Shame on me for not having written anything yet. I've seen/experienced a lot in the past four weeks
and no doubt with this post I'll leave out a lot of things but my battery can only last so long and going to and from the library/Barnes & Noble has been a pain so it's going to have to be brief due to time constraints.
Mark and I flew into Atlanta on the evening of October 22nd, at around 8:30pm. My first impression on landing was how humid it was, despite how late in the year it was. Just as we'd left the UK it had really started to get cold; four layers on, a bitter wind and anything longer than a 5 minute walk made you wish you'd not had to leave the house.On the contrary, the weather here has been 18-20 degrees for the most part since arriving here. Sunny too. I.e. the kind of weather UK folks would consider summer weather.
Atlanta is H U G E. Buckhead alone, the area I live in is probably about the size of the whole of Newcastle to give you some idea of it's scale. Of course, I knew this before I arrived here but coming here knowing I was leaving Newcastle/the UK behind and starting a new life here made it all the more daunting. I was going to have to get used to this beast. Like a man who'd just had his Mini taken away and a Hummer given to him in it's place.
My old friend Christina (we've known each other since Kindergarden) picked us up from our hotel near the airport our first morning here and after a brief stop at a sports bar to watch the Navy/Notre Dame (American) football game and we went to Target, Next Tuesday and a few other places and got cutlery, plates, bedding, etc.
That night we went to a Halloween party. I forgot that Halloween is actually done properly here. Just check out two of the costumes from that night:
The following day Mark and I were dropped off by Christina and her mom at Ikea (pangs of homesickness for NCL walking around the identikit store) where we picked up desks, shelves etc and had them delivered to our condo.
The following Tuesday eve we met up with our friend Nicole, had dinner at the very awesome Vortex Bar & Grill (as featured in Man Vs. Food) and then went to Club 529 to see Pure Graft (more pangs of homesickness for NCL). It was here I also made my first friends in ATL. Sean; one of the most welcoming, awesome people I've met on this planet, Lynlee the southern belle from Mississippi with the amazing accent, and the mysterious but no less friendly Lindsey.
Mark left for Chile on the following Monday and since then I have spent the last few weeks job hunting, 'cruising in the ATL' on my new bike
and spending time with the friends I do have here (Nicole, Emily; my long lost friend from the early days on uni who's now living in ATL coincidentally, Sean, Victor, Max, Adam, Morgan, Frank etc). House parties/shows at Sugar Creek and Couch Couch and renting books and dvds from the library in an effort to alleviate the inevitable boredom of living alone in a new city.
Anyways, my battery is about to die.
More info/photos later.
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