You Should Live Here: Austin, TX

I've had the luck of getting to meet a few future colleagues in both Boston, MA, and Austin, TX. Not that I don't have love for you Massholes--I spent 24 years of my life growing up there--but there is something about Austinites that just makes me smile. I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that most of the people here are transplants. When you're new to a place, you try your best to meet new people and make friends. That attitude just sticks. Things are also really laid back here, and Austin isn't exactly what you would picture when you think of Texas. P (a future diplomat) said it best yesterday: "Austin is big-city convenience with a small-town feel." He's dead-on. Austin proper has a population of about 750k, while the Austin Metro area has a population of about 1.7m. That's a lot of people! Still, it's a haven for home-grown businesses and a laid-back lifestyle. Picture Burlington, VT only bigger and much, much hotter. I love it here!

My new-found friends and I watched the US not lose to England (poor Rob Green, though, did you see him getting beat up mercilessly by the British press? He will NEVER live that goal down) at an incredibly busy Cuatros, and then we went for some tasty Mexican at Wahoo's Fish Taco. And to top it off? Jenga, Skee-ball, tabletop shuffleboard, and king-size checkers over drinks at Kung Fu Saloon. Is there really a more fun afternoon? If I have to be poor and struggling in some city in America, I'd prefer it to be here. Would you like to live in a one-bedroom apartment in a nice, gated community with a pool-side cabana area with two gas grills and outdoor refrigerators, on-site dog park, free Wii and XBox rentals, which is pet friendly for less than $600/month? In the words of the great philosopher, Sarah Palin, You Betcha.

So tonight it's off to floorball where we will have our work cut out for us (no subs tonight, and then a fill-in game for one of the absent goalies), but it's all in the name of fun. I will do my best to forget I have to wake up at 5:30 for my awful job, and at this rate, I don't think that will be too hard.

So, in summary, this is Austin. You should live here.