You
know how they say that you need to arrive at the airport two hours before your
flight if it is international? Apparently that does not apply if your flight is
one of the first flights of the day!
I had a 5:45AM flight the other week to Mexico (short
family trip) and of course, I arrived at the airport at 3:45AM, two hours
before my flight. Guess what? SFO airport
didn’t even open until 4:30AM! Basically, several other punctual passengers
and I just sat around the airport entrance until they opened up the security
area and the check-in counters. So check
to see what time your airport opens if you ever have an early morning
international flight!
You know you live in the
hood when thieves steal your rims midday and leave your car on a single stack
of bricks instead of cinder blocks. *This picture was taken 2 blocks away from my apartment.*
Back on the East Coast, I
had never heard of Bay to Breakers, but ever since arriving in the Bay Area, everyone has
been telling me that I had to check it out. Bay to Breakers is an annual 12K (7.5
mile) race that spans across the city and was originally conceived
approximately 100 years ago as an event to raise the mood of the city after the
San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The event is no ordinary footrace and can
best be described as a mix of Halloween
+ Mardi Gras + 12K race. There are serious runners who run the race
competitively but most people just walk behind them with “beverages” in hand
and creating a moving street party for several miles.
In my opinion, this event
represents the culture and spirit of San Francisco because everyone comes out
to have fun and be creative. This isn’t
some drunken hookup fest for young twenty-somethings like spring break in
Cancun and it isn’t a trashy public flashing party like Mardi Gras. Sure, there
are plenty of naked people who participate in the event but nudity is part of the carefree
spirit of SF, and not an attempt to collect beads or appear on Girls Gone
Wild videos. Furthermore, this event would not work in many other places like NYC. For example, people in SF are generally more laid back, friendly, and far less
aggressive than people in NYC. I think a testament to this fact, is that I hardly
saw any cops for the first few blocks and overall, the police presence was very
minimal and many police offers were taking pictures and enjoying the event
themselves (rather than busting people). Overall, it was an epic experience and I highly recommend that
everyone come check it out at least once in their lifetime.
And for you Cornellians out there, B2B
is like Slope Day X 10!
