Silicon Valley, Six Months Later

Maybe you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted on this blog in over four months. The main reason is that my energy has been going elsewhere. In February, I defended my PhD thesis and relocated to the South SF Bay area (aka Silicon Valley) to work in tech. Most of my energy, since then, has been spent adapting to a new job and settling into a new environment. To be completely honest, it’s been difficult. I defended my thesis, prepared for an international move and started a new job all within one month. Hindsight is 20/20: if I had to do it over, I would take two or three months off after completing my degree to give myself a buffer to complete this transition.

Six months later, I have mixed feelings. I’m not sure how I feel about Silicon Valley. I picked an apartment in the South SF Bay because I wanted to be close to work. I’m able to bike to work, which is nice. However, as someone who grew up and lived all her life in a big city, the area feels very suburban and well, boring, to me. In all likelihood, part of the problem is that I don’t have many friends here. Once the work day is over, I often feel very lonely. It might sound cheesy, but this is probably what I regret most about leaving my hometown: leaving my friends and family behind.

I try to look at the bright side: I’m happy with my job. I like my boss and my coworkers. People here work reasonable hours and the work is challenging. I have my own place for the first time in my life. It’s a big apartment in a quiet neighborhood, it’s a comfortable place to live. Silicon Valley is a huge tech hub. It’s a good opportunity for me to learn a lot. Because I don’t go out much these days, I’ve actually made a decent amount of progress on my programming language project in my spare time. I also installed an electric motor on my bike and completed some electronic projects. These things give me some satisfaction. Still, loneliness is hard, and I don’t quite feel at home here yet.

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