The (Insert Location Here) Moment

The hardest part about leaving home is... well, leaving home. I am not going to lie -- I experienced some hesitation in the days leading up to my departure. I wasn't kicking and screaming, but I definitely wasn't all smiles. But there were definitely tears; enough to swell up my eyelids like a bad case of conjunctivitis. It did make for a good sleep though, a built in eye mask.

My reservations about leaving New York stemmed mostly from the fact that I will be bereft of a 'New York Moment' for upwards of six months. As definitions are fleeting, I couldn't possibly begin to describe what exactly a New York Moment is. In fact there is nothing definite about them at all. What I can tell you about them is that they most often appear in the midst of mutual cooperation between two New Yorkers, in the form of an ephemeral, yet seemingly destined, relationship of strangers who have never known each other before nor will ever encounter one another again. But the interaction, the scene, and the sentiment that was shared could never be lost.

Some such moments are exceedingly humbling, like when your manicurist (straight off the boat from Korea) has already finished the new Dan Brown book that you have just precociously tried to explain to her. Some are touching, such as when you see the angry chain smoker with furrowed brow bend down and offer a homeless man a cigarette. And some New York Moments will become fond memories of an instantaneous friend with whom you shared a cab downtown. Despite the scenario, it is a New York Moment that makes enduring the crowded streets and the endless traffic of the city worth it.

Every city must have its own brand of their "Moment." Since my arrival in London early Thursday morning, I've been wondering when I would encounter my first London Moment... but then I realized, that (1) it was probably too early in the curve for me and (2) I was probably looking in all the wrong places. Regardless of the parallels between London and New York, these are two different cities, from two different cultures. In fact, with my experience of New York Moments, I would have probably horribly offended some Londoner if I had made an attempt.

I think that I am so desperate for such a London Moment because it will officially mark my graduation from a tourist to a resident. In due time, I suppose...