We had been living in Paris for almost two years when my husband was approached about a job in Manhattan. Unsure whether we were ready to surrender our European life, we struggled with many questions - was this job the right fit? The right next career move? Did we want to leave Paris? Did we even want to live in New York?
Neither of us had ever lived in New York. He's from Ohio, and then lived in Boston, DC, and Paris. I'm from Oregon, and have lived in Philadelphia, Berkeley, DC, and Paris. I have explicitly stated countless times in my life that "I never want to live in New York City."
So there we were, eating our baguette and patisseries, trying to make a huge life choice with a 2 month old baby and a toddler. It was eerily familiar since just two years prior, we were deciding whether to move to France with a new baby. We may never know the full extent of the role that sleep deprivation played in these choices.
The outcome, of course, is obvious since I am writing this from our apartment in Park Slope, not from Boulevard Malesherbes. And my blog is no longer called What Am I Doing in France.
I fully acknowledge that my life in Brooklyn is going to be far less exotic than my life in Paris. Maybe this blog will flop, or maybe you won't find it compelling because I'm not living the glamorous European experience. After three weeks in New York, I remain a reluctant New Yorker but one who is willing to admit that this city certainly has its share of unusual and noteworthy people, places, and events. The NYC Unicycle Festival, for example. Artisanal pickles. Walking by Ben Kingsley filming a movie in our neighborhood and thinking to myself, "Wow, that Indian cab driver is probably waiting for one of the movie stars." Oops.
For me, this blog is not only an impetus to explore New York but also a way to explore my own post-Paris life. I hope you'll stick along for the ride as we bring our exploring-Europe-with-kids know-how to the Big Apple, and we get to see the bumps and the beauty of what is arguably the world's most vivacious city. New York teems with an energy unlike anywhere else, and it is easy to see why New Yorkers believe their home to be the center of the universe. In so many ways, New York is the polar opposite of reserved, elegant Paris.
Paris, I miss you. New York, let's see what you've got!
