Pillow Fight Club in Pittsburgh. What to expect.

This is the kind of thing that is just not done outside of America: too personal too fast. Europeans, for instance, are a lot less forward when it comes to expressing their craziness. Many of them do it by simply saying hello to strangers on the street... it doesn't work on Americans, though, who interpret it as mere friendliness. (I should post sometime on the Nash equilibrium that keeps Northern Europeans reluctant to be friendly to strangers).

Of course, it is possible to meet people spontaneously there too, but you should have some common ground, or a natural topic to begin with (late trains are a great of meeting new people in Holland!). Unlike in the USA, one should develop a little acquaintance & see positive responses (smiles, etc) before asking someone's name. I guess Europeans are a lot more privacy-minded this way.

So how do Europeans express their craziness? Well, some Dutch play Urban Golf.

These are my impressions:

Finding stuff:
Both cities are big enough for my needs, as far as my commercial needs are concerned. As long as I know where to find rice milk and bicycle parts, I'll be happy. In fact, Pittsburgh might have better late-night options, due to Massachusetts's blue laws

Cost of living:
Renting an apartment in Pittsburgh costs, ceteris paribus, half as much as in Boston. But since ceteris not paribus, Pittsburghers live bigger than Bostonians.

Weather:
Pittsburgh is a bit warmer all year round, but surprisingly also more humid and has more wet days (according to my World Weather Guide).

Social:
Boston provides an endless supply of potentially-interesting people. But since most of them are related to MIT in some way, you're not likely to run into them at a nightclub: you have to network your way to them, something which I failed to do during my one year in Boston.
In Pittsburgh, this supply might be more limited. CMU is like a mini MIT (or actually like a cross between Bucknell and MIT). But again, the lower level is more important: what will my immediate surroundings be? If I can relate to my colleagues, housemates, etc, then I don't need to care what my city is like as much: I was socially unhappy in Amsterdam, despite knowing several hundred people (most of my colleagues socialized almost exclusively with each other: I didn't click with them, except for two or three people, so I quickly found other scenes). Then again, it's nice to be able to relate to people you meet spontaneously (this is the reason sarandipiti left Bucknell, which I didn't understand at the time). The question is: will I find such a "scene"? In Amsterdam, I occasionally enjoyed the Blijburg scene, but while this was wonderful as far as *musical* relationships go, it was merely "ok" for meeting interesting people.

Transportation:
Boston is much better, especially given the T. In Pittsburgh, even taxis are hard to come by. Bikers need to struggle with hills. If I go to Pittsburgh, I will consider buying a car.

The reason why a place like Edinburgh is socially better than a place like London:

If you live in London, you need to belong to some sort of club, or be friends with your colleagues from work. Otherwise you need to make an effort to meet new people and keep in touch with the people you meet. Unless a friendship develops rightaway (very rare), it's a big effort to meet up with people. This also creates a pressure about asking people out.

If you live in Edinburgh, you are very likely to live in the center. You're more likely to bump into the same people again and again, and it's much easier to invite someone to lunch, and to keep in touch with them even if you make no effort at all. You get to be familiar with the whole city quickly, and feel at home more easily. Edinburgh must be more like my Bucknell experience, but with a much bigger and more adult population.

Also, Edinburgh has a strong demographic filter towards highly-educated people, especially in the sciences.

This is a bit counterintuitive to me, especially if you think that London has a greater total number of interesting people.

Me - [fiddle solo]
J- Wow, that was great!
Me - Thanks.
J- And fiddle is such a hard instrument!

Freeze the scene.

In my paranoia about not being arrogant, I stop and wonder "what should I say?"

"- Yeah, you're right it is a hard instrument." (therefore I am good, therefore this is an arrogant remark)
or
"- Actually, playing fiddle's not that hard." (even more arrogant!)

My arrogance becomes thus unfalsifiable.