Day 2 in Berkeley

After posting the previous blog post, I actually went back to sleep and woke up at 7pm. I was really starving by then. I was supposed to meet Frank for dinner at Downtown BART station...

So I had the map in hand... left the apartment... AND

took a wrong turn.

I got lost.

Luckily, I met 2 girls who were on their way to the station too and they walked me all the way there.

Frank and I wondered around for like half an hour before finally choosing the place for dinner... we had chinese food. The portions were HUGE and food here is expensive (as expected). I had Char siew rice for USD 6.50. LOTS of Charsiew. Served with veg - broccoli, zuchini and carrots.. I rem my dad told me he had to endure wonton noodles with carrots when he was in London. I guess westerners love their carrots.

Anyway the girl at the counter happened to be from China... when she saw me, she said "Are you Chinese?" in english...

And I said "yes I'm chinese but not from China"

We chatted a bit... like which part of China she's from, what she's doing in Berkeley (studying) and we started speaking in Mandarin. She seemed very happy to see us.

There are lots of Asians here in Berkeley. But many of them are Americans. At least, they have a strong American accent. Although I speak English and so I shouldn't have a problem communicating, I still feel like I stick out from the crowd (like a sore thumb). Suddenly I became so aware of my actions... the way I ask for directions, jay-walking, shopping in the supermarket etc. I just became really self-conscious. I'm afraid of being one of those foreigners the locals will label. Why do people do that anyway? It's not so fun when you're on the other side.