Why I love Berkeley

Berkeley is a really cool college town. It has great ethnic food and restaurants in general, shops, theater, and a very fun college atmosphere.

We were in Berkeley twice this past weekend. We went to see Candide at a local Berkeley theater. The theater was only about the size of a living room and so the actors were right in front of us in the middle of the living room. It was a good play. I haven't read Candide even though it has been one of my husband's favorite books and so it was good to finally see the play. Before the theater, we went to our favorite Ethopian restaurant, Fifine -- this is the best Ethiopian restaurant in the country -- my husband and I have never found any other Ethiopian restaurants as good as this one, even in DC! Then we came back to Berkeley for Chicago-style pizza at Zachary's -- it's another institution in Berkeley. As usual, there was a long line at Zachary's that night.

I really have never been on a campus where the main campus street is full of ethnic food -- Korean, Indian, Thai, Swiss, etc. It's a very diversed environment. I thought Univ of Wisconsin was fabulous with the ethnic food, UC Berkeley is even more diversed. I think I am gaining an appreciation for diversity being out in the Bay area. It's strange that although I have always appreciated diversity, I don't realize how nice it is to live around it until I have it. It's quite refreshing!

It's funny the contrast between Standford and UC Berkeley. Standford is incredibly poshy with manicured lawn and beautiful buildings and long driveways full of trees - in short, Standford is dripping with money. UC Berkeley is also a pretty campus with lots of green but the main street (Telegraph Ave) leading to the campus conveys hippiness and diversity. Quite frankly, Telegraph Ave is a bit grotty with dirty looking streets, some funky stores, and some wild looking people full of tatoos. I guess that this is part of the appeal of UC Berkeley - freedom of expresssion!

I am not sure whether I would want my future children to go to Standford or UC Berkeley. There are pluses and minuses to both schools. They are both great big name schools that should provide a great education. Standford is way too expensive while Berkeley is definitely more affordable. The thing that would worry me as a parent would be whether my future children would be mix up in the wrong crowd if they were to go to UC Berkeley even though in theory the wrong crowds exist at every school. That's the trouble with parenting -- you want to be cool parents and want your children to experience diversity and freedom but you can't help but worry about their future and want to prevent their mistakes :-) As I get older, I gain more sympathy for how hard it must be to be a parent. I am not one yet, but I can imagine that it must be a very tough job.