The Process of Adapting

adapt

 verb \ə-ˈdapt, a-\

: to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation

After a change occurs in life, there is a second, almost more challenging stage that follows. Adapting. 

As many of you may already know, I am a great creature of habit. I like my schedules, I like my alarms, I like knowing which stores have the best deals, you get the main idea. I love my life to fit into these perfect, safe little boxes organized on shelves.

But moving disrupts that organization and living in a new city where the typical brands are not around forces one to...re-categorize.

Or throw out the old system all together.

What I have come to learn and enjoy about Boston is that it is a city that goes with the flow. Things constantly show at the last minute and it's all in the way you handle them. You adjust - learn the ways of the locals and follow in their footsteps. I am being forced out of my mechanical movements into a more flexible world. It's exciting and greatly terrifying.

But I will adapt. To adapt is to survive. 

(This is not to say that I will lose those parts of me that make me. I must learn the proper way to connect them with the newer world that surrounds me).

So, for a bit of fun, I have a quick list of things that I have picked up during my first week in Boston.

1. If someone asks you if you live in Boston proper - they mean do you live in the actual city of Boston. More specifically, downtown.
2. Prefer not to spend a fortune on food? Trader Joe's. (Bonus: A lot of their stuff is natural!)
3. Paper or Plastic is a real question that happens in most stores. But no matter what you get, it is expected that you recycle.
4. "Subway" means the fast food restaurant. If you're trying to go somewhere, you ride on the T.
5. No one talks on the T. It's odd and makes people uncomfortable. However, staring at strangers awkwardly is cool.
6. Walking is what you do. (Bring on Aleve!)
7. Backyards are not a thing (except maybe if you're waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of Boston Proper). Cookouts happen on the steps and people just walk around you.
8. Dallas drivers ain't got nothin' on Boston ones.
9. A/Cs are not a thing unless you're in a public building. It's never hot enough for one. Feeling overheated? Open a window. Too muggy? Buy a room fan.
10. Dress like you're going to a fashion shoot. If you're going to work - dress it up. Want a more casual day? Add some jewelry and fix your hair. Make sure if someone was to take your picture and post it on a billboard, you would be proud.

That, dear readers, concludes the observations of my first week in Boston.  Knowledge is power, my friends.

Until next time,

Kaity