School's Out

Overheard while out and about this morning: "People in other cities gauge the change in seasons based on the weather. Here they go by how the college kids are acting."

True dat. I stumbled upon a conversation between two women complaining about the late-night noise and parties so rampant around here lately. One of them reminded the other that it's finals week.

"Ohhhh..." the newly-enlightened woman replied. "So that's why this town has gone mad these past few days."

I've never lived in an environment so governed and propelled by the local university, which this region thrives upon so much so that the population dips by almost half as soon as the school year ends. People here determine where they want to live based on proximity to campus--students live nearer, non-students try to live as far from it as possible. And yet it's different from areas I've been where the university or local college rules the region in a negative way, spewing noise and strewing trash around town, monopolizing the local job market with dolts barely deserving of their minimum wage salaries.

Of course, HSU has its negatives (for example, the campus newspaper, The Lumberjack, is atrocious). But one of the things I love about living in this area is how socially, politically and environmentally conscious its citizens are, including the majority of students at the university here. Small-town denizens are typically thought of as less informed and intelligent (or at least intellectual) than the more sophisticated residents of cities like New York. However, after having lived in a relatively small town for the past three months, I've found that to be a myth. The residents of Humboldt County are mostly educated, well-read, highly aware people. I'm sure the same cannot be said for many small towns in this country, which for me provided the biggest impetus toward settling in a big city. Still, living in an area like this--where incomes are slightly higher, more people are educated and global awareness is much more widespread--makes the transition from metropolitan living that much easier.

Of course, that doesn't make up for the fact that, since January, I haven't had a bite of great Chinese takeout or cheap, savory Indian food or seen an interesting bit of theatre or walked briskly through Manhattan, weaving amongst throngs of people, inhaling the clamor of city streets, which I deeply miss (along with a myriad other things about NYC). It does mean, however, that my lungs and skin are cleaner, my body is healthier, I'm considerably less tense and my overall sense of well-being is... well, more well. Still, I am completely aware each waking day that the New Yorker in me will never be fully quashed and will eventually re-emerge in all her tightly-wound fervor. Just you wait.

Posted by ayelet at May 7, 2004 12:37 PM