Daily Life

It struck me that I’ve written a lot on this blog about our exciting weekend forays, but not much about the everyday and what it’s like to live here, an issue which I will now attempt to address. Jon thinks I’ll bore you with all the detail – I do hope not!

Weekly routines
Currently I am working (volunteering) two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for a nonprofit. Other fixed appointments in the week are my step class (Tuesday evenings) and my Italian lesson (Thursday evenings). Amazingly, the other three days go by very quickly, and I’m rarely twiddling my thumbs. I divide my time among going to the gym (about three times a week), doing Italian homework (which is usually quite demanding and time-consuming), doing the usual chores like food shopping etc., and – I admit – strolling around for the fun of it, having a nice latte in the café and watching a bit of TV. Jon is working every day, and his hours continue to be quite long. However, he also tries to go to the gym about three times a week. We then tend to go for a long jog along the waterfront at the weekend. I think I am getting fitter, so it must be paying off.

The location
We live in North Beach, which is essentially the Italian quarter, primarily comprised of low-rise, painted Victorian houses, although we’re in a high-rise, which affords really quite stupendous views over the bay. The area is home to a large number of cafés and Italian restaurants. To continue along the Italian theme, the lamp-posts are painted with Italian flags, and there’s an Italian bookshop and tailor too. People have asked me if, in terms of urbanisation, it’s like living in London, to which the answer is “no”. Although the whole area is built up, the feel is completely different. The streets are very wide, straight and laid out in a grid formation. They are often tree-lined and surprisingly quiet, apart from the main thoroughfare (Columbus Avenue), perhaps because we’re almost at the top of the peninsula. To the north is Fisherman’s Wharf, the tacky touristy area (which I rather like anyway), to the south is Chinatown, then west is Russian Hill and to the east, Telegraph Hill, both primarily residential areas, and, as their names suggest, very hilly. Green spaces are a short distance away – one of the nearest is Washington Square (featured heavily in Dirty Harry, starring Clint Eastwood), which is where the Chinese community go to practise their Tai Chi in the mornings.

Getting around
There is an excellent network of electric buses, which are surprisingly cheap: $1.50 for a ticket, which is valid for travel in any direction for 90 minutes, or you can get weekly or monthly passes. My only gripes with the bus are that it can get very crowded and for some reason takes the slowest possible route downtown, with the consequence that it can sometimes be just as quick to walk. There is also an underground around the Market Street area (which then comes up above ground south of Market), and a few tramlines on which 1950’s style trolley-buses operate. I haven’t been on one of these yet, but they are genuinely old and have been shipped in from other parts of the world. Then there are the world-famous cable cars, which negotiate the hills. We can see the end of the Powell-Mason line from our apartment and regularly hear the clanging bells as the cars come past. These are really only for tourists, though, as unfortunately at $5 a journey, they’re too expensive to ride frequently. Finally, walking is a pleasure in San Francisco. The other day, after I’d gone on the bus to run an errand in the Marina district, I got off early to stroll along the waterfront, which is always bustling and metamorphoses from park to beach, restaurant terraces to crab stalls, tacky souvenir shops to historic ship moorings, pontoons covered in prostrate sealions to big cruise liners.

The weather
Apparently, San Francisco has one of the most temperate climates in the world, which means that you would never experience a frost or a very sweltering day here. Over the last few weeks, the temperature has ranged between about 12 and 22 degrees Celsius, so I’ve ditched the winter coat. Although of course it’s measured in Fahrenheit here, just to make things difficult. We have enjoyed lots of very clear days, but also had several consecutive days of rain just over a week ago. Today was perhaps the warmest day of the year so far, so I slapped my sandals out, took my book down to the beach and watched with mild amusement as kids in swimsuits and dogs (not in swimsuits, although that wouldn’t surprise me here) frolicked in the waves. July and August are meant to be the least pleasant weather-wise, as that’s when the worst of the fog hits. However, a few miles drive inland, and you’re in completely different climate (Napa, in the wine region, apparently had a temperature of 26 degrees today).

Shopping
The main shopping area is downtown, about a twenty-five minute walk away, around Union Square and on Market Street. This is where you find the staples like Macy’s (Debenhams style department store) and Bloomingdale’s (extremely posh department store). The most ubiquitous supermarket in the city is Safeway. Food is of a similar price to that in the UK, but some things are considerably more expensive, which surprised me. So I’ve taken to dividing my shopping up – going to a little store in Chinatown for most of my fruit and veg. (the service is entirely in Chinese and incredibly brusque, but it’s dirt cheap), then to Trader Joe’s, a primarily organic supermarket five minutes away for most things, and to Safeway for the remainder. Trader Joe’s isn’t really any more expensive than Safeway, and the food seems better quality, plus the whole experience is nicer. Because I have to carry all the shopping, I get Jon to go to a big supermarket near his work once a week to stock up on orange juice, milk, cereals, wine and water – the things that are too bulky or heavy for me. I’ve never bought bottled water before, but the stuff out of the tap does not taste good. Fortunately, we can recycle a lot of the packaging (of which there is tons – Americans really go in for wrapping things up to the extent that you then can’t get in to them). In spite of the amazing variety of products available, there are some things you can’t seem to get: English-style teabags, curry paste, Thai ingredients, orange juice from concentrate (although that’s not really a loss) and crème fraîche to name a few.

The language
The other day I had to ring the offices of some of San Francisco’s most prominent politicians to ask them (or rather their secretaries) to put a fundraising gay-la (gala) in their skedyool (schedule). I’ve started referring to my cell-phone and vacations. Can’t bring myself to tell FedEx that they broke my vayses though. Don’t think I’ll start talking with an accent, but it’s convenient to adopt different vocabulary and pronunciations to make yourself understood. I still got a blank look from a bus driver when I asked him a question yesterday, though, and had to repeat myself three times. Only had one person tell me they “love the way (I) talk”. However, I have heard that the British accent can get you out of trouble. Last weekend, one of our party was happily driving down the freeway at 92 m.p.h., not realising that he was being followed by a helicopter and three police cars (yes, I did say “three”). When they did eventually manage to stop him, he apologised profusely in his dulcet British tones, flashed his UK driving licence at them, and they let him off! Not only that, but it wasn’t the first time this had happened!

Have a nice day
Everyone asks you, “how are you today?”. Not sure what they’d say if you told them your granny had just died and your house had burnt down, but it is “kinda” nice. They also instruct you to “have a good day”. It’s also customary to have a conversation with the person you find yourself with in a lift (“elevator”). You have to judge the length of the conversation carefully, though, depending on which button they press when they get in the lift, but you should always finish it by wishing them a good day or night. Don’t try being ironic, though.

The flip-side
There had to be one didn’t there? As far as I’m concerned, it’s the problem of homelessness, which is probably the worst I’ve seen anywhere, and is acutely visible. It’s at its most severe in the “dodgy” bits of the city, like the Tenderloin (incidentally, I work on the edge of this area, but it’s OK where the office is), although it pervades pretty much every neighbourhood, and I get the feeling that not enough is being done to combat the issue. Perhaps because of the lack of good, free healthcare, you see some homeless people in states which no one in the first world should find themselves in. The contrast between rich and poor is staggering – in a ten minute walk from the financial district to the start of the Tenderloin you can see it all. And consider that there are nearly as many private as public schools, so there’s plenty of money about.

All things considered though, it’s a truly fantastic city. I still wander around, unable to quite believe that I’m here. I see the glazed looks of admiration in the eyes of holiday-makers and smile to myself – I live here now!