In Caffe Roma
So far today, I've taken a good walk through Chinatown and North Beach.
The main thing that struck me on my walk through China town is that I was taller than the majority of people around me.
Beyond that, I noted this one square (forgive me for not finding out the name of it; I'm sure it's well-known) that was full of Asian men, most of them old, playing board games. I took a look at one of the games, and I think it was Chinese chess. I tried to play that a couple times a few years back, but I didn't really have the patience. From the sidewalk, I could see at least 8 games going on. Each game had its two players, and about ten spectators, all of whom were talking amongst each other while watching the game unfold. It led me to wish for some sort of Sunday-afternoon community activity of my own. Maybe I could get a bunch of people together with laptops and drum machines in Dolores Park on a weekly basis. More on that as it develops.
Most of the signs you see in Chinatown are not in English. I think they're in Chinese, but I don't know Chinese so I couldn't tell you. There's all sorts of cool cheap stuff and vegetables I've never seen around there.
Now, I'm in Caffe Roma, in North Beach. The cafe is a very clean place, with well-dressed attractive people in it. In the line at the counter, two men were speaking a mix of english and italian to each other. I came to this neighborhood hoping maybe I'd run into an older, slightly-insane beat poet. Instead I find myself looking at all the beautiful women, many of which are Italian. I'll compensate for my missed expectations by picking up a copy of "Howl" at City Lights, or something.
I passed by these two guys on the sidewalk who were sitting outside of a cafe, smoking cigars, and drinking espressos. They both had their hair well-groomed and slicked, and they wore suits. The word "mafia" was the first to come to mind.
Yesterday I bought my first pair of Nike Airs. They're white with a little gray. I absolutely love them.
After I finish learning Spanish, I think I'll pick up Italian. Then Chinese.
The main thing that struck me on my walk through China town is that I was taller than the majority of people around me.
Beyond that, I noted this one square (forgive me for not finding out the name of it; I'm sure it's well-known) that was full of Asian men, most of them old, playing board games. I took a look at one of the games, and I think it was Chinese chess. I tried to play that a couple times a few years back, but I didn't really have the patience. From the sidewalk, I could see at least 8 games going on. Each game had its two players, and about ten spectators, all of whom were talking amongst each other while watching the game unfold. It led me to wish for some sort of Sunday-afternoon community activity of my own. Maybe I could get a bunch of people together with laptops and drum machines in Dolores Park on a weekly basis. More on that as it develops.
Most of the signs you see in Chinatown are not in English. I think they're in Chinese, but I don't know Chinese so I couldn't tell you. There's all sorts of cool cheap stuff and vegetables I've never seen around there.
Now, I'm in Caffe Roma, in North Beach. The cafe is a very clean place, with well-dressed attractive people in it. In the line at the counter, two men were speaking a mix of english and italian to each other. I came to this neighborhood hoping maybe I'd run into an older, slightly-insane beat poet. Instead I find myself looking at all the beautiful women, many of which are Italian. I'll compensate for my missed expectations by picking up a copy of "Howl" at City Lights, or something.
I passed by these two guys on the sidewalk who were sitting outside of a cafe, smoking cigars, and drinking espressos. They both had their hair well-groomed and slicked, and they wore suits. The word "mafia" was the first to come to mind.
Yesterday I bought my first pair of Nike Airs. They're white with a little gray. I absolutely love them.
After I finish learning Spanish, I think I'll pick up Italian. Then Chinese.
posted at 4:24 PM
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