Lifestyle

13 Ways Post-Grad Life In NYC Is Exactly Like Studying Abroad

by Lydia Mansel

You may have thought you would never experience the lifestyle you had when you studied abroad during your junior year.

But if you're headed to the Big Apple after college, you can experience that lifestyle all over again: the good, the bad and the completely broke.

1. You have never had so much free time.

There are no more study groups (because, honestly, who studies when they are abroad?) or club meetings that took up all of your free time in college.

Your Sundays are no longer spent cramming for a Monday exam; you're either getting brunch or recovering from a last-minute trip to Amsterdam... or Jersey.

2. Themed parties are a lot less common than they were in college

So when one comes around, you go all out. You probably don't have the costumes you accumulated over college on hand, but four years of “white trash” and “ABC” parties taught you a thing or two about making use of a flannel and some tin foil.

3. You spend money like it grows on trees.

At first. Then you realize that you are going to need to eat at some point, and should probably stop spending money on $14 cocktails or £8 pound beers.

That little stash of money you had saved, which makes you feel like a millionaire, will be gone before you know it.

4. You're constantly surrounded by attractive people.

This is especially applicable if you went to a smaller university. You find yourself double taking at people on the street or on public transportation. This is quickly followed by an internal dialogue wondering if he or she is some type of royalty or if he or she works in finance.

5. Dating still sucks

In college, you could go home with someone, and chances are, you knew them, your friends knew them or at least your friend's friend had a class with them freshman year.

When you're in the real world or a foreign country, you probably don't have any mutual friends with the guy who is trying to bring you back to his apartment. For all you know, he could be serial killer, 40 years old or, worse, he might live all the way in Jersey.

6. You're constantly trying to balance the amount of pictures you put on Instagram.

You don't want to be THAT person, but it isn't your fault that there are so many Instagram-worthy sights and meals!

7. No one judges you for getting drunk on a Tuesday.

Actually, you probably go out more often on Tuesdays than on Saturdays. If you're lucky, your post-grad job is more of a 10 to 6 kind of deal. Your hangovers might be worse now, but hey, you don't have to take an exam (or an exam that matters) at 8 am.

8. You BS your way through most of it.

But when it really matters, you buckle down and get your sh*t done.

9. Feeling homesick is a real thing.

But there isn't much you can do about it, seeing as you're spending your money on absurdly expensive drinks, you probably can't afford a plane ticket home anyway.

10. You are unsure of the proper way of doing things that usually come as second nature.

Do you hug when you greet someone? Kiss on the cheek? Both cheeks? Is a handshake more appropriate in this situation?

11. It's a very small world.

Don't be surprised if you bump into friends in Paris, or meet someone in Soho who went to high school with your cousin.

12. It isn't exactly what you had pictured.

You and your friends probably won't dress as glamorously as the "Sex and the City" characters (later seasons), and you wont spend afternoons on the back of Paolo's moped, but you'll still have a good time.

13. There will come a time when you're ready to leave.

You're exhausted and in need of a nice, long break or detox. But it won't be a final goodbye; you know you'll be back.

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It