New York

My first impression of New York City: this place smelt like trash, but somehow it took me less than a week to feel completely at home. New York reminds me of Shanghai, noise, people shuttling by, busy commercial activities… It is almost like living back home again.

I am enjoying my summer job. I have the opportunity to do quality corporate finance research with a group of friendly and intelligent people. I also get to roam around various groups in capital markets so I can observe finance in action. The work hours are a bit long and it is difficult to sit at the desk straight through, especially in the afternoons, but I am starting to get used to it. It is actually sort of nice to get one’s day started early.

I thought I would miss Chicago terribly, but somehow all the distractions have kept me busy. Honestly, Chicago is the best-value city in this country. Chicago is clean, convenient, has all the good food and culture, but it is not expensive to live there. If I work hard, I can see myself with a nice place of my own in a trendy neighborhood and a nice car. In Manhattan, it is a different story. People who work in Manhattan has such skewed income distribution and the city has such a prestige premium that literally no middle class can afford to buy housing. Before I moved here, I asked myself: can I live like Carrie Bradshaw, a perpetual renter, and living day-to-day? I mean, many components of the American Dream for immigrants are typical middle-class lifestyle: a nice house and a few cars. If I had a choice to be a happy middle class yuppie in Chicago, should I settle into the uncertainty in New York? Surprisingly, one does not know oneself until one takes action. I am actually ok with living in an overcrowded city and possibly being a perpetual renter. I didn’t grow up middle class – China had no middle class in the 80’s. I can just live like I did in my teen years. It is actually refreshing.