This is who I've become

[alpacinou]

Is this correct and natural?

This is who I've become: a timid city slicker leading a monochrome existence in this ugly concrete behemoth of a city. I've forgotten what it feels like to touch the soil with my hands. I've forgotten the hum of the honeybees and the scent of roses when they are in full bloom. And the irony is that my colleagues here see me as a townie. They don't say it explicitly but I can sense it.

 

[Tarheel]

Is this correct and natural?

This is who I've become: a timid city slicker leading a monochrome existence in this ugly concrete behemoth of a city. I've forgotten what it feels like to touch the soil with my hands. I've forgotten the hum of the honeybees and the scent of roses when they are in full bloom. And the irony is that my colleagues here see me as a townie. They don't say it explicitly, but I can sense it.

Is being a townie a bad thing? What is ironic about the situation?

Doesn't that simply mean they see you as one of them?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Right. A townie is someone who grew up locally in a small town. If you're a townie, it's fine that they think of you as one.

If it's a big city, you probably wouldn't be called a townie.

 

[GoesStation]

Write "city-slicker" and "the scent of roses in full bloom."

"Townie" isn't the right word; it means "someone from this place", usually a small, college town and often in juxtaposition to students from other places. "Rustic" used to be used as a noun, but it's too old-fashioned to use nowadays. I can't think of a suitable replacement but I'm sure there's one out there.

 

[emsr2d2]

You could use the lovely BrE phrase "country bumpkin"!

 

[GoesStation]

You could use the lovely BrE phrase "country bumpkin"!

Lovely but quite old-fashioned in American English. A more neutral if less colorful phrase is small-town guy/girl.

 

[Tarheel]

Note that the term "city slicker" is most likely to be used by people in a rural area to refer to someone from an urban area (and unused to country ways).

You might want to watch City Slickers (a movie).