Berkeley Squared

Wednesday we went to Berkeley to take the tour. The tour guide was a Soc student. I asked him a few questions and we bounced. I have been doubting my prospective place at Berkeley. Nonetheless, I didn't need to take the whole tour, as the campus is SO huge. Me and Boppy walked around Berkeley for a few hours. I decided that Berkeley is the equivalent of SF's Brooklyn.

After a lovely day walking around the beautiful campus, I we met up with Michelle for dinner in the ghetto, at this place which is supposedly the best place to get Vietnamese food in the city. Then Boppy parted ways and Mich and I went back to her place and met up with roomie/friends and went out to a bar where there was a kick-ass live band. After that, Mich and I went to this speakeasy near my hotel. It is top secret and you need reservations and a password to get in. Pretty cool.

The Truth About SF (hehe)

Vino & Berkeley

Today we went for a wine tour in Napa Valley. It was absolutely gorgeous. We hit up 4 wineries and took a ferry ride back to SF. It was a beautiful day!

After we got back to the hotel, I decided I wanted to check out Berkeley solo to prep for our tour tomorrow. My first trip on the Bart was rather interesting. I can't believe how small their subway system is. I mean, compared to what I am used to. I got on the wrong subway at first, but it didn't matter because a lot of them go to the same places anyway. Then I got onto the right one and went through oakland, which has all these strange looking pieces of machinery that look like giant mechanical dogs with their heads pointed toward the heavens. Quite strange looking, really. Then, after thinking I was headed in the wrong direction, and telling myself I would get off at the next stop, whether right or wrong to see if I was headed in the right direction; I was at Berkeley. This area is SO cool. The U C Berkeley campus is gorgeous with trees and historic buildings and random hippies galore. I feel like I belong here. The only thing killing my buzz is that I don't think their sociology program has what I need academically. They are far more focused in political and religious sociology. Ugh. Oh well. The tour will be fun tomorrow anyway.

The San Francisco Treat

Yesterday, Boppy and I went to Fisherman's Wharf. It was a blustery day and we decided to go to the wax museum and Ripley's believe it or not. We walked around a lot, ate In & Out (YUM!) and got matching rings (as usual on our vaca's). I was SO exhausted as I didn't get much sleep the night before. I found out from Cres that (a) my new roomate's name is Nathan and (b) Erika is going to move into my apt in Sept. Thus, I am moving back home (or into another apt) after I get back from Taiwan. I will probably hang out on LI though. I also made another decision, to try to go teach/live in an American city for the spring semester of 10'. I just realized how happy it would make me to get out of my New York element for a few months. I never separated myself far enough away to reap the benefits of being truly independent.

Intervention

Last night, after a great dinner, Boppy and I went to Michelle's awesome apt for a party. I met a whole bunch of awesome people and drank a lot of alcohol. I slept in Michelle's super comfy bed and woke up to look out the window at a glorious view of the bay. Michelle, I and her 2 roomies (Rory and Chad; as shown in pic) met up with my mom for brunch this morning and then us girls went shopping. We closed the shopping adventure with some iced mochas at Macy's in Union Square and sipped and chatted while adoring this lovely view of the square (see pic).

Later on, we met up for some delish Indian food and now I am absolutely exhausted. These hills are deadly.

"There May Not Be A Heaven. But There Is A San Fransisco"

My trip has been incredible so far. I have never been filled with so much feverish envy of those who live here, especially Michelle and her awesome roomies. Her apartment is incredible with classic architecture and a fantastic view. (See picture).

When we arrived to the SFO airport, we hopped into a classy new mercedes, which took us to The Hotel California. THC is located a stones throw away from Union Square. This historical hotel is laden with song, movie and literature quotes about SF, which adorn the lobby walls and the crests of the rooms. Our suite is decked with several detailed maps of the golden state, which I find really helpful, for my geography knowledge of the west coast is somewhat limited.

Shortly after arriving at our room, we met up with Michelle. She is my BFF from kindergarten-2nd grade, whom I haven't seen in 10 years. I have to credit Facebook for reuniting us. It's a really comfortable feeling, seeing someone you used to spend all your time with, in a different era of your life; after a long break of not seeing each other, and finding that you haven't really missed a beat.

Michelle had made dinner reservations for 6, so we hopped on an adorable little street car and arrived at the ferry building. We walked for a few blocks and got to the chic little restaurant where we were to dine. The food was delicious, but the conversation was even better. Michelle is so dynamic and has so many great things going on in her life. I am really envious of her situation, but not in a jealous way; I am just completely in awe of how great things are for her. Then I look at my life and compare, and yes, I am happy, I feel like I am doing great things as well, however, I haven't taken nearly as many risks as her, and in some cases, I believe that has made all the difference. I mean, she went to Baltimore for undergrad, then moved to SF and who knows where she will live after this. I feel like I have been taking baby steps to get out of my comfort zone, but I am still suffering from not being able to cut the hypothetical umbilical cord. So far this trip has really made me realize how badly I need to go somewhere new for my doctorate. Not necessarily SF, but somewhere where I can make a whole new group of friends and really create a new environment for myself. I have been noticing lately, that as much as I love the awesome group of people that I hang out with in BK, we have vastly different interests concerning our life's purpose. As exhilarating as I find hanging out with artists, musicians and fashionistas; I feel my soul would benefit more from hanging out with scholastic, activist-minded people.

I am considering checking out additional doctoral programs in San Diego or at UCLA. It helps that there are so many maps in this apartment, which I can look to for inspiration and visually explore my options for living in Cali.

Here We Go

Here we go, one more time, everybody's feelin' fine.
Here we go now!
(Yesyesyes herewegoooo!)

-I'm boarding my third flight in a week. Hooray!

San Fran's Ready for Me

I am SO excited to go to SF and reunite with my BFF from 2nd grade, Michelle. She told me that her roomies were planning a party for the night I come in, which is perfect for me and Boppy. One of Michelle's roomates is an artist, and made this kick-ass flyer for the 'event'. I'm just pissed I will be on antibiotics tomorrow, and thus really shouldn't drink. But i know i will still have loads of fun! YAY!