Author: Benjamin Trotter

Today was such a beautiful day in San Francisco. The air was crisp, the sun was warm, so I set out for a nice long walk. Winding through Nob Hill, on into Chinatown, ending up in North Beach and Little Italy, I found something I’ve been looking for since I moved here. A great deli that prepares sandwiches how EVER you like them, with freshly imported meats from Italy! After grabbing a sandwich (Turkey Italian Bologna and cheese). I then started back up through Pacific Heights up to a point on Taylor and Broadway where there’s 3 benches, on a tiered area overlooking the entire downtown financial district, all across the bay with Oakland and Berkeley almost visible. As I sat there eating lunch, I thought about the direction of my life and started thinking of my time in Australia. The first question you’re asked is, where are you from–and I noticed I had some trouble of which I would say first–Oh, I’m from Tennessee – or – I’m from San Francisco, well, actually from Tennessee, but I live in San Francisco now. Now in hindsight, I wonder what is more an appropriate answer. I mean, I really think I’m from Tennessee, and even though I don’t see myself living there ever again, I feel the childhood happenings and family shaped the way I think about things now. Which then lead me to my second thought on the matter, my valedictory speech in High School. The title of my speech was, Citizen of the World. I spoke about how we start from families, move to being part of an elementary school, then junior high, then high school, but then maybe move to another state for college, and continue to become citizens of much bigger groups. I, however, added an international flair from my experience abroad, and after visiting 25 countries, I feel each place and people have added to my personality and thought process, that I feel even moreso like my answer should be Tennessee-for that is the root of my being :) Just thought I’d write down this thought as I’m sure I’ll enjoy reading it again someday.

Tonight I went to see In Good Company, in company of my friend Lucky. The movie was really good, not only because it was interesting to see a story about someone my age entering a corporation dealing with reorgs and such, but also for the fact that it didn’t have the typical Hollywood ending. It was nice to see a movie that you couldn’t completely predict.

Yesterday, Mike and I went to se La Mala Educacion. What a great film. The way it was layered between the actual story, the movie, and the memories was really very interesting. After seeing it, there was this excitement of my life that everything is going so well. Afterwards, it’s this little thing that happened that made me so happy about the direction my life is going. Mike and I went to get gelato, and I didn’t have any cash on me. He only had $2. I found $.20 in my pockets, and he found $.55 in coins. Together we came up with $2.75 — the cost of the gelato–luckily, tax is included, and we were able to empty all our cash on our treasured gelato. 2005 is starting very good..and I can only think it’ll be one of the best years of my life.

So, a few months back, I stumbled across a website called MeetUp. I searched for a Japanese Language Social group, and of course, being in San Francisco, not only did one exist, but a few more around the Bay Area too. So, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not, cause you never know what types of people would go, but I decided I’d give it a try. I’m so glad that I did, because I met so many nice Americans and Japanese people, and most everyone’s skill was at a level where we could switch back and forth between English and Japanese. I also met a girl that studied at the University of Sydney, so lots of new contacts! Check it out in your area for social clubs for just about anything!

Enough of this rain! It seems like it’s been nonstop this winter–San Francisco usually gets cloudy and wet, but I don’t ever remember it being this bad! I feel like everyday has been rain, and or just plain cold. What happened to this sunny cali weather I signed up for ;) ?

If you have a good 15 minutes to read a string of emails of a prank, this one is well worth the laugh. I couldn’t believe it!

Click here.

Happy New Year 2005!

I hope everyone had a safe New Year and have good goals in mind for 2005. I know I do! Best wishes for a great new year!

-Benjamin

Naisho says hello.

Yet another Christmas has passed. It’s strange to not really have a winter…even though it’s kinda chilly outside, it’s still not so cold. I went down to visit my friend Todd’s family in Santa Cruz for Christmas. He was gracious enough to let me join in the festivities. I had a lot of fun meeting his friends and such, and I really enjoyed this year’s Christmas. It was very nice to be in a home. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and I hope to hear from you soon :) Merry Christmas 2004!