7 annoying facts about living in New York City

I love to write about the New York City lifestyle. As a Brazilian, I always see the cultural differences between living here and living in Brazil. Day after day, I can tell that the routine, the behavior, whatever, a lot of things, are different. And here are some facts that annoy me…

I always say that is on the subway that the real New Yorker routine happens! There’s no way to avoid it: the city is huge and everybody needs to move fast. Wearing high heels ou sneakers, a rich person or a poor person, an executive or a waiter: everybody takes a ride on the subway. And there is the place with a lot of characters – including some that are really annoying, like those who listen to music so loudly – without using an earphone. There are other ones that use the smartphone to play or to watch a movie – without an earphone as well, of course.

In general, I feel that everybody love Brazilians here. People get excited when you tell them that you are Brazilian – they think that our country is nice, they want to go to Rio, tell good things about our food. But, there are some generalizations, like: “you know how to dance samba!” or “oh, you speak Spanish, right?” or, worse, “you speak, French, right? I mean, what?

I always advise people – and I follow my own advice – if have the opportunity to use a bathroom – in a store, in a restaurant or in a cafe – use it! There are no public bathrooms in New York City and there is nothing worse than want to pee without a place to do it! Sometimes, I avoid to drink – water, juice, coffee – just to not stress myself looking for a bathroom. Do you want a tip? A Starbucks always saves us in these moments – just cross your fingers for a door without a passcode. Oh, and of course, you always have Bryant Park public bathroom – the most beautiful and clean bathroom in the city – no kidding!

Who is used to drink beer in Brazil – especially during the summer – knows how is delicious to drink that freezing glass of beer. I love beer – but it is impossible to find beers at the same temperature that we love in Brazil. I have to confess that you get used to it, but I’m still missing that Brazilian beer during the summer.

New York is a crowded city, with a huge population of people – and also rats and pigeons. I see rats only on the subway stations, so, pigeons annoy me more. There a lot of these birds here. And what freaks me out is the fact that they don’t mind with your presence and fly over your head, which scares me, I confess. I am always feeling like an idiot, running from them.

This is something that I got used to – but it annoys me sometimes when I am with my friends. More people, more things to talk about. At the restaurants here, there is a no written rule: they expected that your order, eat it and leave. There is no way to stay there and talking and talking – ok, sometimes it can be inconvenient being in a place and not spending money, but there are some restaurants with staff so rude! They start to clean your table almost saying: get out!

In Brazil, houses and apartments have a room called service area. It is where you have your washer and dryer and also a sink to wash some clothes, to clean your shoes, this kind of thing. But, here, apartments don’t have this space and it’s hard to survive without it. Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit, lol.