It was a spontaneous adventure!

June 15, 2014

Beautiful sunny Sunday!

Days in San Francisco, journal 1

          What a beautiful day I had today! Most of the time the good things are coming when we don’t make a plan. I’ve never done any writings straight on English. This is my first time that I dare to write first on English. I usually write in Macedonian language and then translate into English. But anyway, now I’ll continue with the story that I had today.
Everything happened spontaneously. First of all, today the weather here in San Francisco was so nice. It was windy, but enjoyable. And I, who can not stay on one place, but wants to go everywhere, from the early liturgy in the Cathedral where St. John’s relics are went to the greek church dedicate to the Holy Trinity. The area there is called “Brotherhood” because there are many different religious temples. After the liturgy (I came at the end because I was already present on one liturgy), we went down to the hall where there was some mini lunch. On the table, where I sit, I’ve met a couple young people. Actually, I was looking for someone in San Francisco that I can meet and have hanging out with. Eventually it worked out. Slowly, slowly I am getting there. Here we are...
I didn’t remember all of their names. I am not really good at memorizing names. I am more a visual person. Two of them (because I spend all day along with) I did remember.
Jeff and Alayna (Hellen). What an interesting persons! All of us, in some way, are funny. We really are. When we go around and have hanging out with different people, we see the whole world. Jeff is half Chines and half American. Mostly he is american. He became an Orthodox recently. I was very happy about him. I asked him to tell us more what brought him to the Orthodoxy. His family are protestants, he used to attend some christian school so he had some knowledge about God from christian point of view. But, from what he told me, he was not satisfied from the way they were teaching, a mean it was not sufficient and he couldn’t find many answers about the faith. Because of this, he was looking for something else and he found about the Orthodoxy. He googled for more informations about what Orthodoxy is and decided to become a member of the Orthodox family.
Alayna is a young girl (older then me) who moved from Atlanta to SF about a month ago. She is second generation of greek family in USA. She is also an interesting girl who like to explore new things around.
        Before we left the church, Jeff offered to drive us to the bus station so that we don’t have to walk. It was quiet far. And so he did. But in meantime it happened something that none of us had planned on. When he found out that the bus takes an hour to get to our places, he didn’t want to let us go, so he said: “I am driving you back. You are not gonna take a bus. It takes too long.” Certainly, Alayna and I protested, because we didn’t want to bother him, since he had to go back to San Jose, where he lives, but his insistence won.
It was a spontaneous adventure! Who would three of us have thought that we were going to spent all day along together? None of us. Instead to drop us off in our apartments, he went to one place that is called “Inspiration Point” in Presidio area. Ah, that view! It captured my feelings. It was an amazing place where you can see half of the ocean and many other things. Besides that, Jeff began to tell us the history of San Francisco and some other interesting things about the city. I said to him: “where did you learn about all of these?” Obviously he really likes history and the city itself. At one point while our conversation was going on, I told him: “You don’t like living in San Jose, do you?” And I was right. He wished to live in SF, but his work is there so he needs to stay there he currently lives.

     San Francisco is indeed beautiful place. I am just loving it. Its a very special place. Actually California, in general, differs very much from the others States in USA. When you are in San Francisco, you don’t feel as you are in USA, but more like in Europe or in some Asian country. There are so many different people from all over the world. Different restaurants with their home country food, many different churches…Even when you are on the bus, when the speaker goes to announce something, it says on three languages: English, Chines and Spanish. It's really funny when you hear all different languages, especially when some old grandma would get into the bus and start speaking Chines or Japanese (who knows what language it is. To me they all sound the same) with another old lady. Its really funny to hear this.

      So Jeff, telling us about the city, he got an idea to go to the Golden Gate Bridge. His idea sounded great to Alayna and me. Before we went there, we stopped on one mini park where every Sunday they have food and people go there and have fun. We were hungry so we got lunch, sat down on the grass and ate. Sitting down on the grass and having lunch around so many people (they had too) is really good and, for me as Macedonian, unusual. I told them we don’t really do this kind of things in Macedonia. If we do, we will look weird to the others. It's just not part of our culture. That's all about.

O yeah, I almost forgot: as I was walking there, I saw the sweetest pappy. It's known as "The World's Cutest God.

       The day was sonny, but pretty windy. Most of days in the summer in San Francisco are cold. More of the days in the summer are cold. Today was an exception. During my almost three weeks of being here, only four or five days were warm and sunny. The rest of the days were chilly and foggy. O yeah, it gets a lot of fog from the ocean, but I love it when is foggy. Some students tell me: “Are you crazy?” What's wrong with loving foggy weather? – I asked them. Its chilly, but it's fresh. That fog comes from the ocean and actually is good for the body. The weirdness things for some people are for me blessings!
Alayna is very new here. She hasn’t been to Golden Gate Bridge so Jeff said: “we are going there.” First we went under the bridge, where there is some former military building. Now is a museum. I can’t describe how windy was there. If I was skinnier, I would have been flown by the wind. But there is another thing that I’ve notes in San Francisco: its cold, but that cold won’t make you sick. As I often like to call, its “ocean wind” which is okay and easy to handle with it.

       From there, we drove on the other side on the Golden Gate Bridge, on the top on the mountain where the view of the Bridge and city is tremendously indescribable. Ah, what a beauty God has created! When I was there, looking towards the Pacific and the bridge, I thanked God for that opportunity of being there, staying on that place and filling up mu soul with the beauty in front of me. Its just amazing! Very often, when we get a change to see such things, we forget to thank God for what He has created and for where we got a change to be. Unfortunately we often do.

        When I was looking at all people who where there, I asked myself: “ Do all of these people have thought even a bit of who had created all of what they look now at?” But there was one more thought caming into my mind: “Do they believe to God?” Probably not all of them and I stopped thinking of it. Even it was windy, but that wind was telling me many things. My heart was the one who first understood those words of the wind and I can not tell them in words. I just can’t. Let him keep it there.
Jeff, Alayna and I became close to each other for very short period of time. I, as usual, like to laugh and joke with my friends. So I did with Jeff. We all have to be attractive at some point. Its good for our body and soul and also for the others around us. Others don't know what it is to be in my “shoes”, but therefore through my attractivness can tell. There are people that I've seen who make an impression with their great laugh and I've learned that “laugh” is a good thing.

Many times during the conversation I used to tell him: “Ah, you are Chines” for certain things. I don’t know why, but I like calling people “american” or “you are chines, you don’t know how the bread looks like”. There was one joke that made me really laugh a lot and them too. While we were on the top on that hill, there were three chines people. I saw them and told Jeff: “Behind you there are some friends of yours. Why don’t you go and talk to them?” At first he couldn’t realize why I was telling this to him because he turned back and saw some arabs. But for very short period of time, when he saw those chines, he figure out and began to lough. He said something to me, but i not I can’t remember what was it. I was laughing a lot. It was really funny the way how first he was puzzled and afterwords. I believe, sometimes, actions speak louder then words.
The spontaneous adventure did not stop there. We were in a couple others places around that area. “I still don’t understand how you know all of these places”- I told Jeff. “I’ve been around for a while and when some friends of mine used to come, I took them around.” he replied to me.
       When you have a good time, the time really flies. We didn’t even looked up the time until it was 6pm. While we were around, I was telling Alayna about St. John and his life. Jeff had already been there. We went to the Cathedral where St. John’s relics are. For Alayna was her first time to venerate St. John’s relics. I was happy for her and for she got a change to do it. What a blessing it was for her! Three of us were staying in front of his relics. I was telling her how many people put names and litters under the coffin with St. John’s relics and how he indeed reads every single letter and paper with the names. I also told her one real event of one lady and the latter. She was shoved by that and her hands got chills.
After having been visited so many places, I thought that was the end of the day, but obvious it was not. Jeff got another idea. It was 7pm, and he said: “Why don’t we go to have a dinner? I know some good places around.” What could I have said. I was hungry too. Now the question was where to go, in what kind of restaurant. In San Francisco are so many. Jeff gave us two ideas: either chines or taiwan. Three of us already have eaten in chines restaurant, but in taiwan we haven’t. Eventually, we decided to go to Thai restaurant. Jeff knew where was the place.

        The dinned at the Thai restaurant was served and the entertainment has began!
Having dinner in this taiwan restaurant was the “cherry of the cake.” I’ve never been into such restaurant. It was small, but full of people. We could barely find a table. “That means this restaurant must have a very good food” - Jeff said. We didn’t regret that we went there. My biggest problem when I go to some restaurant in USA is to decide what to eat. When you open the menu, there are so many typed of orders that you simply can’t decide. I am very reluctant person. That's for sure. So I always ask for help of people that I am with.
The dinner was delicious. While we were talking, some of the sentences that they spoke, I wrote them into my iPhone. That’s one of the ways how I learn English. Many times when I hear people talking I write it down. It helps me a lot of learning English. There are really funny stuff that I wrote down, said by Jeff and Alayna. These are some of them:
-“Sunday - fun day.”
Alayna: -“What of the food you gonna miss the most?” That's what her mother asked her before she moved to SF.
Jeff: While we were drive through the Golden Gate Park: “The park goes way down this way and way up that way.”
Alayna: -“Don’t put your decision on me.”
Jeff: In the Taiwan restaurant: “my stomach starts ramble.”
-I don’t remember what was the reason, but there was some conversation where Jeff said: “I have being ignored.”
At one point, Jeff began asking Alayna what is her best movie and food that had ever tried. She said the following: “You are asking a heavy questions.” and smiled.
Before we left the restaurant, I told them that I wrote these sentences for my English. When I read to them what I wrote, there were laughing and for some of them didn’t remember when they said so. I told them I would like to write these down as a memory of this day, plus the sentences were funny.

      I really liked the owner of the restaurant. She was from Thailand and was in her sixties. Her name, I believe, was Kim. It was so nice to see her walking back and fourth and taking to the workers on taiwan language. The service in the restaurant was really good. We had a waters on the table and they came at least 7 times to refill our cups. I’ve never seen in any other restaurant someone to some that many times and refill the cups. They were were hospitable.
We wanted to talk to that lady who was the owner and tell her how good the behave with the guests. She actually made a good point: she said: “I always teach my employers to make sure that people's cups are filled with water because tawan food is quiet spacy and not many people got used to eat this kind food.” She was right. I lived her statement. She was very king and we talked a lot. I don’t know why, but while we were talking, she said to us, starting with Alayna, that she (Alayna) is direct and blunt but she goes after and gets what she wants. And also misses Kim added: “Be more flexible with a lover.” We all laughed. Then the owner asked Jeff if he had any girlfriend. He said that he does not and he is young. She said to him: “You are young and have time before a girlfriend.”Then I was next and she said to me: “you are honest and a bad lier.” We all were surprised from what she told us. I don’t consider her as some prophet, but indeed what she said to us was very true. At least for me. Then I said to myself: “Old people have much life experience.” I believe so.
At the end we got the check which was brought with three taiwan candy. When we got the check, Alayna said: “These are awesome!” I agreed with her. They were delicious!

    Its always nice when you meet new people and build up friendship with them. I just love being with people. You won’t always agree with them in something, but at least being with them God teaches us how to love and not to be selfish.
A SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS ARE ALWAYS GOOD AND UNFORGETTABLE!