Forward all my mail...

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When I was a kid I used to have this inexplicable urge, whenever I saw someone holding a newspaper out in front of them, to swat it out of their hands while they were intently reading. It wasn't anything menacing, I just thought it was funny-- kinda like scaring someone from behind a closed door. But no one ever really saw the same humour in it that I did. I did it to my Dad all the time, whereupon he would promptly imprint his Dexters into my ass. Well I haven't had the urge to do that in many years now....that is, until I moved to NY.

There's a brief moment in the day when I think it would be fair for me to indulge in that small idyllic pleasure of my youth. It's during the morning rush hour on the subway, when there are 30 frustrated people trying to squeeze into a train door wide enough for 2 people, and then you get that one selfish prick who blocks the entrance with his back towards the crowd reading the paper, thus making 30 people trying to get into a 2-person entrance now 30 people trying to get into a 1-person entrance. I would love to just reach back and with a Thor-like swing come crashing down on that newspaper. NY brings out a lot of that juvenile, irrational being in me. There's a lot of this muted hostile aggression in me and I agree it's not healthy. I've concluded that before I get jailed or rightfully knocked out, it might be best for me to bid adieu to the city.

So as it may be, I have been compiling this list of places that I've traveled to throughout the years, that have impressed me enough to say that I could fancy moving there. It's a short list as I haven't traveled to as many places as I'd liked to, and to make the list, the city has to exude a unique charm. So far, these cities include: Vancouver (Canada), Seville (Spain), and Austin TX (yeah, I said I haven't been to as many places as I'd like to). And to that list I now add Hangzhou, China.

Hangzhou is a beautiful tourist city, lying just off the eastern coast of China. It's a resort town mostly, with it's showcase feature being the grand West Lake, a serene 2-mile wide lake in the city's center. There's no kind of water activity aside from tour boats zigzagging from one shore to the other, so it's not that kind of active lake-resort town-- more just a scenic city. But it's gorgeous- tree lined boulevards, well-manicured gardens, no beggars, no littering, no loitering (I learned that after attempting to pull an Andy Capp on a park bench and immediately received a polite shoulder tap. But I didn't mind-- it was good to see them enforcing rules in China for once). With these regulations they're able to create this uppity Western culture of coffee houses and high-end fashion boutiques, fine Italian and Indian dining, all-night clubs and bars, even an avenue of Maserati and Ferrari dealerships. Not that I at all appreciate that sort of silliness, but it's just so utterly impressive, the cleanliness and order of this part of town, especially when compared to the rest of China.

We stayed in Hangzhou 4 nights and kept busy most of the time-- biking the waterfront along quiet pathways that would lead to arched stone bridges and reflecting ponds, visiting the tea plantation out in Longjing, and taking a daytrip to Shaoxing (which was just as nice- only an hour bus ride from Hangzhou, it had this even smaller town feel with winding alleyways and canals). We've had the most relaxing week so far. Hangzhou is definitely a comfortable place to be in. So it's good to know that when I return to NY and at any moment I find myself channeling my inner Travis Bickle, I can just leave it all and flee to China.

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Comments

[Nancy]

;)
This was very enjoyable 2 read. Remember, if you move to Hangzhao, I'm coming 2 visit.

[Jamey]

I sense great anger, and we all know anger leads to the dark side.