San Francisco - 4th October

[From: micki korp <MKORP@acadvm1.uottawa.ca>]

Hello, friends of Danny. Postcard V--San Francisco, 4/10/94--came in yesterday. First, we have a scenic view, aerial shot of Alcatraz Island (with prison) in the foreground of the bay and the skyline of the city behind. The bay is a flat blue dish of water, and the island from the camera's perspective looks like a garbage barge, low, long and heaped in the middle and the ends! It does not look like an island. The city skyline itself which takes up the top half of the photo with blue sky beyond is the "every-city skyline" one sees anywhere in the world. Struck me as I looked at this photo how much my notion of what San Francisco looks likeis formed around the iconic image of Golden Gate Bridge and/or trolleycars. This photo shows neither. so, turning to the caption on the back, one reads

A former Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz basks in the California sunshine in the middle of San Francisco bay. The city's enchanting hills seem to dance a marathon around this world-famous island.
Photo by Saul W.W. Chaikin c. 1987
Printed in Korea

Micki comments: "dance a marathon"...?! now there's an image to conjure.

the message:

I really like what
I've seen of SF so far, though I haven't been out
of the 10km square which is the
city proper, so I haven't really got a balanced
view of it. Good public transport, a relaxed
atmosphere, a density of eating places matched
by only small areas of Sydney (King St., Oxford
St.), and a decent number of bookshops. The
strange thing is that I haven't really talked to
any of the _people_ yet! Unlike in Indonesia,
the people don't initiate conversations at once,
and the only extended chat I've had was with
two novelists I sat with during dinner on the
train. No one has commented on my being
Australian yet, so it's possible my accent isn't
strong enough to be picked. Anyway given the no.
of tourists around and the variety of physical
types, one Eurasian, Australian dialect-speaking
individual isn't worth a second look.//Tomorrow
I'm off to visit Sea in Sunnyvale so I'll get
a look at the broader bay area and get to meet some
of my net acquaintances and have another go at
my e-mail :). There are still lots of things to do and see and I won't have
any trouble filling up the week. I may have to skip a planned trip to
Berkeley. Hope you are all having as much fun. Danny

The stamp, is a dull one, a line drawing of someone of whom I have never heard, olive green ink sketch on cream ground of a head of balding man, not smiling, and identified as Frank C.Laubach, price USA 30cents. No Laubach in my Britannica either.

As for Danny's accent not being commented upon...? I don't know why that would be, one way or the other. I've not lived in the States for 14 years, and I've never lived in California.

Micki, still here in Ottawa

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