NYC: Not for me

I had a wonderful time in New York, New York. It was nice because I got to get out of school, and because I got to see family whom I love very much, and because the wedding was amazing, small, elegant, and classy. The couple picked out this place on the tip of Manhattan overlooking the statue of liberty and all the surrounding islands. The food was delectable, the people friendly, the setting just right.

Towards the end of the wedding they played Gwen Stefani and Eve's "Rich Girl." When I saw my Mom and two of her 50+ year old cousins breakin' it down to the upbeat tempo, I couldn't resist but join in with them. It was a hilarious bunch of fun.

I did realize for the first time, however, how much a wedding is an event for families and couples. Young singles just don't seem as numerous, so I felt a bit out of place. An older relative of mine took note of that and tried to set me up. He pulled me aside and whispered in my ear, "A lot of the girls here are in the music industry, so they might be loose." I laughed him off, I couldn't believe I heard that.

Seeing that I wasn't very proactive about the advice, this same relative later introduced me to a girl on the bride's side of the family. She seemed sweet and nice, but it turned out that she was a high school junior--obviously not very appropriate considering his intentions, and those weren't every my intentions to begin with, but it made the whole situation a bit awkward.

We all hear people rant and rave about NYC, and if NYC isn't good enough to live in, they say it's great to visit. All that is probably true, and while NYC has its amazing factors, this trip highlighted to me most of all how crazy-crazy-crazy that place is. Cars bustling everywhere, a brown and polluted skyline, hardly any green spaces and even the trees in central park look sickly and brown at times, people fighting in the subways, and homeless people getting in your face demanding money. I had to put it up with all of that this weekend and it was just a bit too much.

See, when I get out of school for a rare weekend, I want it to be fun and relaxing. Chaotic and fun just won't do. NYC was too, too, too chaotic. I feel like there's just no place to escape, to take it easy. It's rivers of concrete punctured by sky-scrapers everywhere, ACK! I was eyeballing a graduate school program there for some time in the distant future, but I dunno if I can handle the madness.

If anything, the city just made me appreciate coming back to a really small, quaint picturesque town in the middle of nowhere. Wow, and if anything can make me appreciate my school just a little bit--that's amazing.