Multicultural Day

Two Saturdays ago I went up to SF and met up with my friend Jess and her husband, Aaron. I'd not yet met her hubby and was quite excited to finally get a chance to spend some time with him after hearing all about him! The day started off with a late breakfast/lunch at a cafe just a few blocks from their house. The tentative plan was to visit Japantown for the Cherry Blossom festival, hang out, and grab dinner together.

There was a bit of a miscommunication as Jess and I waited at a bus stop for quite awhile, only to learn that her husband had already got on the bus and was halfway there! While waiting for the next one a few...dare I even be polite enough to call them gentlemen...came our way and launched into this diatribe of how they are collecting donations for "Reprobation Day" and to sum up their message, "Basically, you see, like a really long time ago your family was probably slave owners and they abused and raped my family members so I'm trying to make up for that now and you can help by donating your money now". Absolutely not! First, how ignorant are you to walk up to a complete stranger and ask for money AND in the same breath accuse their family of being mean-spirited slave owners? Second, how will my giving you money now attribute to what happened 200 years ago? Pretty sure this donation won't change your past. At a time like this I really wish I knew a foriegn language so I could have said, "Sorry, I'm Dutch and don't speak English" just so they'd leave us alone. Instead I was forced to be semi-polite by thanking them for their time and informing them that we are not interested and to move along. Jess and I have spent years in the South and saw our fair share of "this kind of person and attitude" while working at Duke. I'm sorry, but we don't owe you anything! And no, I'm not racist, I'm just educated.

Alas our bus came, we met up with her husband at the next stop, and we all made it to Japantown. My primary reason for wanting to go there was b/c of the Cherry Blossom they were hosting, and it sounded great from online reviews...but wasn't that impressive in person :( I know it couldn't rival DC's Cherry Blossom Festival, but I think I was unprepared for the lack of actual CB trees. The company I was with was my highlight for sure, but I did enjoy seeing all the Hello Kitty memorabilia and couldn't resist getting my picture taken with a giant one! We watched a really cute karate expo, walked through some street stands (there was this one with these awesome feather hair pieces...oh Raleigh girls you know how this excited me!), didn't find any Mochi and eventually made our way to the Marina district for some window shopping. Aaron was nice enough to give Jess and I some girl time so we visited a few boutiques, did a little hand pampering at a cute shop, and talked---what we do best! We found Aaron and made our way to Nector, a cute wine bar with some crazy sarcastic descriptions of their wines. After much more talking, we worked up an appetite and made our way to the Mission District to try out some Mayan cuisine (recommended by someone at the wine bar, it pays to talk to strangers!). I had really wanted to visit the Mission District because I'd heard it's the "up and coming" neighborhood and I toyed with the idea of moving into the city. Once I saw it for myself my decision was quickly made- I absolutely could not live there! We walked a few blocks in search of the restaurant and it was too dirty and not caucasian enough for my comfort. I'm sure there is a "nice" side, but I didn't see it. The food was well worth the trip tho and I'd go back for sure!

All in the span of one day I somehow managed to combine some South of the Mason Dixon line with across the Pacific ocean and then below the Equator elements and it was an oddly fascinating time :)

Hello Kitty fans!

Here are a few of the Cherry Blossoms

Bonsais

        

Feather hair adornments

Karate Kids