It's-it!

Yay, we're all moved in and we have a home in Berkeley!

Things that are good:

Backyard
Afternoon sunshine
Cheap bear
Bearflag wine (I know it's from CA, but we used to buy it at Dandelion Wine, and it's good, and it's about 4 dollars cheaper here)
Closets
Offices
Bikes
Bike lights that look like aliens
Multiple varieties of tomatoes at the grocery store (we'll see if that's still the case after tomato season is also over in the tri-state area)
Movie theaters with comfy couches
Movie theaters with proper stages where there's just a huge projection screen
Bay views
The dishwasher
Finishing work with most of the afternoon left over
It's-its (I'm sure you can find these back East, but I never looked because I want to maintain the illusion that this is exclusive because it is just so darn tasty. NY has Yeung-Leung (sp?), so I'm going to pretend. Just let me pretend. Thanks. http://www.itsiticecream.com)
Other things, maybe we haven't discovered them yet! It's only been two weeks!

Things that are...eh:

Getting to the work office here costs $7 round trip
Trains only run until midnight (and taking a cab to Berkeley is apparently expensive)
It's so cold, so so cold
I have a vague sense of homesickness, but usually that goes away when I remember that this is home now
Do not get me started on bagels. I'm considering lobbying to have them called rolls-with-holes.
Other general things people complain about in the Bay Area

I shouldn't complain because we just got here, right? Because I'll have plenty of things to complain about in the future, and I don't want to start all of it now. On a more serious note, I think the complaints things are covered. Probably the things that are good. I mean, the majority of people I talk to either say that they moved here to start a grad program and dragged their S.O. along (or were married or somehow legally bound to the person) or they followed their loves here. It's not like we moved to somewhere out of the ordinary. In my yoga class the other day some guy was hollering about leaving for New York. For Brooklyn, no less. So basically our situation is a dime a dozen, and that's fine with me, but can't there be some kind of support group still? Misplaced people who aren't sure what to say when they're asked where they live because they've lived a few too many places in the last couple of years that they'd rather just make it simple? Matthew's got that one a lot harder, what with the accent that only some people recognize, some recognize as Australian, and some just ignore but he still isn't sure what to say when asked "Where are you from?"

In summary, life here is pretty ok so far. I mean, no revelations on the awesomeness front, but it's also not like we moved to the bottom of the ocean or to the tip of a volcano or to a place that sometimes has devastating earthquakes...oh wait. No, I'm fine about that, really. I've only had a few moments where I've thought, "Damn, this building could collapse and I'm in it! What would happen then?" These are thoughts that also existed in (I almost called it the city! Not anymore! To me, at least) Brooklyn, but they were more varied and included thoughts on zombies, swine flu, nuclear attacks, being pushed onto the subway tracks, being struck by falling cranes, being struck by taxi drivers, being struck by angry passers-by. Here, my biggest fear is earthquakes. If I say it enough, maybe it won't happen. Earthquakes. Earthquakes. Earthquakes. Shaky, shaky, shaky!

I will post pictures of the new digs someday, maybe not though, to avoid stalkers, because I have a huge readership, I know.

Also, pictures of the whole trip will get posted somewhere maybe someday as well.

Now it's time for enjoying the afternoon.