It was probably fitting that I awoke to a grey, drizzling morning to mark the transition from the beauty of the last few days in Paris to the Heart of Darkness.
Left LA at noon on Friday and arrived in Vienna 3:00 pm Saturday. It’s like going from the 21st century to the 18th in 24 hours. From sunny LA to dark and colorless Vienna. Grand and stately but not glamorous and the cloud cover (like Paris) doesn’t help. In LA we always observe someone wearing shorts even if it’s “cold”; here people are wearing layers and they look like skiers to me but they’re just people.
Coming from Beijing the experience of Singapore is startling. Big building, good looking, well-dressed people, no bikes, nice cars. Everything is new, the people are smiling, there are US-styled shopping centers and the Christmas decorations are up and the shopping season has begun here too. I don’t think they do Chanukah though. Carl, our franchisee, has spent a considerable amount of time in India and has added his name to the ever-growing list of people who say that I am in for a shock on arrival in Madras. Great. Can’t wait.
I was born, and spent the first 10 years of my life, in Brooklyn, NY before moving to the Bronx, NY. When I was about 15 our family drove from NYC to Niagara Falls. It was the first time I ever left the familiarity of NYC, and I was overwhelmed by the geographic vastness of New York State as seen from the backseat of the car. I was further awed by Niagara Falls. I couldn’t articulate it then, but I think the seed was planted to see more of the world- beyond the familiarity of my neighborhood.
