a history of me

We left at dawn for a trip to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. The trip wasn't my idea, I had heard about it from Kazu. He and a few friends were going to spend an outrageous amount of money on tickets for an overnight bus ride. For those who don't know, Cooperstown and Albany are about seventy miles apart. I was not going to let my new "international" friends get hosed. I volunteered to drive, much to everyone's delight.

One of the conditions was that they invite another friend who loves baseball, イチロー in particular. Her name is Sachiko, just like another girl here, so she is better known by her nickname, "Chappi." I think it's some kind of fusion of "happy child," the loose translation of "Sachiko," not that an English nickname has to make sense when interpreted by a non-English native. Irregardless, I think Chappi is cute so I encouraged them to invite her to fill the last spot in my car.

I know what you're thinking. "If you made it a point to have this girl come along, did you talk to her or anything?" Barely. I'm already fairly nervous about talking to girls I have an interest in, and the 4-1 Japanese-American ratio in the car didn't help. I'm not blaming the language barrier though because she does speak English just fine. The fault was mine for not taking advantage of the situation. However, what's done is done, and I'll have other opportunities to interact with her and get un-nervous.

Back to the trip: The route was very simple. We stopped for breakfast in a small deli along Route 20. It had been months since I had a deli-made breakfast sandwich, a taste I sorely missed. It wasn't that good but it was much better than the eggs back at the dining hall, that's for sure.

The trip only took about two hours, even with the breakfast stop. Cooperstown was just as I remembered it, although the Hall of Fame is undergoing major renovations. Some exhibits were closed, so the admission was slightly reduced. We still saw a variety of interesting objects, including much イチロー memorabilia from his record-breaking season. Many, many pictures were taken. Check this page for some digital photos from my international friends.

Lunch was eaten in an odd basement diner. The prices were a little high but we lucked out and they didn't charge us for one of the sandwiches. We did quite a bit of window shopping. There was a disturbing amount of Red Sox merchandise for sale, fulfilling my prophecy from last month. Don't worry, I won't say "I told you so."