Independency

8/27/2009 1:58 PM

Went out yesterday again. Went to Bank of America to reset my PIN number and went to library since it didn’t open on Monday. I found The Three Musketeers that I had wanted to read ever since my sister checked it out from the library back home. I also found Flowers for Algernon, a excerpt of which I read in a literature textbook. Interested, I also picked that out. Since there were movies, I did not hesitate to help myself. I was looking for something entertaining and funny. And…definitely not a horror movie. (I was staying upstairs in the monastery by myself…brrrr.) I chose “Casanova” and the other one…forgot the name, something about the hosts of The Prairie Home Companion. Anyway, looked interesting. I was beginning looking forward to get back to the monastery...until the librarian said I needed a library card to check out. Okay. So I filled out the library card form…but I didn’t know what to write for the address. I can’t write the address in Iowa. What can my mom and dad do when they see that their daughter has an overdue book in a library 700 miles away from where they are? Getting angry is very likely. So not my home address. My dorm then? That makes more sense, but there’s one problem. I don’t know it! Geez, I thought to myself. Who doesn’t know their own address? Wow. And…I am not even sure of the monastery’s address. So I left the address blank.

When I handed the form to the librarian, she frowned. She said I needed an address and a proof of my address. I asked how do I do that? She said by a bill mailed to the address with my name on it. I mean, what if I just send a mail to myself with my name on it? Wouldn’t that still be proof of my residence? I did not say this. I looked at the two books and two dvds that will be crucial to my survival from boredom and hoped that, maybe, she would still let me borrow at least one of the items. The librarian holds the pile. “I will hold these for a few days until you get proof of your address.” I gravely watched her put the four items under the desk. She handed me the library card registration form that I so did not want. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even say I wouldn’t be able to get proof of my dormitory address for who knows how long. Does my bank even send my statements through mail? Gosh. I didn’t tell her not to bother holding those. I was so disappointed at another failure to possess some form of entertainment that I just walked out of the library without another word.

When I decided to go to the downtown library and maybe the internet café there (I know these places exist from the handy-dandy attraction map), I walked past a Blockbuster. I ignored it and walked across the street to where the bus stop was. As I am waiting for the bus, I looked at Blockbuster again. Movies…wait, MOVIES?! Oh no, I am not going to spend another day studying maps. I walked across the street again, this time with more determination. I walked in and asked to get a Blockbuster card. I smiled inwardly at my official adult-with-money-card status. The lady asked if I want to pick out some movies first.

15 minutes later, I came back to the counter with three rentals: “Mad Men” (a TV series which I heard was good), “I Love You, Man” (I need some comedy), and “Watchmen” (haven’t heard much about it but it’s very popular. Opinions about the movie seem to differ so I want to check it out for myself.) And finally…I got my Blockbuster card! AND I get to swipe my debit card in the little gray machine for the first time. Wow. I really am out in the world by myself now.  What a great feeling.

As I traveled by bus downtown on a bus...oh yeah, let me tell you a bit about the bus system. The Long Beach transit makes traveling to different parts of the city very convenient. It has about 20 to 30 different paths. The ones most people take that runs on the major streets and downtown, is The Passport, as it is called. There are Passport A, B, C, and D. The one I have taken were the A and D, as it travels from the monastery to either Southeast to Belmont Shore or Northwest to downtown Long Beach. Bus fare is $1.10 one-way. I love the bus system. So very very very convenient. I am grateful to have mass transit because I lived in Iowa, where the population is less and people use cars to get around. The majority of the land in Iowa is used for farming. So, to go anywhere, I have to learn to drive first, something I should have done over the summer vacation. But here in Long Beach, I can get anywhere by myself! I’m lovin’ it. Bahlahbahbahbah 

Well, I am still getting used to city life and riding the bus. At first I didn’t know how to let the driver know I need to get off. Then I saw red STOP buttons located on handrails and in different corners of the bus. Aha! Now I see. By then I thought I knew everything there is to know about bus riding. But no. As I left Belmont Shore for downtown, I stepped onto the first bus that came to a stop in front of me. As it turned out, it was the wrong route. I had to get off at a location about three blocks from the monastery…and not even close to Downtown. Luckily, there’s a bus stop right in front of the monastery, so I knew where to go. I probably wasted 40 minutes with a wrong bus ride with which time I could have spend doing shopping downtown!  

The heart of Long Beach city is windy, sunny, and soothing. There is Borders, of which I immediately zoomed to and bought The Three Musketeers. There are food and drinks stores everywhere and small restaurants and cafés, like in Belmont, are seen on every block. It’s as if the whole city is telling you “Relax, relax, have a sip of coffee and feel the ocean breeze.” I listened. A week in Long Beach, and I felt I am becoming a different person already. I wonder if people who live by the ocean are naturally friendlier and more laid-back. Everyone I’ve met, the passerby, the bus driver, a lady by the bus station, the bank clerk, the cashier…they are all so nice. I wonder if it is something about being near the sea and the sunny beach, or being closer to the other surface of Earth, that makes people connect more with their inner self and their community. I thought of this as I myself walked on the soft beach just near the monastery after I had finished my journey for the day. I stood by the shore and felt the tides rise and fall around my ankles, occasionally it reached my calves, and sometimes it did not reach my at all. I loves the feeling of sand slipping beneath my feet when the ocean pulls the tide back to draw another breath. I looked out to the open sea, the glittering sun in the water, and felt the cold water lick my toes. Coming to Long Beach for college was a good decision.