Island Hopping: No longer Wisco Girl in NY

(A going away gift Cathy got me. It's a Wisconsin Girl in NY key chain. How appropriate)

I really should have thought about naming this blog a little more when I did it. It is the morning of the day I leave NYC and the United States to learn a new accent and explore another island culture. I am pretty excited. I got to wake up super happy--which I have been doing a lot of lately--and now I'm listening to one of my favorite morning bands--Polyphonic Spree.

This week was a lot of goodbyes, parties, and getting my fill of NYC things. It was a great week. Eric said "How you leave a place really affects your overall memory of your time there." I know that I've been very down about NYC for a while now but this past week reminded me of the reasons I stayed here for 5 years. Oh crap now I'm crying a little.

I ♥ NY people
Like I said in a few blogs, NY is people. What makes NY amazing for me is the MILLIONS of people. Luckily out of those millions I was able to find some really great friends. These are the people who have been there for me in many ways. I am alone in NY but I really am not. If I go into it too much I'll have tears all over my keyboard and then be pissed when I can't watch a movie on the flight tonight. So I'm stopping there. I ♥ NY people.

I ♥ NY's Coney Island
In my last post I mentioned wanting to get to Coney Island and I did. It's not fun or exciting but totally solemn. Basically it is a broken down amusement park and there is something I love in that. I broke my attraction to the least attractive amusement park down to three reasons when I was there:

1) Nathan's Hotdogs. It's totally fine to have a completely unhealthy lunch, drink a beer at noon. That was my one meat splurge when I was totally vegetarian. I would sneak out to Coney Island, have a hotdog, then tell all my friends how I cheated on my vegetarianism. I know whatever is in hotdogs should make me run in another direction but you just can't imitate them at all with fake meat.
2) I always witness some bizarre activity going on while I'm there. Last time it was a group of Polar Bear swimmers in March or April and then this time some Jewish guy was reading his giant prayer book while throwing food at seagulls. The gulls went absolutely nuts and it was actually really pretty (I have photos).

3) Lastly, Coney Island is a place where you can be alone but not. It's desolate and everything is run down/broken. It reminds me of the amusement park at the end of Big and for some reason I really love it. Maybe I secretly think the magical fortune telling machine will be out there someday. That would be so cool.

(The guy feeding gulls and reading his prayer book at Coney Island, so pretty!)

I ♥ NY food
Specifically I love being able to eat different types of food at any time. At any hour in NY you can get Tapas, Southern, Peruvian, Mexican, Indian, Ethopian, Thai, Diner food, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Pizza (it's NY it HAS it's own category here) and more. Food brings people together, nourishes them, and can be an adventure to try new things. Also, on top of missing the food I will miss the dinners with my friends, co-workers, and colleagues. It's not the Pecan Pie Sunday or Fried Goat Cheese with Honey and Carmelized Onions that I miss. It's the sounds that come out of our mouths while eating them. It's the act of never being the one to eat the last bite because you are with your best friends and want them to have it. That is what I will miss.

My new "HOTLIST" of NY eats:
Buttermilk Channel
Shanghai Kitchen (formerly known as Moonhouse)
Seoul Garden
Sala 19
Johns Pizza
Clinton Street Baking Co.

I ♥ NY
So yes, I still ♥ NY. I'm just not suited to live here anymore. I really do miss greenspace. So, I am about to hop a plane to a very green place where there is a yard, a palm tree, washer, dryer, a red fence, a bike/running path, some roudy children that need a talking to, and a lot of adventure to be had.

So.... as My friend Shannon would say "Peace out NY"