Our apartment is only 3 blocks off University Ave., the main drag with all the shops and restaurants you could want, think Newbury St. but on a smaller scale. We're only a five minute walk to the Caltrain which I can take into San Francisco and a 10 minute drive for Kei to get to Stanford.
It's a great neighborhood and the people are all so friendly, maybe it's the weather. Every day is pretty much sunny, between 70-80 degrees with a slight breeze. Just like Boston, yeah, right. But seriously, everyone is super nice, helpful, welcoming and I've met a lot of Boston/New England transplants.
I've been spending my afternoons in a local coffee shop, the University Cafe, coming up with plans for work, how to get work, etc. and am hopefully getting closer to finding some as well as a car. Our apartment is small but since I only see Kei for about two hours a night, it doesn't really matter.
He's up at 5:00 am, which means I am too, and doesn't get home usually until around 9-9:30 pm. Being unemployed, I have the benefit of going back to sleep for a while but those of you who know me and my issues with sleep, know this is not going to be easy when I do get work.
At the moment I'm entertaining two job possibilities. I am returning to photography and am in the process of re-doing my website, but with no connections and no experience in the area, I am also thinking of doing something to supplement my photography until I can get that up and running. Something else I really enjoy doing is event planning. I love working with people, organizing and planning. If anyone knows someone in either field out here, please let me know.
Well, it's time for the daily trek to downtown and to see my new friends (a.k.a. the waiters) at the coffee shop.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
East Meets West
I woke up two weeks ago today and was not only one year older but a California resident. After living my entire life in Massachusetts, I had been feeling for several years that I needed a "big change", something to shake things up.
I tried changing roommates/apartments, switching jobs/careers and relationships versus dating. None of those were big enough. Until, one day I was sitting in a coffee shop and happened to sit next to a man whom I would eventually fall in love with and move across the country for.
One year prior, trying to find this change, I had flown out to visit friends in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA to see if they were places I might want to live. I felt restless. I checked out different areas of town with my friends, restaurants, museums and of course, looked at the available guys.
While Portland was cute, it was too small for me and a bit "crunchy". Seattle was very outdoorsy and had some great restaurants/neighborhoods (and better guy potential). There were actually some high school friends there who I hadn't seen since then that showed me around. I might have moved there but something stopped me. It was probably the lack of cash or a well thought out plan.....or something else entirely. Instead, I ended up changing jobs and industries yet again.
Which brings me back to the coffee shop. I had realized that in order to meet people I actually had to leave the house and realize. No one was going to come knocking on my door. I worked at a bio-tech with 25 other people. Any eligible men were too old or too young. It was near nothing so meeting someone while at lunch was out (that is if I ever left my desk). So, most weekends could find me reading a book or on my laptop at a coffee shop in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
This particular weekend of which I speak was like most others. I was at my favorite coffee shop in Harvard Sq., Crema Cafe. The long table in front of the windows is the only place you can get a wifi signal. It was full so I sat at another table behind it. I saw this guy make a move like he was putting something in his bag so I asked if he was leaving, (he likes to remind me often that those were the first words I said to him), he said no. He must have been getting something out of his bag, my bad.
About 10 minutes later the girl next to him gets up and leaves so I snag her spot. He's cute, I hadn't really noticed before. He's obviously studying something intently. I think to myself, "Great, he's probably still in college, ugh". My friends would laugh at this since I've been called a Puma/Cougar, etc. He looked early to mid-twenties which would be too young (for a serious relationship) since I was in my mid-thirties. So I decide to start a conversation and see if my guess was right.
There was a paperback next to his textbook so I asked about that to start. We would chat for a few minutes then go back to our own work. Then we talked about what he was studying, medicine. I think, "Great, he's still in medical school, Harvard Medical School but still too young." Then he mentions his residency. Whew! He's out of medical school. So I not so subtly ask how long his career path takes and how long he's been doing it. I start to add up the years and figure he should be about 30. Bingo!
We talk on and off for about three hours, longer each time. Finally, I suggest we go get some ice cream, I'm not exactly shy if you haven't figured that one out. It's late July, the 26th to be exact, and we talk and walk around Harvard Sq. for another hour and before saying goodbye, I give him my name and phone number. He friends me on Facebook the next day and asks me out to dinner. The rest is history and I am now living with him in California while he does his Fellowship at Stanford. He's originally from California. I'm not sure if I can ever get him to go back to the East Coast with those long Winters.
I never would have thought that I would follow a boy anywhere, much less across the country. But he's not a boy, he's a man. I am so lucky to have sat next to him that day, I'd follow him anywhere. But don't tell him that.
I tried changing roommates/apartments, switching jobs/careers and relationships versus dating. None of those were big enough. Until, one day I was sitting in a coffee shop and happened to sit next to a man whom I would eventually fall in love with and move across the country for.
One year prior, trying to find this change, I had flown out to visit friends in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA to see if they were places I might want to live. I felt restless. I checked out different areas of town with my friends, restaurants, museums and of course, looked at the available guys.
While Portland was cute, it was too small for me and a bit "crunchy". Seattle was very outdoorsy and had some great restaurants/neighborhoods (and better guy potential). There were actually some high school friends there who I hadn't seen since then that showed me around. I might have moved there but something stopped me. It was probably the lack of cash or a well thought out plan.....or something else entirely. Instead, I ended up changing jobs and industries yet again.
Which brings me back to the coffee shop. I had realized that in order to meet people I actually had to leave the house and realize. No one was going to come knocking on my door. I worked at a bio-tech with 25 other people. Any eligible men were too old or too young. It was near nothing so meeting someone while at lunch was out (that is if I ever left my desk). So, most weekends could find me reading a book or on my laptop at a coffee shop in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
This particular weekend of which I speak was like most others. I was at my favorite coffee shop in Harvard Sq., Crema Cafe. The long table in front of the windows is the only place you can get a wifi signal. It was full so I sat at another table behind it. I saw this guy make a move like he was putting something in his bag so I asked if he was leaving, (he likes to remind me often that those were the first words I said to him), he said no. He must have been getting something out of his bag, my bad.
About 10 minutes later the girl next to him gets up and leaves so I snag her spot. He's cute, I hadn't really noticed before. He's obviously studying something intently. I think to myself, "Great, he's probably still in college, ugh". My friends would laugh at this since I've been called a Puma/Cougar, etc. He looked early to mid-twenties which would be too young (for a serious relationship) since I was in my mid-thirties. So I decide to start a conversation and see if my guess was right.
There was a paperback next to his textbook so I asked about that to start. We would chat for a few minutes then go back to our own work. Then we talked about what he was studying, medicine. I think, "Great, he's still in medical school, Harvard Medical School but still too young." Then he mentions his residency. Whew! He's out of medical school. So I not so subtly ask how long his career path takes and how long he's been doing it. I start to add up the years and figure he should be about 30. Bingo!
We talk on and off for about three hours, longer each time. Finally, I suggest we go get some ice cream, I'm not exactly shy if you haven't figured that one out. It's late July, the 26th to be exact, and we talk and walk around Harvard Sq. for another hour and before saying goodbye, I give him my name and phone number. He friends me on Facebook the next day and asks me out to dinner. The rest is history and I am now living with him in California while he does his Fellowship at Stanford. He's originally from California. I'm not sure if I can ever get him to go back to the East Coast with those long Winters.
I never would have thought that I would follow a boy anywhere, much less across the country. But he's not a boy, he's a man. I am so lucky to have sat next to him that day, I'd follow him anywhere. But don't tell him that.
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