Steinbeck, jellyfish and deep-fried artichokes
Posted on | March 1, 2009 | 3 Comments
I’ve just had a fantastic weekend! The adventure started first thing Friday, when I made my way to the beautiful Jack London Square Station in Oakland in time to catch the morning train to Salinas. How different train travel here is to that in the UK! For a start, it’s something of a rarity - and so an adventure - over on these car-loving shores. Everyone on the platform looked uncertain, constantly asking the attendant about when the train would arrive, what facilities it would have, where was the best place to board - none of the brisk, experienced straightforwardness of English train riders! And once on board, I realized that in the year and a half since I had last traveled with Amtrak, I had forgotten quite how luxurious their trains are: truly made for people of even the largest proportions, the seats are incredibly capacious and the leg-room vast. The 2 1/2 hour ride to Salinas was a peaceful one: I enjoyed the experience of doing nothing other than staring out of the window (an idle luxury which hasn’t been possible for far too long) and watching the lush, rolling hills go by.
The adventure continued once I arrived at the solitary station in Salinas, assuming that the big coach on the far side of the forecourt was the Amtrak connecting bus to Monterey, on which I had carefully booked a seat the previous day. After my eyes had then refocused and taken in the small minibus in front of it, I realized not only that this was my transport, but that I was the only customer! I started chatting to the very friendly bus driver, and as there was ample time before she was due to collect the next lot of Monterey-bound passengers, she informed me that she would take me on a tour of both Salinas and Monterey. So we drove past every Steinbeck-related location in the area, before heading on to Monterey, where she showed me all the best places to eat, drink and be merry. Meanwhile I also learned the (unnamed!) bus driver’s own history: after going to college and getting a Master’s, she had worked for the IRS for 20 years before a friend bet her several thousand dollars that she could never be a bus driver for 5 years. That was 4 1/2 years ago….
I then headed to the famous aquarium to meet up with my cousin Alan, his partner Moya, their one year old Seth (the cutest and best behaved toddler ever!) and his aunt (on the other side of the family) Margaret, who lives with her economist husband in Palo Alto but has a small condo right on the beach about 20 miles north of Monterey. Alan and Moya live in Ottawa (my uncle and aunt moved there some 25 years ago from South Africa) and are visiting the Bay area for ten days. We marveled at the jellyfish, gazed at the seahorses and felt the strange texture of sea-cucumbers.
The next two days were spent eating fine food, hearing priceless family stories and driving along the magnificent coastline south of Monterey, via the Mission at Carmel. Green hills descend down to glistening beaches; waterfalls splash onto sand at Big Sur; wild irises grow in the woodlands; and sea lions loll about on the rocks. Yesterday evening was another highlight: we went to a fantastic, very simple fish restaurant where we ate in front of the counter where the day’s catch was arranged for all to see. Before the meal we suddenly became very excited upon spotting an otter swimming in the water around the pier next to the restaurant. Then we suddenly realized that the pier was moving and rather oddly shaped: the entire length of it was covered with seals! One on top of the other, lazing, scuffling and mating, they were all stretched out there in their (rather ugly) glory. It was quite a sight!
Finally this afternoon I traveled back to Berkeley after buying a load of fresh juicy oranges (7lb for $1!!) and trying deep-fried artichokes for the first time in Castroville, “The Artichoke Center of the World” (I kid you not: click here if you don’t believe me! One Norma Jean (pre-peroxide) was the first face of Castroville’s annual artichoke festival back in 1947). I think Caltrain must have teamed up with Amtrak to ensure that my journey back from Palo Alto, where Alan and Moya dropped me off, was as memorable as the outward one, as all the passengers had to pile out of the train at a lifeless SF suburb due to a bomb scare! So, as instructed, we sheltered and watched for over an hour as the sheriff and his dogs searched the train. Meanwhile an angry man protested to the police officers that he wanted his money back before stalking off; the rest of us burst out laughing.
So it was a good weekend! For all those English friends and readers out there, may this account tempt you to visit me on these shores. I can promise stunning scenery, delicious food and, above all, adventures!
Wait wait….
Posted on | February 21, 2009 | 4 Comments
Coming from a BBC Radio 4 background, I can’t say that I was too thrilled about leaving that behind me and exploring what radio the US has to offer…until, that is, I discovered NPR. During a wonderful holiday in Scotland last Summer, Sam introduced me to the comedy news quiz show Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, which for those English radio-listeners out there is similar to Radio 4’s The News Quiz. My membership of the NPR fanclub - and particularly of Wait Wait - was confirmed last night, when I managed to get a last minute ticket to their live show at the Zellerbach theater in Berkeley. On Thursday they recorded the episode that came out this morning, which follows the usual news quiz format. Last night was a special show, to be aired later in the year, which had the general theme of technology…and was hilarious. Carl Kassell looked as venerable as he sounds; Peter Segal was a non-stop bundle of witticisms; Paula Poundstack stole the show completely with her biting humor, completely eclipsing her co-panellists Mo Rocca and Tom Bodett. The interviewee was Berkeley’s own Michael Pollan, author of The Ominivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, who fought for non-corn-syrup products against Paula’s support of the twinkie (another American staple which I’ve only recently discovered). It was also fascinating to see what goes on behind the scenes of a radio performance, particularly what’s edited and what’s not : “the Roman emperor who gave us a kick-ass salad” was deemed too rude; non-live listeners will never know that Peter Segal first said “an archaeologist from penis” rather than “from Pisa”…and after repeated failed attempts gave up and said merely “an Italian archaeologist”! I still get a regular dose of British humor through BBC podcasts, but I’m becoming a rapid convert to such American radio gems as Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.
English vs. American life
Posted on | February 1, 2009 | No Comments
This blog has been so concerned with my new American life that it has largely neglected anything to do with the one I have in the UK (I’m still thinking of these as two distinct existences!). I have therefore uploaded some photos of my time in the UK (mostly Cambridge) over Christmas 2008…and, to provide some contrast, a few of Berkeley campus and inauguration day.
Back in time for a ‘new era’….
Posted on | January 21, 2009 | 5 Comments
Well, how things change! When I first left England back in July, we Brits felt rather superior to our friends across the Atlantic: the pound was strong, so we could spend spend spend; although disappointment in our government was growing daily, at least we could comfort ourselves that we didn’t have a George W at the helm. And now: the dollar looms large over the embattled pound, and in the new light of Obama we’re painfully aware of how we lack any sort of inspirational leader ourselves (as my friend Emma put it the other week, “Everyone envies America!”).
48 years after my father watched Kennedy’s inauguration along with his landlord’s family in Boston, I followed the whoops of my own landlady towards the big screen set up in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, where I and thousands others watched the inauguration ceremony (see photo). I have never experienced before such a feeling of collective joy and hope. I thought the ceremony was carried out beautifully, although I was rather surprised by how much religion was involved: isn’t this meant to be a secular country?! In the UK there would be outrage if so much preaching were included in such a political event…particularly if it were given by someone as conservative and evangelical as Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church. But aside from that, I found the whole event both moving and impressive, with the result that I felt a new, greater admiration for America than I had ever had before.
And now it’s time to go home (temporarily!)
Posted on | December 12, 2008 | 2 Comments
I’ve just looked at the date of my last post and realized quite how behind I’ve been getting…. This is what happens when I get immersed in writing three research papers, sitting exams and taking on a research assistant job!
In five days’ time I fly back to the UK to spend Christmas with my beloved family - and of course see Sam (when he’s not in Minnesota)! Right now it’s difficult to reflect properly on my time here so far, but I expect to do so as I fly those many many miles…and probably all the way through my visit. So much has happened to me in the last five months, but the amazing thing about a routine (going to class, writing papers etc.) is that one acclimatizes to new environments deceptively quickly. Deceptively: for every day still involves a pinch and shock of difference in all its multifaceted forms. I’m looking forward to being back in the UK and able to compare cultures from that end, and to exploring how I feel about each one. So watch this space for more thoughts along these lines!
I live here!!
Posted on | November 19, 2008 | 1 Comment
I’ve been living in California for almost four months already, but it was only last Sunday that the fact that this really is my home now hit me full and hard. It was one of the most iconic images of the area - and of the US - which did it: the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. Wow!
To see pics of the bridge, Point Reyes, Muir Woods and other places I saw with my wonderful friend Ollie during his visit from England, click here.
That historic night….
Posted on | November 5, 2008 | 5 Comments
I had intended to take a whole series of photos on election night, showing the reactions of people around me. By the time the actual event took place, however, I was so caught up in it myself that I no longer felt like an outsider looking in - and consequently failed to take many shots! Instead I was cheering, smiling and crying along with the rest of the party. The (rather blurry) shots that I did take can be viewed here.
It was a pleasure to see young Americans finally proud of their own country - and to feel proud of being here myself.
On being 26….
Posted on | November 3, 2008 | No Comments
The time has come when I have to admit that I am truly an adult (according to age at least) and the era of early-twentiesdom has been and gone. Does this matter? Not really, but it still makes me feel strange. I’ve decided the reason for this is the future perfect nature of age. The future perfect tense is ‘will have x’: hopefully by 36 I will have had children; by 40 I will have achieved tenure at a good academic institution; by 80 I will have enjoyed a good long life etc. etc. When I was a teenager I looked to no further than my twenties, and had lots of future perfect hopes regarding that apparently far-off time. Actually if I think of my younger self looking at me now, I realize that I’m doing pretty much what her daydreams consisted of - and more. But as I’ve got older, more external expectations concerning what one should be doing at what age have affected me enough to worry occasionally about the stage I am at in life: does it matter that I don’t have my own home at the age of 26? That I am a student once again and will be one until my early 30s? That it will be a long time until I receive a salary, let alone a decent one? My overall conclusion is that these things don’t really matter at all (and could even be celebrated), although it’s good to be aware of them, at least as alternatives by which to judge whether or not I’m doing what I want.
I am doing what I want…but I still feel strange being 26.
I’m pleased to know that others too have been preoccupied with reflections on their life and achievements upon reaching the seemingly insignificant age of 26: you can see Sam’s own 2006 blog post for an example. This is clearly serious stuff!!
If you’re interested in seeing how I celebrated this momentous occasion, click here.
It’s Pumpkin Time!!
Posted on | October 25, 2008 | 2 Comments
I’ve just a marvellous time picking out pumpkins for our porch along with Penny and Maria. So much fun!!!
The Queen’s English
Posted on | October 22, 2008 | 2 Comments
What is it about an English accent? During the past week or so I’ve experienced a spate of praise and expressions of cuteness regarding my BBC voice and English vocab: one time I was made to repeat the word ‘tattoo’ several times; another time great laughter ensued when I called a popsicle a lollypop. I guess such reactions are all complimentary, although they are subtly mixed: on the one hand, my voice seems to grant me automatic authority (particularly with undergrads); on the other, it makes people think of me as sweet and cutesy. This mixed response seems to reflect attitudes towards the British in general: authoritative yet also endearingly antiquated (one professor recently described how the generic Oxford scholar would apparently sit down and look at fragments of Simonides whilst delicately eating cucumber sandwiches and sipping tea. I let out a rather loud ‘ha!’ noise….). It’s also striking, for this is a state full of accents, particularly Asian and Hispanic - yet it’s the imperial sound of Queen’s English which retains some sort of ambivalent status more than almost any other.
On a different but related note, I find I’m constantly getting confused about how to express various basic words and phrases, as a result of differences in both vocab and stress between US and UK English. The word ‘garage’ is a case in point: pronounced in a UK English manner, with the stress on the first syllable, this seems to become incomprehensible to most people here. It will be interesting to see how my voice changes (or doesn’t) over the next five years….
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Fish and Olaf gang again
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Birthday Picnic!
Date: 01/11/09