[Travel] the culture shock after visiting other countries
I haven't been posting lately, I know... This is kinda related to a lot of stuff I've been doing with both my life and my job recently, but this isn't what I'm here to talk about today.
Since I'm really far from my country now, enjoying some vacay and visiting other places, I’ve noticed how small we are. I'm kinda used to the craziness of the big city. Comparing myself with a few friends who don't live in highly populated places like me, I really feel like there's a huge difference in the way of living and even in understanding life itself.
But during this vacation, I noticed that even for me, who am really used to living in a big city with 24/7 cars, sirens, and more than 30 or 40 minutes to travel short distances, New York felt different. The city felt aggressive, dirty, and definitely not welcoming. As a tourist walking around in a foreign country, I had never felt that insecure, and I still don't understand why, since, as I said, I'm used to this kind of stuff since I live in a big South American capital. Not sure if it was the feeling that the sidewalk is always wet, the number of people lying on every corner asking for food or money, or maybe the number of people high on drugs walking around and messing with people for no good reason.
Don't get me wrong, all the people I met in the city were really nice to me and I wasn't robbed or hurt somehow... What I mean goes beyond that... How the architecture impacts you, how the way that everyone is still minding their own business, and also living in the "concrete jungle" where every minute means a dollar wasted doesn't actually fit me. Not sure if all the movies and how the media sold me on how NY was amazing actually fell short, but I can't say that I'm disappointed, to be honest. I knew somehow that NY could give me this "Paris Syndrome" since I grew up watching SO MUCH shit that always painted this "perfect world epicenter, where everyone is amazing and the city never sleeps!". Even the "never sleeps" part fell short after noticing that most of the bars and restaurants are closed after 10 PM.
To finish this off, I actually enjoyed my time there, but I can't wait to get out of here and go to the other side of the US that I'll visit. I noticed that during my vacations I'd rather have more relaxed moments than keep revving up the machine.