{"id":34,"date":"2007-07-13T18:12:42","date_gmt":"2007-07-13T17:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/13\/becoming-a-resident-part-1\/"},"modified":"2007-07-16T09:11:01","modified_gmt":"2007-07-16T08:11:01","slug":"becoming-a-resident-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/13\/becoming-a-resident-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming a resident, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first step to becoming a resident of a city? Actually moving there. The moving company retrieved the paper and cardboard Wednesday evening, so I can say that we’re moved in.<\/p>\n

Just hours before that, I realized a less obvious step in becoming a resident of Dublin. I had to complete an errand quickly, so I hopped on my bike and sped through traffic. I went around and across the Liffey River. As I weaved between buses, I saw exactly the view that appears on standard postcards of Dublin. It was lightly cloudy and the warmest it’s been in weeks.<\/p>\n

For the past six weeks, I’ve sauntered through my errands, stopping frequently to admire the city. I was, in effect, still a long-term tourist. I’d say that I was thinking like an university student who spends a summer abroad. I had life’s little tasks and inconveniences, unlike someone on holiday, but my mental state was that of a tourist nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\"Anita's<\/a>Wednesday, I noticed the Custom House as I zipped across a bridge. I didn’t ignore<\/em> it, but I didn’t feel the awe that caused me to say, “I love Dublin,” whenever anyone asked. The Custom House was just there — impressive, yes, but mainly a traffic pinch-point for my purposes at the time.<\/p>\n

In other words, I’m thinking more like a resident of Dublin. I wouldn’t say that I’m more callous to the beauty of this city. In fact, I’m finding new things to love all the time. But what I rarely feel is a peculiar, emotional response to the city, a sense of vast possibilities around every<\/em> street-corner. It was so strong sometimes that I literally felt it in my chest. It felt just like the anticipation of something wonderful — like a thick envelope from your university of choice, a long-awaited engagement ring, or an unexpected recognition of your hard work.<\/p>\n

I haven’t felt that lately. I still have the optimism and sense of possibilities, but it’s more intellectual and removed. I welcome the shift, because I believe it is necessary to live here, in the actual city, rather than some self-centered fantasy. A few weeks ago, I actually said that the city specially welcomed me<\/em>, because the weather was excellent for my first week. That was hyperbole, of course, but it did reflect the self-orientation that tourists have — must have — in order to “experience” a new place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first step to becoming a resident of a city? Actually moving there. The moving company retrieved the paper and cardboard Wednesday evening, so I can say that we’re moved in. Just hours before that, I realized a less obvious step in becoming a resident of Dublin. I had to complete an errand quickly, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,9,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}