So, Anyway...

[mbarrick]

After brunch and some shopping yesterday (I bought another pair of shoes! Other people buy souvenirs... whatever!) Michelle, Elisabeth and I went for a walk down to Washington Square to carve pumpkins. We each bought a small pumpkin on the way. Michelle was explaining that in Manhattan people don't have yards so the parks are like communal backyards. It's true. I would have felt like a fool carving a pumpkin in a public park in Vancouver, but in Manhattan it felt ordinary. Instead of stares like I would expect at home people either completely ignored us or came up and chatted about what we were doing. It was great. Total strangers would just walk up and talk for a bit and then wander away. People are really friendly here and totally straightforward. I've got to say I like it a lot.

After the pumpkin carving we went to St. Marks because Michelle wanted to pick up a video. Elisabeth and I poked around in some of the shops. I could easily spend a fortune on clothes and shoes here. There were so many fun things to buy, but alas, I need to be careful with my money until I have secured some stable income.

Something that struck me yesterday on the way to the park was the sense of place here. There is no pretense about trying to emulate some other city. New York is just what it is. It has its own identity, its own sense of place. Vancouver is always looking to Toronto, L.A. and Seattle. Toronto looks here. Almost any North American city I can think of (excluding Montréal) looks here. And despite all the American flags and other displays of patriotism the city doesn't feel American. The patriotism isn't for the nation, but for the city.