Re: Happy Solstice!

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)]

 > From: Kay Gurley <http://www.fred.fhcrc.org/~kgurley>
 > Date: Tue  Jan 26, 11:11am
 >
 > Hi!  I just reread your email, I hope you are feeling a little more happy
 > than when you wrote it.  I just thought you might be interested in the
 > thoughts of someone who migrated the other way ie: east to west.

When I moved to Olympia, WA from Sudbury to go to college in 1983, I felt
like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  It seemed different and I
didn't get made fun of or feel threatened at every turn.  When I moved to
Oakland & then Berkeley in 1987, it felt similar to Olympia -- I didn't
feel threatened.  (Though, admittedly, I did feel unsafe during my short
stay in Oakland.)  When I came back to the east coast, all the old
feelings re-emerged, all the old tension.  (Boston is a little better than
Sudbury, though, in a way.  I don't feel like people are always making fun
of me, but it is still a far cry from Berkeley.)  Well, it sometimes takes
me time to settle into a place.  I still despise the drivers and think I
always will.  I told myself before coming here that I wanted to stay here
for 5 years and then move back to the "correct" (i.e., the west); maybe
after that time I can make a less rash decision.

 > After
 > nearly six years in Ca I was very anxious to leave.  It may have
 > been due to the major earthquake we had or perhaps it was having to enter
 > a highway doing 85 or be squished like the preverbial bug!  In all the
 > major cities I have lived I have found the good the bad and the
 > predjudiced.  What it comes down to is if you are happy where you are you
 > find the good but if you aren't happy you will only see the negative!
 > Perhaps in your heart you'd prefer to be in Ca!  Hope this was
 > useful.  Waiting for the sun in Seattle, Kay