Hmm it's good to be back to the blog world where everybody can speak their mind. Two months ago I moved to NYC from good ol' Maryville. I have never thought that I will miss Maryville this much. Having moved back to a big city (I grew up in a big city then went to school in a small town) makes me wondered if I want to live in it for good.
People here, the New Yorkers, always say that their city is the best place to live which I find it is not hard to believe. NYC offers a lot of entertainment or you can say "you will find everything in NYC" (except "ojek" LOL, sorry this joke is for Indonesians only). For foreigners, NYC is also the best place to visit. It is very multicultural melting pot. There are several places which are specifically cultured such as Little Italy, Chinatown, Flushing (dominantly inhabited by Chinese and Koreans), Jamaica, etc. As you visit these areas, you can feel the difference of atmosphere amongst them.
Nonetheless what I miss from a small college town is its hospitality. It is one thing that NYC does not offer to anybody. Then, what tickles, if not bothers, me a lot is that some people can be very judgmental here in NY. I think I have been culturally-stereotyped at least once a week since I resided here. For example, one of my supervisors yelled at me for about 2 minutes in Spanish. I kept silent because I did not know anything about Spanish except Que Pasa and Hola :) Then, he realized the fact I did not speak Spanish. The funny thing was his reaction when I told him that I was originally from Indonesia. He said "Oh you are from Asia. So do you speak Chinese?" If he was not my boss, I would have laughed out loud in front of him. In my mind I told him "Just because I am from Asia, it does not mean I automatically speak Chinese. Duh!" Well at that time, I succesfully restrained myself from saying that.
One day, one of my colleagues thought that I was from India. He was telling a joke in Hindi to me and he did laugh by himself. He was kind of disappointed that I did not laugh with him and murmured. Once I explained to him about my origin, then he understood.
Anyways, that's two of my stories of me being stereotyped. It is fine by me but still annoying. Hope the New Yorkers (especially the immigrants) realize that we are one race, HUMAN.
