Update on my breakup with A-town

Ok, so I'm back on a positive upswing with Atlanta. It all started when I was driving South one night on 75/85 from Buckhead and right when you hit the Connector you get this unbelievable view of the Midtown skyline on your left hand side. It's just such a beautiful city at night, I loved just loosing myself in the lights and the skyscrapers - then I had to snap myself out of that trance to avoid hitting the median.

I think my disdain that I expressed in my last entry came mostly from the fact that I was still recovering from being ripped out of the "easy life" of living in San Francisco. It's been about four months since that last post, and examining everything I've gotten back into my groove. I have good friends, I have my hangouts, and I know where I'm going almost all of the time. I've worked really hard over the last two years to make Atlanta home, and as graduation approaches I think I've done a damn good job.

I think the important thing that I realized is that Atlanta is a great city, but it's not MY great city. What Atlanta is to me was a wonderful place to spend two years, and I learned so much in that time frame. I think Atlanta made me grow up a little bit, it really is one of the best places in my opinion to learn how to be an "adult" immediately after one graduates from college. I had my own apartment, paid bills, car insurance, etc. I learned how to manage my time without having the structure of an undergraduate course schedule. I learned what it was like to NOT live on a college campus, but to really be a part of the city. For the past two years, I've become more independent, learned how to make friends who I didn't go to school with, work with, or have class with. I've met some great people here in Atlanta and I laugh when I think that I will most likely be visiting this city one day to spend time with those people. Never in my life would I ever think I'd be a "visitor" in Atlanta.

I am looking forward to "starting over" for the last time - at least the last time for about the next 5 years or so - in California. I think it will be a great career move, I love that I can leave my car behind and not have to worry about driving everywhere. It'll be amazing to be able to walk outside to run my errands, to be social in my commute rather than alone in a car, and to have extra opportunities to bond with my neighborhood and surrounding community. It'll be great to get some exercise on a daily basis without having to go to the gym, and to be able to see the ocean whenever I want to. It'll be nice to breathe clean air and not have to worry about staying inside on heavy smog days. But of all these things I'm mentioning, they are only characteristics of the location, and not of me or the people. I have grown so much here and I will be able to take everything I've learned to any location I move to.

When I was thinking about the friends I do have in Atlanta, I realized that many of them are transplants to this city just like I am - and only a very small handful are staying in Atlanta. Many of my friends are moving to DC, NYC, or moving abroad (Adam to China, Xiah to peacecorps). Some are even moving to California. Just like in college, once graduation passes we are going to scatter to the wind and only God knows where we'll settle. In those infamous "what-if" scenarios, such as, "what if I stayed in Atlanta?" I realized that I would have to start over anyway. 90% of my friends that I have spent the last two years would be gone, I'd have a new job, new apartment - essentially a completely new life! I know that in this what-if scenario I would be able to start on a clean slate in Atlanta. But in the spirit of adventure, why start over in the city I am already in when I can do it in a new city?!

I've moved so many times in the last few years, that when someone asks me, "Where are you from?" I have to stop and think and I get a little confused myself as to what the appropriate answer is. In my lifetime I have lived in Springfield, IL; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Madrid, Spain; Atlanta, GA; and now San Francisco, CA. I vote in Illinois even though I have not physically lived there in the last 6 years. I've gotten into the habit of just telling people the most recent place I've lived when they ask me where I'm from. Will I tell people I'm from Atlanta when I move to San Francisco? Not sure. But I am certain that I can't wait until the day when I can finally tell people my hometown with confidence.