These are the things I am looking forward to on returning to NYC. Obviously, loved ones are at the top so I'm not putting them in. I'm talking about the quirky, little things. Well, most of these are probably incredibly obvious and not quirky at all. But loved ones is a no brainer.
1) Going out after 8pm. Here, everything is so... early. Wake up early, go to bed early. Certainly don't stay out late drinking.
2) Law school. I miss it, I actually do. I miss working my brain like that. Here is fabulous, but it's not exactly the same. Plus, in addition to 1), I liked to work and then head out with the lawschoolpeeps for a well earned beer or two.
3) Using my mac. And I mean actually using it with internet, not sat, impotently at home for scrubs watching and not using its airport to full effect. Sob. The joy of macs cannot be underestimated. PCs - fine, they're functional and if you're a programmer, probably much better. But macs are joyous, aesthetically pleasing - every day it was a pleasure to use my computer, rather than a normal, everyday thing.
4) Not being ogled. The family here think I'm crazy - after all, it's only natural that people comment every time I move. But in NYC, I'm bigger than a lot (I was definitely in the heaviest 5 women in our übersection) but not buxom or voluptuous, unremarkable looking (blue eyes? so what! dyed blonde hair? wow, never seen that before) and that anonymity is actually something I'm looking forward to.
5) SPORT. Playing football, watching NFL, BASEBALL (although the spelling béisbol always brings a smile to my face) - all these things and more. cannot wait. Here it's football and nothing else, and now the Mundial is over, there's nothing on the telly. Rats.
6) TIVO. My god how I miss having hundreds of channels and TIVO. You have NO IDEA how awful telly here is. I really should watch less television, but I promise to take it very very very seriously and watch only good stuff and no more Charmed. I weaned myself off Dawson's Creek, I can do it with the Three Evil Ones.
7) Hot showers. This morning I got a blast for about 30 seconds and it was a joy. The single best thing in this holiday (not counting the whole time with TOH) was the hot shower in Monteverde, after we'd got soaked by an aguacero and were freezing. It was fabulous.
8) News. Nothing happens here - they have so little to say that they report car accidents, and yet think it's an incredibly dangerous place. And maybe for some it is. But people, I live in New York. It reminds me of the comparison between Look North (sorry, M) and Newsroom Southeast (as was... RIP). I wonder what Kent news is like now that London's been taken away from it? Possibly like Channel Island local news, which is the best thing in the entire world - the two top stories when we watched a broadcast in Le Havre were that the local constable had been reappointed as constable, and that the miniature train in a local garden centre/stately home was working again. AWESOME. Include in this section Roger Clarke. I LOVE YOU ROGER. Pat Kiernan too and your smug Lego hair and smirk as you read the morning papers.
9) Food and drink. I miss Wine Warehouse and its cheap rosé Rioja, vegeburgers (although I currently have both in my fridge due to my beloved M)
10) Confidence. I feel that I know the city, that there's ever more to explore. But I feel generally safe, happy, as if I can handle things. And glamorous - New York just gives you glamour walking down the street to school in a way that Costa Rica just cannot.
I am now very upset, however, as Steve Harmison appears to be in severe injury trouble. No. No. No. The photo below is therefore to remind me of a happy place.
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