There is nothing more satisfying than seeing one’s dream coming true. But little did I know that it was just the beginning of a new adventure. I heard a dialogue in a movie, I don’t exactly remember which movie it was, which said “ The ending is a new beginning.” Eventually I realized the meaning of this quote once I moved to New York. I had been dreaming of coming to New York from an early age. Life in New York seemed quite interesting to me in various movies which I used to see back in my country – Bangladesh. When i was 14, my family decided to move to New York and settle there. I was very excited as my dream was coming true and I was looking forward to a new interesting lifestyle. Saying goodbye to my family and friends in Bangladesh was never an easy task. I cried so badly before leaving my country and at the same time deep down I was happy too as I am going to my dream city. I still couldn’t figure out how I was happy and sad at the same time. That was weird.
It was the end of fall of 2017 and the plane landed on the runway of JFK airport. I stepped out of the airport with my family carrying 50 lbs weighted luggages. As soon as I stepped outside of the airport, a cold breeze came with a refreshing vibe. That breeze felt quite different. I don’t know if it was only in my mind or the breeze of New York hits differently for real. Still couldn’t believe that I had reached New York. Forgot to mention that my father had been living in New York for around 20 years. So he already rented a one bedroom apartment for us in Queens. Soon as I reached our new little home, I could understand or I could say that I had a thought that life in New York would be very different from the life I used to live in Bangladesh. There were four members of our family- My dad, my mom, my sister and me and we used to live in a two storeyed building in bangladesh and I was observing how I moved from a two storeyed building to a one bedroom apartment. The apartment rent was $1750.00 a month and I did a quick calculation that if I had paid this amount of money in Bangladesh to rent a home, I could have been living in a home like a palace. But here I am paying $1750 for a one bedroom apartment. But New York is New York. I shouldn’t be comparing how I would be living with the same amount of money in a different place. Next day, we went to a nearby place to buy beds and wardrobes for my new home. To be honest, I was already a little disappointed with the collection of furniture they had. Actually not because of the collection of furniture but because of the price range compared to the collection of the furniture. I would have never spent my money buying this type of average looking furniture with those high amounts of money back in Bangladesh. But we had no other choice. So we chose some furniture and my dad paid the bill.
It was the beginning of winter. Me along with my family went shopping for some winter clothes. I bought a jacket for myself. Next day my dad took us to Times Square. I wore my new jacket and took the subway. It was my first time taking a subway. I was so excited and everything started to seem very interesting. I heard Times Square is the heart of New York. When I went there, it was quite fascinating. The lights, the big screens, the crowd everything fascinated me. I was happy. But deep down I was wondering what speciality this place has which made it so popular. I never got this answer. We walked down the street and took some photos and then posted on Facebook. My friends and family on Facebook were commenting on our photos and were wondering that life in New York is so cool. At that time, I was mostly happy and I was ready to explore New York.
One morning I woke up from sleep and looked outside of my window. “ Oh my God ! Is it really snowing ?” That was the first time in my life when I first saw snow falling. Referring to where I have come from, it was a country with a warm atmosphere and it never snows there. So it was a new experience for me. I went downstairs wearing my jacket and touched the first snow of the season in New York and also the first snow of my life. That day I was really realizing that “ Oh Boy ! Is this true or am I day dreaming? Am I really in New York enjoying the snow fall ?” It was still surprising to me. This connects with Joan Didion’s essay where she said, “ and then a flood of summer rain (even that seemed remarkable and exotic, for I had come out of the West where there was no summer rain).” The way summer rain seemed remarkable to her, the same way winter snow fall seemed exotic to me.
Soon I got admitted to high school in New York and there began a new journey. High school in New York is diverse. I met some people who were born and raised here, met some people who moved to New York. I made a lot of friends in school. But I was barely in touch with them outside of my school. They always asked me to hangout with them. But most of the time I didn’t go with them or I made excuses. Because life in New York is expensive and as I was just a high school student with no part time job, I didn’t have the money to spend on doing fun stuff and hanging out with friends. This situation refers to Meghan Daum, My Misspent Youth when it said “As I write this, I owe $7,791 to my Visa card. To be fair (to whom? Myself? Does fairness even come into play when one is trying to live a dream life?), much of those charges are from medical expenses, particularly bills from a series of dental procedures I needed last year.” This shows how financial problems one faces while living in New York.
Life was going on and I had the same everyday routine for 2 years. Waking up at 6 in the morning, leaving for school taking the subway, staying at school from 8 to 3 o’clock and then coming back home taking the subway again. I realized how excited I was when I took the subway for the first time. But now as it has become a part of my everyday routine, it doesn’t make me excited anymore. Moreover, I have got used to it. Maybe every new thing seems excited and when we get used to it, it doesn’t feel special anymore. But gladly, I am not bored with New York yet. Because I have many more things to explore in New York. At the very beginning of me coming to New York, I always used to get lost in streets and avenues. It took me months to figure out how the roads of New York work.
On a winter day, I went to manhattan with mom and dad. We went to McDonald’s. My english wasn’t very fluent at that time. When I went to order food for us, I was having difficulties understanding what the cashier lady was saying. She was so rude. I was trying to explain to her what I wanted and she gave me the attitude that my English wasn’t perfect. Like this incident, I experienced many more situations in New York for not speaking English fluently or with an American accent. It really hurts when someone makes fun of a person who doesn’t speak with a American accent in New York.
Three years have already passed. I have changed a lot in these three years. When I first came to New York, I was into exploring different places in New York. But now with the passing times, I am more into finding opportunities to get a good job in New York so that I can give my parents whatever they want and make them proud. Now I am studying in college and also looking for job opportunities. I can’t wait to see where life takes me to within five or six years in New York. Even after three years, New York still seems interesting to me as it used to be when I first moved here. I still believe that New York is the only place where I can fulfil all my desires and make my parents proud of me.
