After about five years of living alone (two in the dorms, three in various studios), I am moving into a carriage house with three other people at the end of this month. I’ve never lived with that many people in the same house (outside of my own family). I am both excited and terrified.
At the moment, I feel like the odd one out. All three of the people I will be living with are Caucasian women from small towns in Illinois. I am a woman of Asian descent who was born and raised in the biggest city in the United States. I am also the highest-paid person in this group, which is an unusual status for me to have considering I work at a non-profit and many of my closest friends work in finances or the sciences. And, when my new roommates shared some information about themselves over our introductory dinner, I became acutely aware of how much less adventurous I had been in high school and college in comparison. In sum, I’m worried about how we’ll relate to one another.
At the same time, there is potential for some great experiences. Perhaps my new roommates and I will become closer than I could have imagined. And, after having lived alone for so long, I’ve missed coming home to a bustling household where I can sit down and chitchat with someone about my day. One of my new roommates is also a good friend, so living together will mean more opportunities to get to know her better.
In the worst case scenario, I can always get out of the house and explore Pilsen. After many years of living in Hyde Park, I can’t wait to experience residency in a different neighborhood. There will also be many benefits to reap financially, as my new rent will be half my current one. And food in Pilsen is usually both delicious and cheap.
I’ll be doing the actual moving in less than two weeks. In the time before then (and probably for a week or two after), this blog may suffer a little in terms of updates. But I have many ideas for new posts, and new categories of posts, and I hope to be able to implement them soon. I’m a little excited and a little worried about that as well. But feeling worried and excited is usually a marker of a good challenge, right?
Here’s to continuing to take myself out of my comfort zone.
— S. (a.k.a. AMisplacedPen)
Misplaced Pen 