June 7, 2006

GREETINGS FROM DC!

Back to life. It has been a while, and I can't say it has been the easiest while. In one breath, I got up and left Southern California (where I was for the past 11 years) for Washington, DC. Sure, it is what I wanted to do. Still, not easy.

So here I am. New job, new town, new everything. I miss my friends and the odd familiarity of LA, a city I never even liked. But at least I knew where the nearest Trader Joe's was (and there were so many anyway!)...

If I had to change one thing about DC so far - I'd have sushi bars sprouting out of every corner. Of all the things I could not stand about LA, sushi bars were not one of them. They were prolific, and for the most part clean and pretty reliable. In LA, one can be a regular at as many as 10 neighborhood spots if he/she chooses to. It is beautiful, and maybe that is aided by the local tradition of strip malls (an architectural and urban planning disaster, I must add).

But on the other hand, DC is bursting with life in ways LA has never been (at least not to me). People walk in the streets and in the metro, and there is so much youth around, and it is so transient! It is truly a cosmopolitan place, more so than anywhere else I have been to. It is exciting!

I am not totally settled yet and apartment search is still the hassle I remember from past years. I guess this is regardless of where one's at. But other than that (and a small tiny heartbreak but I promised myself that this blog will not have too many personal undertones - meaning, somehow somewhere I have to spare those around me the details of my personal life), things are good and I see myself being very happy out here. I have no regrets and I think this change could not have come at a better time.

Not to mention that now that I am in Bush town...

4 comments:

Andrew E. Mathis said...

Welcome to the right coast, Gisela! We do hope, of course, that you'll take the three-hour drive up to Philly sometime.

Shalom ha-ba'ah

a.m.

Gisela said...

I definitely will, Andrew! Wow, it has been a while since I posted and saw your name on my screen. It is good to be back. Everything good with you two?

Andrew E. Mathis said...

We're good. Wife is in Russia right now visiting her motherland (or her "grandmotherland," if you will), but she'll be back in a week. How's by you?

a.m.

Gisela said...

Well, just concentrating on getting settled here. I will shoot you an email soon though.