Went home to Pleasanton, a little white upper-middle class town east of Berkeley. There's always a good bit of culture shock. When I was leaving Berkeley, a drunk homeless guy grabbed the car window before I could motor away, then did a little dance while holding his beer can. On the other hand, the receptionist in the Pleasanton Dentist's office asked was my hygenist 'the Asian?' Of course, the receptionist was black, so who knows.

I went home for the first time after 9.11 about a week and a half later, for a football game. I made a point of remarking that it was good to be back 'in America.' That's a little bit bitter, but Berkeley felt so weirdly out of touch then. Every town in America, it seemed like, was suffering and reaching out. Berkeley was the only one in denial, still working the same relatively petty concerns of the past. In many ways I'm glad that the Activists are finally focusing on relatively sane concerns like Constitutional Rights; it shows that Berkeley has admitted things are different now.
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