(PICTURE: Alex and I on our way to the game. I'm wearing Alex's 7th grade Mets jersey.)Apparently I'm on a baseball tour of America. A couple weeks ago I went to Pittsburgh to see the Pirates with my dad and brother. Last night I went to the new Citi Field in Queens with my buddy Alex. Next month, I'll be going to see the Yankees play the A's -- my favorite team -- at the new Yankees Stadium.
There are over eight million people living in New York but it seems that around every corner is someone you know. Last night while walking to the game, we passed a girl we went to Syracuse with (who, for the record, I thought was far and away the prettiest girl at Syracuse University). Then at the game we bumped into a guy we went to college with (who clearly had forgotten my name). That guy mentioned that last time he was at the game he saw "my boys" X, Y, Z. Minutes later, Alex and I bumped into X and Y.
In this big-yet-small-city way, NYC is a lot like Hanoi. Hanoi isn't a big city at all and it seems that every time I'm on my bike, I see someone who I know. Huyen emails me often saying, "I saw ___ at ____." To me it is pretty cool when you can live somewhere with lots of people and keep seeing them all over the place. This is quite different than Los Angeles, the city I lived in from 2001-2008. LA is really spread out and you have to make an effort to see someone or else you're liable to never see them again. I mention this because tomorrow I'm off to LA where I'll be trying to see as many friends as possible in the ten days that I'll be there. Good times ahead!
(PICTURE: Citi Field.)
