Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > December > 31
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
You know you’re not a newcomer when…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
People ask questions about Atlanta, and I have answers.
Not always, and rarely definitive. But after months responding with blank stares and good-natured reporterly curiosity, progress was evident. I noticed it when exhausted tourists stopped me in the street, or when friends camped on my couch. I can generally point them in the right direction, or find a decent place for dinner. Even while I’ve been swept away from this blog and busy with other work-ish things, I’ve been filing away handy tidbits of Atlanta-centric knowledge. I’ll need it sometime.
Last week, I flipped through a copy of the 2009 Not for Touristsguide for Atlanta, and found that I agreed often, learned a bit, and sometimes disagreed, because I could. After nearly 10 months here, I’ve got a favorite burrito and biscuits, a familiar route to work, and a just-in-case alternate. The weather “patterns” make as much sense as they possibly can, and I’ve got a doctor, dentist and veterinarian, a preferred coffee shop and yoga studio. When old friends say they’re considering a move to Atlanta — aren’t they all? — I can talk authoritatively about neighborhoods other than my own. I’ve ridden roller coasters, swum with whale sharks and wandered the zoo. I regularly order grits with breakfast.*
None of which makes me any more Southern, or any less Midwestern; I was called out yesterday for sounding like Marge Gunderson, for heaven’s sake. What makes me not-so-much a newcomer anymore is the determination to stay. If this newspaper stopped printing tomorrow, I’d wake up in Atlanta next week, and a year from now. You can fold yourself in to the fabric of a place, and still stand out. That’s cool. Here, at least, it is. Which is one big reason to stay.
Answer me this, transplants: how did you know you weren’t a newcomer anymore? And newcomers, what needs to happen for you to think of this as home?
*El Myr, Thumbs Up and Gato Bizco, MARTA eastbound, bike along Edgewood, always bring a hat, Emory Healthcare, Dr. Ross, Buckhead Animal Clinic, Dr. Bombay’s, Kashi Atlanta, everything at Six Flags, Georgia Aquarium, of course, and again, Thumbs Up.
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