The Big Apple Post

So, finally, the big summary of my first week in NYC... I'm going to go on for a while on this one, but, I'll make sections to keep it organized.

The Final Weekend

Last weekend was my final weekend in VT. It was great fun, but really crazy. I had a bunch of friends from both college and high school as well as some of their parents over on Saturday. We started by going to the Vermont Brewer's Festival. This festival is a great gathering of many of the excellent brewers in VT at the waterfront in Burlington. Admission gets you tickets to go around to the brewers and sample the beers. It's a great opportunity to try beers that you wouldn't necessarily buy a six pack of, or that are not bottled. After the festival was over, we returned to my house and had a cookout through the evening. It was really hot all day, so most of us were pretty well fried by the end of the day. But, it seemed to me that a good time was had by all. For me, it was a great way to end my residence in Vermont.

The Trip to Connecticut

On Sunday I packed the last of my stuff into my car and Lane and I drove together (separate cars, same route) to his apartment. I got to check that out and grab a bite of dinner with him. I then continued along the way to my apartment. I got all my stuff moved in, my computer set up, and went to bed to be ready for the start of what was sure to be a crazy week.

Orientation Starts

The first day of orientation was a bit disappointing. It essentially amounted to a set of ~30-45 minute sessions punctuated by two hours of unplanned time in which we could "explore the city." While this might have been fine for the people who had been flown in from other sites and were staying at the hotel. These people could just go up to their rooms and take a nap, watch TV, read a book, go out and about--basically, lots of options. However, for those of us who are NYC based and had to commute in for the day, it left us with a lot of downtime and not much to do.

Once we got through this though there was a bus tour of Manhattan scheduled for the evening, and I figured that since I am not from NYC I might as well go and learn some of the area. Additionally, it was a good way to meet some more people, and dinner was included to boot (Pizza, salad, cheesecake, and an open bar). So, it was definitely worth it. The major downside though was that I didn't get back to my apartment until ~11:15PM. Since I had to be back in the city by 7:30 the next morning for breakfast I had to get up at 5:30. So, not much sleep to kick the week off...

The Rest of this Week's Orientation Program

Once Tuesday started we managed started on a schedule that would be relatively consistent through the week. The morning is set as a hard skills time, essentially financial training (amounting to Finance 101 as I gather). For some people with a heavy finance background this time is excruciatingly boring and repetitive, but for the relatively large portion of us who have a technical background (engineering or computer science, generally) it is a really useful session. The afternoon is then soft skills training. These training sessions have been on a mixture of topics. The first day was building a roller-coaster for a marble in a very large team, the second was on generational differences in the workplace, the third was about working in global and virtual teams, finally today's session was about you Professional Brand (business etiquette, dress, networking, introductions, etc.). All in all, these have also been interesting and informative. My understanding is that this pattern will continue through next week as well.

Where am I again?

One of the strangest feelings that I have had during this orientation is the feeling that I am back in Australia. A bit of background, during my junior year of college I spent two months completing a project in Melbourne, Australia. Now, you might wonder why being in NYC would make me feel like I was back there, but it really does make sense. When I was in Melbourne I was experiencing a few things for the first time in my life. First was spending significant time in the center of a large city. Second was commuting by train to and from work everyday. Third was being surrounded by people with Australian accents almost all the time. By the time I left Australia, I actually found my self thinking in an Australian accent. So, how does this add up to me feeling like I am back there now? Well, the first two should be obvious, I commute by train to and from Manhattan everyday and I spend significant amounts of time in downtown Manhattan (thus, the first two points are covered). It is the third point that I think really seals it for me though. When I first got to orientation I tried to find a group to at least start to talk to, and I happened to find a large group of guys who will be based in London. So, obviously they speak with a British accent (well, except the two Scottish guys, but like the Australian accent it is close enough). Additionally, the instructor we have for our finance training is British. So, for much of the day I am hearing accents that are close to an Australian accent and doing activities that I have only ever done in Australia before. The result? I feel like I am in Australia, and have started thinking in a British accent again. Strange...

Did I live in the Right Place?

I came home on Tuesday night and was wondering if I had actually picked the right place to live. Maybe I should have lived in the City after all...my commute would have been shorter and I would be where all the action was. I was worried about it for a while, but also had to accept that I have signed a one year lease here, so I won't be moving for a year anyway. But, when I went out for a run and it cleared the issue up. I drove about 10 minutes across town where the city gives way to a far more country like feel. There I was able to start a run in a nice little park and run for a few miles entirely in trees. I even ran across a dirt road at one point. That helped my remember one of the main reasons that I did not want to live in the city: I wanted to be able to get out of it. Mission successful on that count. Though, it does segue well into my next topic...

Running

Running has been interesting since I started my job. Most notably because I haven't had much chance to. I haven't been getting home before about 6:30 at the earliest (and most times much later than that). This doesn't leave that much time to run. I was able to get out for 3 miles on both Tuesday and Wednesday, but did not manage to get out either yesterday or today. I don't know how likely this is to change. There will continue to be less daylight as the year progresses so I don't expect to get much outside running in. There is a fitness center in my building that I am hoping I can use to get a little bit of running and also start lifting to work on general strength. Additionally, I have found while I am not able to run much I am walking for 40-60 minutes a day, both to and from the train station on both ends, and sometimes around to other parts of the city as well. So I figure that should help keep me moving some in the very least.

Anyway, I think that is plenty for now. NYC has been crazy so far, but I am at least starting to get used to being down here and am settling down. Ivan is coming down for the weekend, so I am hoping to explore Stamford a bit more with him.

So, here's to my new place, new job, and new life. I'm looking forward to learning much more about finance and the city and I can't wait to share the experiences here.

~Alex