and I told them I was going to New York. Part of me wanted to tell him that I was raised Mennonite, but I was too afraid that he would give me the once over, roll his eyes, and call me a brazen hussy. Later, the Amish father left and went to talk to some other people from his group, and his daughter stretched out on the two chairs next to me. There was some pretty visible Amish ankle and calf in view, so I guess I wasn’t the only Anabaptist hussie on board.

8/18/09 Train Trip Day 1

For most of Tuesday I was being reminded that nothing unhinges me quite like packing [also known to certain college roommates as “rodent mode”]. I basically went through several phases of panic, weepiness, and gnawing on furniture. Eventually the time came to go to the train station, and my parents and I loaded up the car with bags of stuff to go back home, suitcases, and Olivia Geffner.

Once at the station I checked my two 49.5 pound bags (the limit was 50) and sat down to wait. Along with Mom, Dad, and Olivia, I was eventually joined by Ethan, Holly, Meera, and Elise. I felt so loved! Unlike air travel there was no security, and once the train was open for boarding everyone got to crowd on and check out my roomette. For those of you not familiar with high-class train travel, a “roomette” on a Superliner train, consists of two single person couch/chairs facing each other with a retractable table between. There is a sliding door, a tiny closet (big enough for about one to two outfits on hangers) and a small shelf. At night the chairs become flat to make a lower bunk, and an upper bunk comes down from the ceiling. The space is small, but private. I was on the lower floor the train which I was initially disappointed by, but later I liked because there was no through-traffic down my hallway.

So basically I made all my train-mates jealous, because I had a charming team of well-wishers there to see me off (really—I heard several passengers ask if I was the “popular” one who had all the friends at the station). We all had this idea that we would wave as the train pulled away, just as in days of yore. It didn’t pan out quite like that though, since in true Amtrak style, the train decided to depart late. So the goodbye party decided to wave while walking backwards in slow motion down the platform. It was pretty classy.

Once alone in my room, I got a little weepy. Then the car attendant offered me some complimentary Champagne and I cheered up a bit.