Arrive in any large airport in the United States, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll immediately be greeted by all the stereotypical tourism clich\u00c3\u00a9s that the surrounding area has to offer. Baltimore? Have some crab cakes. Boston? Lobster and Sam Adams. Dallas? Barbecue. <\/p>\n
Land in Austin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airport and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re greeted with music and pleas to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keep Austin weird\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. But what does that mean exactly? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always heard that Austin was unique to Texas; a haven for food, music and technology. But finding the truth in that was proving to be elusive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Six months ago (well, more like seven or eight now because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve put off writing this post) I accepted a new job and moved to Austin, Texas. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing how simple it is to write that statement, because it was not an easy process at all.<\/p>\n
It started with the job. I was already working in the healthcare sector, so I searched for other jobs in that area as a way to give myself an advantage. This strategy had some minor successes, and ultimately led to the position in Austin. It felt like the perfect job: a combination of development language (C#), domain space (healthcare) and familiar territory (there was some database work involved too); I feared that turning it down would be an exceptional loss. Especially since everyone I had met during the interview process was nice, and the company had a set of core values that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often see in the corporate world these days.<\/p>\n
There was just one problem. It was in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
I feel like most people on the east cost don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a particularly favorable opinion of Texas, and I was one of those folks. After all, when Texas is mentioned in the media, it is usually in relation to heavily conservative viewpoints, or misguided desires to secede from the nation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c opinions that run harshly against my own.<\/p>\n
Not to mention the fact that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to leave behind @ndoto<\/a>, an incredible friend who I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spent the last eight years with. While Maryland had become familiar and hard to leave behind, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the people you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re with who truly make a place feel like home \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it was @ndoto<\/a> who had helped Maryland feel like home for me.<\/p>\n Ultimately, though, the opportunity was too great. And I knew that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to stay in Austin forever. So I fretted, and I cried\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and I took a leap of faith.<\/p>\n My first impressions of Austin were incredibly normal. Based on my previous visits to the city \u00e2\u20ac\u201c first for the interview, second to look for an apartment \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there was nothing about the place that was particularly\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, weird. <\/p>\n It turns out that Austin is good at keeping secrets. Or rather, Austin doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel the need to dress up fancy in order to be fancy. In a world where we often judge things at face value, this can make first impressions difficult. But eventually you learn to live by what we are all taught in first grade: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inside that matters.<\/p>\n Take, for example, a little place called Bangers<\/a>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a new restaurant, in an up-and-coming place in Austin — a seemingly perfect destination for someone who is new to the city. On the outside, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem like much. Similar to other places nearby, it was located in a converted house; a large outside seating area was visible from the front, filled with long, wooden communal tables with bench seating. The inside told a completely different story, however. There was more of the communal seating, but there was also a bar with more beer taps than you could imagine; they adorned the back wall like trophy kills in a hunting lodge. This place was serious about beer. And the food \u00e2\u20ac\u201c true to their name, they had a small but exquisite selection of house made sausages. A stereotypical idea, perhaps, but not a stereotypical execution.<\/p>\n The hardest part to quantify, though, was the atmosphere. Overall, you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but feel welcomed. There was no pretense \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you came as you were, you enjoyed the beer and food, you soaked up the fine summer evening, you listened to the music from the live band intermingle with the sounds of lively conversation and laughter. Lights twinkled overhead, and above those, millions of stars. It was comfortable.<\/p>\n This was my first taste of Austin. The Austin that I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen up until that moment. The city is comprised of smart, passionate people who know how to have fun. That passion is on display in the music, food, beer and coffee that is tucked in little nooks and crannies all over the city. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not always obvious, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always look<\/em> impressive. But it is.<\/p>\n Of course, Austin is still part of Texas, and the cultural differences between here and Maryland are numerous. There is a great pride for Texas, and a love of anything that is produced here. Tacos and tex-mex are everywhere \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but true to Austin style, it is the best tex-mex you will probably have in the United States. Target and Wal-Mart dominate most of the large, commercial shopping centers. Chain restaurants abound. Cowboy hats and boots garnish the crowds as you walk the streets. All things considered, though, Austin is Texas for beginners. <\/p>\n The new job has been stressful. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m grateful that I was able to find somewhere that saw potential in me, but it has been a challenge learning the details about both the business logic and some of the more intricate technical details that I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had much experience with previously. But I finally feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m starting to fit in, and able to contribute to both the company and the product. <\/p>\n Earlier, I mentioned that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the people you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re with that truly makes somewhere home. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been lucky to explore Austin with @FlatFootFox<\/a>, as without him I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I would have been adventurous enough to scope out some of the unique spots this city has to offer. Between movie marathons at Alamo Drafthouse, evenings under the stars at Bangers, or brunches at 24 Diner, my memories of Austin are now inexorably tied to @FlatFootFox<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want it any other way.<\/p>\n Austin feels comfortable to me now. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure if I could stay here forever, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not eager to leave, either. Moving here has given me a new perspective on Texas, and, in some ways, a new perspective on life. That never would have happened if I hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t taken that leap of faith. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scary to do, but sometimes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and, sometimes, there will be someone at the bottom ready to catch you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arrive in any large airport in the United States, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll immediately be greeted by all the stereotypical tourism clich\u00c3\u00a9s that the surrounding area has to offer. Baltimore? Have some crab cakes. Boston? Lobster and Sam Adams. Dallas? Barbecue. Land in Austin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airport and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re greeted with music and pleas to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keep Austin weird\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,44,46],"tags":[146,147],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mageuzi.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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