I love Ann Arbor. It is home for me now. Not even home away from home, but home. Every time I go back home home, it's changed so much. I don't think my home home exists any more, you know, the one I grew up in. So Ann Arbor has become my harbor, maybe not the one I grew up in, but the one I grew up into as a young adult.
Ann Arbor has such character!
I remember when I first moved here, for the first two years I didn't have a car I hated Ann Arbor. I moved from a city in which you cannot take a step before the guy in front of you creates that space for you to step into. Then I come to Ann Arbor, where a single college rules pretty much everything. There is no life in the streets after certain hours, and no bar life after 2am. Where I come from, you go out after midnight - not after you have your afternoon nap!
Of course I hated Ann Arbor especially because I was a pedestrian - I was used to having access to everything within 100 yards of my flat. And I mean, everything. You need a grocery store? You got it. A gift shop? Yes. A flower shop? Definitely. Apparel and shoe stores? Is that even a question? Needles? Hammers? A tailor? A vet? We have it all. Oh, looking for a sink for your kitchen? That too.
In Ann Arbor, on the other hand, without a car, I had to plan my weekends around hourly bus schedules to Meijer (which, by the way, takes forever to go a mile. Yeah back in St. Olaf the buses are even slower and to top that there's also incredible traffic, but at least the busses come every few minutes and they go pretty much everywhere.), and god forbid I had to carry a couple of 2lt soda bottles from the bus stop to home. Even if I manage that, you end up spending such a big chunk of your day, huffing and puffing, it's a total, boring waste.
Man, those were some hard days.
But in time, a lot of things changed. Having my first car changed most of it and finally made A2 a convenient place to live. I was able to go to neighboring towns more often. I didn't have to depend on people for transportation. So, having a car was the first big step towards liking A2.
The second and final step of becoming an Ann Arborite was more gradual. It actually started in 2009, when my new job included a team of Texans. I was the only "local" from Ann Arbor, and suddenly became the go-to person for everybody. After 4 years of always being the foreigner in town, finally I was the Ann Arborite.
My transformation was complete by the end of 2010.
Here are a few realizations I had during this weird year that made me feel the Ann Arborite I am:
* I no longer dislike winter, instead, I love, cherish and enjoy it a little too much. Consequently, I am as pro as one can be driving on snow without a 4x4.
* I am no longer the person who wears layers and layers of clothing in winter, even at work. No more turtlenecks, no more double triple under shirts, no more any of it any more! I can actually wear a t-shirt inside and mostly be OK.
* One day I looked at my feet and to my honest to goodness surprise, I was wearing flip flops under my jeans - to work.
* I finally knew that I was not going to have to sell my car soon, and long-awaited bumper stickers got their designated space on my bumper: a very Ann Arborite "Coexist" and a very Darwinian fish.
* I have had at least 4-5 bars I felt at home. At my current favorite spot my beer comes without me ordering.
* I have hosted many visitors to Ann Arbor and have proved to be a very knowledgable host.
* I know which places look dreadful but serves the best food, and I know which are the other way round.
* I've enjoyed many local festivals, some not even known by many, like the Rolling Sculpture Car Show, which I enjoyed immensely. I'm also local enough to enjoy but mostly hate when Art Fair blocks downtown.
* I've been around Detroit and the suburbs of Metro Area enough to be not a stranger any more. (I don't have a bigger intention to be more familiar.)
* I know 95% of the apartment complexes in Ann Arbor in detail.
* Even the guys at my oil change place know who I am. And my local Wendy's people as well. And of course, my gas station people. Some even constantly supported me as I quit smoking.
* I do get offended when someone says something a little negative about Ann Arbor.
* I have been at the UofM, as a student and as an employee, at more than a couple departments, long enough to see many people coming, starting, ending and leaving their lives at UofM.
* I have tailgated among adults (not them annoying undergrads).
* I have been to two UofM games, one being against Michigan State. I learned what people used their keychains for during the game and why they screamed, was a part of the yelling maize crowd that managed to force spartans to take a timeout, and sang Hail to the Victors.
* I have more than one wolverine apparel.
* I somehow ended up owning a few too many "local" t-shirts, like of Blimpy's, Zola, Charley's.... although I only worked at one.
* When I see a product, let it be a coffee mug or a pair of sneakers, I can guess which store it came from in Ann Arbor with pretty high accuracy.
* I am affiliated with not only UofM but also with EMU.
* I know a few A2 oddities like the Fairy Doors and the little robot road stamps.
* I have volunteered more than a thousand hours at the local, state-of-the-art Humane Society.
* I have a sizable number of friends who are genuine locals, you know, born and raised in A2. Which is pretty rare to find in such a transient town, I think.
The list continues...
I am a humble but proud, liberal Ann Arborite that adds to the unique diversity of this town.
Finally I belong somewhere again.
I am from the fabric of this town.
I am an Ann Arborite.
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| Courtesy of Yuriy Dybskiy |
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