The Philadelphia Story

It's been a while since I've posted, so for those of my regular readers who don't know, I am back safe and sound, in the United States.

I arrived in America a week ago after a relatively uneventful flight home. Before I left, I had expected some hassles leaving the country, since I had lost my declaration form over the course of my stay, but oddly I was quickly waved through by the Russian bureaucrat at customs. On my flight, I had the good fortune to sit next to a man from Kiev who claimed he had never flown before. I quickly offered him my window seat so that he could see the ground below.

On reaching Washington, I had to go through American customs, which proved simple enough. In line, I overheard a flight attendant trying to ask one of my fellow passengers whether she had any liquids or other materials that might keep her from entering the country. The flight attendant had the mistaken impression this woman spoke Spanish. I chimed in in my halting Russian and managed to explain to this woman what she could and could not bring into the United States.

After five days in New York getting reaquainted with, well, old acquaintances (and several very good friends), I came down to Philadelphia on Sunday. I will admit I've had little chance to scope out the city, having spent the bulk of my time near Penn looking at apartments and reading in the Penn bookstore (man, how I missed Barnes & Noble when I was in Russia). But here is what I can report about Philadelphia so far:

1) The housing market is much saner than in New York, by orders of magnitude. By this I mean not only that housing is more abundant and cheaper, but that the process of obtaining it is infinitely saner. I have not spoken to a single broker but have been dealing directly with landlords who have apartments in and around Penn. I may have found the perfect one today, not enormous but barely a stone's throw from campus, from a cinema, and from a grocery store. But all of the small studios I've sen have been lovely and infinitely liveable. What's more, all of the landlords I've spoken to are only too happy to rent to a future Penn student and seem uninterested in my income statement, by credit score, or in having me sign over my firstborn child.

2) Transportation is also pretty good. The subway system is not nearly as extensive as in New York or Moscow, consisting of only two lines, plus a "subway-surface" line that is a vestige of Philadelphia's formerly extensive streetcar network, but it's nonetheless quick and reliable. I've found a bus that takes me directly into the Penn area from the hostel where I'm currently staying. The bus is reasonably quick and not terribly crowded. I have yet to encounter anything that resembles a major traffic jam.

3) People seem much more chill here than in New York. A case in point: tonight, as I was getting on a bus, I realized I didn't have any singles to pay for my ride (the bus costs $2.00). I asked if anyone had change for a ten. The driver suggested I go into a nearby restaurant and get change there. I figured that by the time I did this, he would have driven off. But no. He actually kept the bus waiting for me. And no one on the bus complained about it.

4) Philadelphia is also a reasonable "walking city". I haven't been to the Liberty Bell or any of the major tourist destinations yet, as this is not the main purpose of my trip, and as I've seen them on previous visits. But they're all an easy walking distance from my hostel.