06 Oct Bonfire, The Gaslight Anthem, and a cloudy trip to Santa Cruz
Hello!
This is some of the things that I have been up to the last couple of weeks.
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I was at my first American bonfire down at Ocean Beach. We were about 20 people that decided to buy some wood and beer and head down there the other week. From Ocean Beach you get a premium view of the sunset. That combined with great company made for a very pleasant evening.
Some advice to the people that wants to do a bonfire-evening: be at the beach earlier than you think, because you are only allowed to light a fire in the stone pits, and there are only so many stone pits so they get occupied early.
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I have also watched the SF-State soccer team (also known as football in Europe…). It was not the best game I have ever seen, but it was still above expectation. My expectations were not that high though. Partly because of the stereotype that Americans only play “real football”, but also because of my prior experiences with school soccer, where school teams usually are not that good.
Some differences between how soccer is played here and in Europe. First, the clock is ticking downwards, instead of upwards, thus; the game ends when the clock says 0.00, instead of 45.00 + overtime. As a consequence of this (maybe), the clock is stopped when the play is interrupted, e.g. corners, injuries etc. Maybe goals as well, but I did not get to see any so that I do not know for sure. Second, in the end of each half there is a horn that is blown (by some adminstrative person on the sideline) instead of that the referee blows his pipe. Third, they play golden goal 2×10 minutes when the game is tied by full time.
Despite playing for 90 minutes + golden goal-time neither of the teams were able to score, so the game ended 0-0. Unlucky for SF-State who I think was the better team.
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More, I have been to a concert with The Gaslight Anthem. A truly great concert! I am very fond of the band and they played the songs I was hoping they were going to play, so I could not be happier.
Furthermore, the choosing of venue was interesting, Fox Theatre in Oakland. This venue is a combination of a theatre, a bar and a temple. With two big Buddah-looking statues by the scene, Arabic ornaments in the ceiling and bars in every corner, the venue is something extraordinary. The Fox Theatre is not that big either, the audience in total was maybe a 1000 – 1500 people, so all in all it provided for an amazing atmosphere.
They have lots of concerts in Fox Theatre, go there! Both because tickets are inexpensive (at least compared to prices in Sweden), and because it was very easy and inexpensive to go there. It cost 6.60 dollars to go to Oakland and back by Bart from Embarcadero. In Oakland you can go off the Bart at 19th, and then it is just a block to walk to Fox Theatre. Among other bands, a Swedish band called First Aid Kit, will visit Fox Theatre later this fall. They will be playing the 13th of November. I can strongly recommend them!
The buddah-look-alike
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Furthermore, I have gone on a trip with the IEEC to Santa Cruz. The hopes and promises before departure were that we would have a hot day at the beach. So an hour and a half drive later… cloudy and colder temperature than San Francisco; the Santa Cruz-weather was on the verge on rain. Damn!
So instead of a day sunbathing and enjoying great weather, we walked along the boardwalk; which was nice though. Anyway, after 2 hours of freezing we bought a volleyball. Great decision since it kept us warm for the rest of the afternoon.
At the moment the weather in San Francisco is crazy good though (for a Swede). So I guess the heat we missed out on in Santa Cruz, we are experiencing now instead.
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This weekend I have been a tourist in California, being able to “cross off” Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, walking over Golden Gate Bridge, and Napa Valley, from my bucket lists. That will go into the next blog though!
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Finally, I want to promote the IEEC exchange fair. See video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sigaSmJUx6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN-bq-k_J_w
See ya!
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