Part II of III
we straddled onto the subway train, found some "handicap seats" open and sat down across from him. dressed in a black jacket with a blue-police-like patch on the side of his arm, he cautiously looked up at the corner of his eyes from his slouching position. my quiet introspection did not fail to notice the scars on his hand and the lines of suspicion on his face; the metro running through the slums of nyc kept me on alert as well. he prudently pulled his black duffle bag closer to himself. after about 30 seconds of settling down, he opened a can of worms i would never have expected.
the conversation opened with the topic of bruce lee. there was so much passion in his voice; the exuding pride and knowledge captured my attention. with that new yorkan accent, he says: "bruce lee, man, no one stands a chance...no jackie chan, no jet li...he's the dragon!" his eyes lit up as he annunciated the last word. i found it funny; i had to chuckle. but what amazed me more was where this conversation turned as he talked about his philosophy on religion. you can always spark an interesting, substantial conversation when you find someone holding a book. he did. he was holding a book called "new sisters." he was no ordinary african american you see on the streets of nyc. he became muslim a few years ago and insisted on passing the knowledge of religion. he claimed he has read several religious texts, inc. the bible and the koran. i believed him. he lacked proper schooling, but he was educated. he believed in passing out books/literature freely; he believed in priceless knowledge; he believed in the freedom of knowing.
not having been on public transportation in SF or LA (yeah, okay!), i admit that me being spoiled has made me miss out on cross-cultural interactions like these. maybe it's just a ny thing? this springbreak has made me realize that there is still so much to see out there. this world is SO SO big.
soho: i went prancing around soho and i found my store! Zara is a spanish store that i fell in love with when i was backpacking around Europe---there aren't any west coast locations, boohoo. although they have a website, they have no catalogs nor online ordering either. so what is the purpose of that? just a tease?!?
first time in boston
i must recommend the chinatown NY-Boston bus. dlu suspected i'd get lost in finding it. ha! i pride myself with a good sense of direction. =)
brains: surrounded by brains at mit was something i anticipated. i was worried that i might find myself completely intimidated and turned off. well, you can DEFINITELY feel the intense brainpower within that mit and harvard aura, but honestly, they're just regular people. they talk, they laugh, they eat like all of us. it is not what i expected; it is not difficult to imagine myself in boston. to say the least, this college town was an awesome place. au contraire to what my pompous-know-it-all-bostonian friend thought...the weather was GREAT in the month of march. believing in this friend made me overpack. =P
i am lame: so i spend several days on the east coast for vacation...just pleasure, no work. amidst this time of pure relaxation, i find myself carelessly stepping into a pothole and limping for the rest of the trip. thanks for gkim's motherly care, my sprained ankle was able to handle more fun after that....in fact, even after feeling the excruciating pain on the sidewalk for several minutes, i walked into the Thom Brown store and my eyes sparkled when i saw so many wonderful pairs of....yeah, you guessed it, SHOES! =)
time to go home--to ny: due to some "i-knew-it-but-no-one-believed-me" circumstances, i ended up taking the chinatown bus back to NY alone. spending several hours in the chinatown of boston was not the most pleasant feeling. when the bus passed by new haven, a spark of interest flashed through my mind...i began to wonder...
we straddled onto the subway train, found some "handicap seats" open and sat down across from him. dressed in a black jacket with a blue-police-like patch on the side of his arm, he cautiously looked up at the corner of his eyes from his slouching position. my quiet introspection did not fail to notice the scars on his hand and the lines of suspicion on his face; the metro running through the slums of nyc kept me on alert as well. he prudently pulled his black duffle bag closer to himself. after about 30 seconds of settling down, he opened a can of worms i would never have expected.
the conversation opened with the topic of bruce lee. there was so much passion in his voice; the exuding pride and knowledge captured my attention. with that new yorkan accent, he says: "bruce lee, man, no one stands a chance...no jackie chan, no jet li...he's the dragon!" his eyes lit up as he annunciated the last word. i found it funny; i had to chuckle. but what amazed me more was where this conversation turned as he talked about his philosophy on religion. you can always spark an interesting, substantial conversation when you find someone holding a book. he did. he was holding a book called "new sisters." he was no ordinary african american you see on the streets of nyc. he became muslim a few years ago and insisted on passing the knowledge of religion. he claimed he has read several religious texts, inc. the bible and the koran. i believed him. he lacked proper schooling, but he was educated. he believed in passing out books/literature freely; he believed in priceless knowledge; he believed in the freedom of knowing.
not having been on public transportation in SF or LA (yeah, okay!), i admit that me being spoiled has made me miss out on cross-cultural interactions like these. maybe it's just a ny thing? this springbreak has made me realize that there is still so much to see out there. this world is SO SO big.
soho: i went prancing around soho and i found my store! Zara is a spanish store that i fell in love with when i was backpacking around Europe---there aren't any west coast locations, boohoo. although they have a website, they have no catalogs nor online ordering either. so what is the purpose of that? just a tease?!?
first time in boston
i must recommend the chinatown NY-Boston bus. dlu suspected i'd get lost in finding it. ha! i pride myself with a good sense of direction. =)
brains: surrounded by brains at mit was something i anticipated. i was worried that i might find myself completely intimidated and turned off. well, you can DEFINITELY feel the intense brainpower within that mit and harvard aura, but honestly, they're just regular people. they talk, they laugh, they eat like all of us. it is not what i expected; it is not difficult to imagine myself in boston. to say the least, this college town was an awesome place. au contraire to what my pompous-know-it-all-bostonian friend thought...the weather was GREAT in the month of march. believing in this friend made me overpack. =P
i am lame: so i spend several days on the east coast for vacation...just pleasure, no work. amidst this time of pure relaxation, i find myself carelessly stepping into a pothole and limping for the rest of the trip. thanks for gkim's motherly care, my sprained ankle was able to handle more fun after that....in fact, even after feeling the excruciating pain on the sidewalk for several minutes, i walked into the Thom Brown store and my eyes sparkled when i saw so many wonderful pairs of....yeah, you guessed it, SHOES! =)
time to go home--to ny: due to some "i-knew-it-but-no-one-believed-me" circumstances, i ended up taking the chinatown bus back to NY alone. spending several hours in the chinatown of boston was not the most pleasant feeling. when the bus passed by new haven, a spark of interest flashed through my mind...i began to wonder...
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