Clothing Swap

Beneath crystal chandeliers, stacks of clothing were neatly laid out on black draped buffet tables. Pop music blared while a man took publicity photos of women pawing through the garments. Periodically, a volunteer swept through, fussing and folding, rearranging by color. Hosted in a glitzy hotel by the non-profit, "Fashion Fights Poverty," this clothing swap was far more formal than others I've attended. Nonetheless the premise was the same: Bring along your unwanted clothes, add them to the pile and take whatever you want from other folks' rejected threads. Personally I seem to bring more than I take, but no one is keeping score. Everything left at the end of the day is donated.

At home beforehand, I tried on everything I owned, marching back and forth to the hall mirror. Had any of my housemates seen me, they would have assumed I was suffering form a first-class bout of "I have nothing to wear syndrome." Most of us apparently wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. This means we can get by with a lot fewer clothes and still look fabulous. The swap served as the perfect catalyst for me to dig deep and make room for new outfits.

I made no assumptions. My green sweater with the frill trim always looked attractive. But viewed with fresh eyes I realized it had become a little loose and suddenly my love faded. The unflattering trousers and shapeless shirts were easy to donate. Harder to abandon were the embroidered 60's blouse I picked up in Miami and the shiny top from Costa Rica I wore on my 27th birthday. They were wearable snapshots and I remember the days I bought each with fondness. But they simply didn't look good on me anymore which of course is why I never wore them and they were relegated to the back of the closet. This was a big old lesson in letting go. Here is something from a particular time and place, but I've moved on and the shirt has stayed there.

What do we have in our metaphorical closets that no longer suit us? Juvenile slang, outdated anxieties, unbalanced friendships. I've recently overcome my fear of biking in DC. I'm not sure how I did it exactly. I always wanted to be one of the cool kids, peddling right up to the crosswalk at red lights, ready to shoot across the intersection ahead of the cars. But in the past I was a nervous cyclist and rarely took my bike anywhere.

A few weeks ago I biked to Georgetown for the first time. Three miles from my house, the awkward route by public transportation means cycling takes half as long. As well as saving time and money, biking makes me feel more independent, it's good exercise and it's fun. But friends had been telling me this for years, so what took me so long to pull this old anxiety out of my wardrobe, dust it off and hold it up to the light? It seems I simply wasn't ready before.

At the clothing swap I unloaded my garments and came away with a few choice pieces including a pair of silk, pinstriped trousers and a flowing summer skirt. Pleased with my finds, I biked home to Mount Pleasant.

- Washington, D.C.

America's Birthday and You're Invited

As a kid, I spent Independence Day watching the Larkspur parade and fireworks at the Marin County Fair. All those years I lived in England, the day was marked solely by an email from my mom describing my Dad's band concert and barbecues. It sounded like fun, though to be honest, Halloween and Thanksgiving were the holidays I really missed. Last Saturday was my first 4th of July in the States since 2001 and I celebrated with a walk in the woods.

Jayne, our ferociously athletic 60-year-old Meetup.com leader, was slightly daunted when twenty-two of us showed up for the hike. Once, one of her wards got lost on this very trail and she had to call the police. And that was with a much smaller group. "Stay with someone who has a map," Jayne said. Our route took us along ten miles of trails in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, about an hour and a half drive from my home in Washington, D.C.

Trekking in Nepal last November strengthened my leg muscles. A less desirable side effect is after the Himalayas, most scenery gets demoted from beautiful to...pleasant. Folks say Shenandoah is at its best during the fall, but this time of year I saw nothing but green, deciduous forest. Piney Branch River slices across the trail and several times we gingerly picked our way over rocks, only to cross back minutes later. The river was one of the most visually interesting features and it wasn't even especially attractive. I quickly decided I was there for the exercise and conversation.

While climbing the steepest stretch of "Little Devil's Stairs," I chatted with a southern lady about horses. The path leveled off but there was no view. However, I got a thrill seeing my first sign for the legendary 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail. I felt an instant connection with Carrie who wants to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and we chatted for most of the day.

Another hiker, Ross from Guildford, works in D.C.'s British embassy. Not meeting many Britons out here, I wanted him to know my connection to his island nation which was my adopted home. I told him I lived in London for seven years and miss the slang.
"Bollocks," he said in nonsensical agreement.
"It's the dog's bollocks," I said, equally out of context. I miss these words.
"I've been picking up new slang though," Ross said. "I watch 'The Wire' and I'm learning Baltimore drug-runner slang."

Jayne told us to keep an eye out for the old cemetery, though she might have been a bit disturbed by several of us hunkering down between the gravestones to eat, a la Day of the Dead. We shared our food, trading trail mix for breaded chicken. A man in a baseball hat offered watermelon with lime juice.
"We shouldn't tell the others we stopped for lunch," Ross said.
"Yeah," Carrie said. "They're probably waiting for us in the parking lot."
"We shouldn't tell them for two reasons," I said, looking around the tombstones.
We spotted one of our group hovering outside the gate.
"Hey, want some food?" Yelled the woman who made the chicken. The man shook his head, though I'm not sure if he objected to the cemetery itself or our location for an impromptu picnic.

"Bollocks?" Carrie asked in the car back. The hike was a success and no one got lost. "Am I even saying that right?"
"You're saying it fine." I said.
"What does it actually mean?"
"Balls," I said. "But 'the dog's bollocks' is a good thing. I guess because not many dogs still have their balls."
"Kind of like the bees' knees."

That night, I relaxed on the grass with a college friend, Capitol Building at our backs, phallic Monument ahead. The National Mall was laden with families, many wearing American flag t-shirts. Not my style, but I guess this is the day.

Fireworks exploded. The crowds voiced appreciation with predictable oohs and ahhs. I silently enjoyed the show. A lone firefly blinked a tiny display of its own. The novelty of fireworks in July. Not Guy Fawkes Night, not New Year's Eve. It was a warm evening and afterwards I walked home, legs aching.

- Washington, D.C.

A Pigeon in London

April should have marked my return home to England. This was the plan until my plans changed. Instead it was only a visit. My most monumental task involved sorting through all my belongings, trappings of the past seven years and deciding what was worth shipping to Washington, D.C. I caught up with dear friends, wandered Shoreditch and ate bangers and mash. It was a good trip.

On my last night in London, my friends and I were elated from inspired cocktails with hints of chilli or ground pepper. After midnight we left the Hide Bar keen to catch the last Tube. Walking through a long tunnel we saw a flapping creature in the middle of the street. Wings rose up from the road but the body refused to follow. The flailing animal seemed pitiful, feverishly flapping but grounded. It was a hurt pigeon.

"Should we move it out of the way or something?" Lizzy asked.

"No," I said with absolute drunken confidence. "If it's badly hurt it's better to stay in the road. It'll get run over and die faster." Harsh, but sometimes it's best not to interfere.

My friends nodded in agreement. Headlights approached.

"Don't look," warned Nabila and we continued walking. The car sped past us, followed by another and another. I peeked. The vehicles had dodged the bird and it was still alive.

"Wait!" I said. "What if that's the wrong decision?" I jogged back through the tunnel. Palm outstretched I stopped the next car and picked up the pigeon.

About a week earlier, my parents rescued a hummingbird. The tiny bird had slammed into a window and they tenderly fed it drops of sugar water. They took photos and even uploaded a video to Youtube. They are tender-hearted and tech-savy. The link went out to friends and family who were touched by the beauty of the small bird.

This pigeon was not my parents' hummingbird.

I don't like pigeons. Bert from Sesame Street was a fan and some folks say they're doves. Not me. London pigeons are filthy with oily, matted feathers. I've seen them eat dried vomit.

I held the pigeon, its plump body unmarred, wiry feet dangling. It emitted a crumbling coo but didn't struggle. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong but clearly it was not well. I put it down on the sidewalk. If it was going to live this was a better place for it.

Did I wrongly interfere and extend its mysterious suffering? Or did I save the bird's life by preventing it from being flattened? When I walked by I was certain doing nothing was the right thing. A few moments later I was confident the opposite was the case. Lizzy later said she'd agreed with me each time.

Of course I have no way of knowing if the bird lived. Gears turning on drunken instinct, I acted free from doubts which can infect my sober decisions. There are no photos, there is no video to upload. This piece is the odd event's only documentation.

Now imagine what the driver saw. Wings rising from the street in the illuminated tunnel. A woman stepping forward into the road and commanding him to stop with an outstretched hand. A vision in the night.

Craigslist Provides

On New Year's Eve I met a man and at the start of February I moved with him to Washington, D.C.

We spent our first week in D.C. crashing on a friend's floor, searching for shared apartments on Craigslist. Chris and I love to cook and wanted a friendly group house with a spacious kitchen.

"What kind of things do you cook?" I asked Bill a prospective housemate. Chris specializes in Italian cuisine and I make Thai curries.

Bill looked panicked. "Chicken," he said. "And sometimes fish."

Besides not being foodies, Bill and his wife were looking for tenants to help with rent rather than friends to share a home. Bill explained his wife was born prematurely and stretches daily as physical therapy. She groaned when she learned I'm writing a novel because she thought I'd be home and in the way of her back bends.

The folks at the next house were refreshingly normal. Lisa works at the Botanic Gardens and I liked her affectionate, old dog. The room on offer was the master suite with two private porches and enough storage to house a boutique.

The third place was run-down. We walked through a bathroom into a carpeted hole the landlord called the "jacuzzi room," occupied by an empty whirlpool and a young man playing on-line poker.

Our most promising option was a shared house in dynamic Columbia Heights with Megan and Michelle, a 31-year-old lesbian couple. They host Tuesday Wine Nights and Megan reads literary fiction. We hadn't seen photos, but their ad mentioned hardwood floors, fireplaces, a grown-up's kitchen and a backyard. Unfortunately they were going to New Zealand so we couldn't meet until mid-February. After a phone interview with Megan we were told if we wanted it, the room was ours.

When we first visited the house, Frank the departing German/Swedish housemate, offered us a beer and showed us around. Chris and I were taken by the playful décor and Michelle's homemade sofa cover screenprint of birds on a wire. I envisioned us preparing feasts in the spacious kitchen. The cats were friendly. It seemed like a superb place for us. However agreeing to live with people you've never met is a leap of faith. Living with other people wasn't just about saving money – we wanted to be part of a community. We knew we could not live with Bill and his premature wife. Botanical Lisa's master suite was special, but rent was about $300 a month more than at Megan and Michelle's.

Even so, could we take the plunge and move in before actually meeting our housemates?

Trusting our instincts and keen to move off our friend's floor, we decided we would. We moved into the craft room for a week until Megan and Michelle returned home and Frank moved out.

Step one:
Find somewhere to live.

Step two:
Get furniture.

Chris started work at his progressive non-profit so in addition to my novel writing, the task of tracking down furniture fell to me. Eschewing Ikea's flatpack convenience, molding the Western world with tasteful cookie cutter interiors, I turned once more to the murky depths of Craigslist. Where we had previously scoured the website for agreeable houseshares, I now searched for beat-up dressers. I envisioned our room with a shabby chic wardrobe and gracefully ageing bedside table. In short I wanted funky and I wanted it cheap.

Despite not having a car to transport said funky wardrobes, Step Two was significantly more straightforward than Step One. Finding furniture on Craigslist is a pure business transaction. The item is the only thing of consequence. You don't need to like the seller's house. You don't even need to like them. Once you lug that twelve-foot bookcase out of their apartment you won't see them again. In fact they're probably moving. Like Hong Kong and Miami, D.C. is a transient city. As we had just moved here ourselves, I liked having an excuse to meet random folks about to move on, like a changing of the guard.

Nine months pregnant, Linda and her husband were departing for Virginia. Her old dresser was not. I loved its mismatched knobs and tapered legs. I had intended to bargain, but seeing her belly I gave her the full asking price of $40. Chris and I carried it the ten minutes or so back to ours, resting repeatedly.

The green bedside table was literally dog chewed on one corner which made it a bargain and gave it character. I met the termite-dog and silently thanked him.

Marianne, a Smithsonian scientist from Maine was selling her wardrobe before returning to the "Frozen North." The piece was from Ikea, technically breaking my rule, but she had painted it red and papered the doors. I liked her exotic artifacts and stories of living in the Côte d'Ivoire and was grateful she was willing to drive the wardrobe back to ours. But during our brief trip, someone cut her off and she freaked out, overcome by road rage. I wasn't afraid, but the incident definitely made her seem less fun.

We picked up a food processor called "La Machine" circa 1986 from Elmer, a jovial 65-year-old graphic designer. He is moving to Arizona this month and has been packing since September. Elmer only used La Machine each Christmas, to make lobster bisque. We wanted it for hummus.

Elmer had a great view from his 10th story apartment but the rooms were cluttered with boxes. He has gotten rid of an admirable number of things, but after six months of packing he is taking a lot with him. Our move was much lighter with no furniture, a few books, chef knives and several bags of clothes which flew with us. Two truisms come to mind:

1.The longer you stay in one place, the more stuff you acquire.
2.People are better at amassing new belongings then getting rid of old things.

Perhaps we are pack rats at heart, hoarding for uncertain times ahead. Yet it feels so good to let go and start afresh.

Megan and Michelle returned late one night, exhausted from their long journey and bursting with stories of New Zealand. They marvelled at the public transportation and insisted Kiwis can formally introduce themselves in Māori. They missed the cats. They were glad to be home. I think we picked a good place.

- Washington, D.C.

Bagelling in California

Real bagels are boiled, then baked. Aficionados will tell you that any round bread which hasn't been boiled first, is merely a roll with a hole and not the real thing.
For the past month I worked part-time at Barton's Bagels, a popular, locally owned shop in my hometown of San Anselmo, California. As counter staff, I made bagel sandwiches and bagged up dozens for our devoted customers. I was shown the ropes by Maria, a Latina who has been there four years. What is the perfect amount of cream cheese to spread on a toasted bagel? Maria succinctly told me, "Not too much, not too little."

So why you might ask, was someone with two degrees working in a bagel shop? The answer is simply, To Write. I've been working on a novel on and off for about three years and to be honest it's mostly been "off". Spending time with my fictional characters gives me great pleasure, yet when I lived in London I found it difficult to make the time for them. I felt guilty and reasoned that if I was really dedicated I would have risen at dawn to pound the keyboard for a few hours before work. Perhaps I wasn't that serious after all.

Last summer while volunteering on an organic fruit farm in Japan, I experienced a rush of creative energy. My body ached but my mind was pulsing with ideas for stories. I used much of my free time on the farm to write. I had a revelation - What if the problem back in London wasn't my lack of dedication, but rather an incompatibility between my job and writing for myself? I loved working in book publishing, liaising with our authors, writing briefs and crafting back cover blurbs. It was rewarding in part because it was mentally demanding. But at the end of the day I liked to go out for a drink with a friend or cook dinner listening to BBC7. The last thing I wanted to do after eight hours in front of a computer was to come home and do more of the same.

My thought was this: If I want to work seriously on my novel, I need to have a less serious job. I wanted something lively and social which got me away from my desk and interacting with people. I wanted to make money using a totally different part of my brain. I found the answer at Barton's Bagels, where I joked with the customers and ate as many delicious bagels as I could manage. Single again and broke after my long adventures in Asia, my wonderful parents invited me to live with them rent-free which enabled me to get my bank balance back in check, while only working three days a week. Additionally, as I worked 6:30am-2:30pm, I had the whole afternoon and evening to write. I even started dating for the first time in my life which was a lot of fun.

Bagels are an excellent but wholly unpretentious food. Bagels are a great equalizer, being innocent of human boundaries of class, race and age. I served business executives with hands-free devices perched on one ear and manual laborers with warm smiles and grubby palms. My customers included suburban dads with young children and yummy mummies with babies. Kids even came in on their own. Seven year-olds popped in for sesame toasted with butter or blueberry not toasted with cream cheese on their way to school. During the Lunch Rush, hungry teenagers lined up all the way to the door, asking for bagels with pesto and tomato, breakfast bagels and Kosher Polish bagel dogs.

Maria bantered with the Hispanic customers in Spanish. An old Jewish couple visiting from the East Coast, effusively praised our wares. "We didn't know you could get such good bagels in California," they said. A cattle rancher with a two mile long driveway way out in West Marin, snatched up four dozen day-olds. "I've got two freezers so why not?" She told me. "My husband asks me, 'Where do these bagels keep coming from?'" Particularly memorable was the large, African-American preacher who held my hands across the counter and said a prayer to God on behalf of me and my novel.

My buzzing mind kept looking for themes in the orders and remarkably I did appear to identify some curious trends. For example, one gray drizzly day, customers kept asking for hot chocolate and we sold out of both our chocolate and cinnamon sugar bagels. It seems people crave sweet comfort food when it's wet outside. Other trends were harder to put a finger on. One day customers kept asking for change and bagels with “just a little bit of butter” or lite cream cheese. It was as though everyone was taking the bus and feeling fat. Some shifts we'd have a run on salt bagels or lox sandwiches. Particularly perplexing was when a customer would leave the shop with something unusual and the very next person would order the same thing. It was as though the desire for a jalapeño bagel with garlic chive cream cheese was still hanging in the air.

I've said my goodbyes to Maria and Barton because I'm moving on again. Incredibly, while in California I met an amazing man named Chris and we're moving to Washington, D.C. together. I'm fortunate in that I'm at a place in my life where I have no commitments or even furniture. He was offered a job out there, we want to continue to explore this new relationship and I can of course write my novel anywhere, so I am going with him. This move is wild and sudden but it feels so right. I currently plan to live there for the next two months, after which I have a flight back to London. If all continues to go well, my trip to England will only be a visit.

My bags are packed and I am saying my goodbyes to sunny mild winter and my friends and family, all of whom are very excited for me and supportive of my move. Monday Chris and I fly to a new city and my adventure continues. I hope D.C. has delicious bagels.

- Oakland, California

Briefly back in England

I anticipated culture shock. Instead I felt at home.

After Asia and before California, I went to England for eight days. I was excited to see old friends and eat familiar food, but I thought it might feel strange being back.

Unexpected differences surprised me. Grubby old London looked clean. I'm used to seeing rubbish everywhere and was struck by the capitol's unlittered pavements. England was colder than lowland Nepal, but indoors it was warm. I welcomed the world of central heating where you can relax in restaurants in short sleeves. In the West it seems, the cold is made to stay outside. Once the sun goes down in Nepal the cold permeates everything. Cement and stone are not very cosy and cafes are open to the elements. I dressed in layers and didn't take them off. England was colder outside but inside was toasty.

I was keen visit a supermarket expecting a jarring contrast after open-air markets with tubs of writhing fish, peculiar bumpy vegetables and yelling vendors. I envisioned strolling down sterile aisles jammed with thirty kinds of pasta, shrink-wrapped broccoli and overly packaged imported treats. Perhaps the comparatively high cost and staggering variety would stun me. Maybe it would seem wrong seeing so much attractive food for sale when elsewhere most people have simple locally produced diets.

Once inside the comforting glow of the supermarket, however everything seemed...well, normal. Although it was my first time in the shop, basket in hand I quickly hunted down yoghurt and satsumas. The layout subscribed to a familiar formula whose logic is imprinted on my brain. I am a child of the developed world. It was all so easy. No bargaining either.

For the first few days I still smiled at strangers and thought of other whities as "Westerners". Initially I did a doubletake when I overheard people speaking English. One busy lunchtime at Bill's in Brighton, tables close together, the woman to my left talked loudly to her companion about her philosophy of romantic relationships. It seemed so personal I couldn't help but blush. Didn't they realise I understood what they were saying? The ironic thing is that in Asia where personal space is at a premium, I got used to squeezing in next to strangers, but I had no idea what they were talking about.

The lesson was promptly forgotten because while walking that night, my friend discretely told me a bizarre story about his flatmate. "He laminated his pubes?!" I loudly echoed. I followed him across the road before I realised the detour was to distance ourselves from the man directly in front of us who had of course heard my outburst. I quickly apologised explaining, "I just keep forgetting that everyone speaks English!"

Finally, being away for so long has rendered me slow to interpret puns. My favourite sandwich chain, Pret a Manger has introduced free internet access. The poster advertises with two pieces of fruit and reads something like: "Wi-fi in-store now. But we still like to pick our apples and blackberries straight from the garden." A bit random but fair enough, I thought. They're saying they've gone high-tech but their food is still fresh and natural. Three days later I got the pun.

So "reverse culture-shock" isn't all it's cracked up to be. I quickly adapted to the change of scenery. I rode on the top level of buses instead of on the roof. I enjoyed meaningful conversations with old friends rather than traveller small talk. Oh and the food! Pesto pasta, fruit smoothies and green salads. Wet plate? Not a problem. I was even able to drink the tap water without getting ill. Amazing.

I've realised that travelling has made me more relaxed and better able to calmly deal with problems. Throughout Asia the notion of "saving face" rules all interactions. Getting angry and godforbid yelling makes you look ridiculous in locals' eyes and gets you nowhere. My newfound skills proved useful in England as well.

There's no public transport in London on Christmas. I had a flight to the States to catch and with Heathrow 20 miles away I wasn't walking. I pre-booked a mini-cab whose website proudly advertised they still charge their standard price on Christmas. However the dispatcher insisted it would cost an extra £10 because of the holiday. I calmly said I would like them to honour their price quoted online. After some resistance she spoke to her manager and agreed. In the taxi, my travel instinct told me to confirm again. The driver gave me the inflated price! This is when pre-Asia Fay would have flipped out. I would have belligerently insisted I was right and the driver would have argued back, making us both flustered and peeved. Instead I phoned the mini-cab company, confident it would be painlessly resolved. And it was. I paid the normal price, empathised with the driver over the confusion and we continued in good spirits. Success all around.

- Enroute to California, 38,000ft above Colorado

Leaving Asia

I'm in the final days of an incredible 11½ months travelling through Asia. I've been thinking a lot about everything I've experienced out here and what it will be like to be back in the West again.

It seems like a good moment for reflection.

I'm looking forward to...

• Cheese
• Bread that hasn't been deep fried
• Fresh crunchy salad
• Wearing jeans
• Anonymity
• Hanging out with my family in California
• Speaking English with everyone...and them understanding me perfectly
• Having friends around me
• Set prices in shops
• Digital radio (Especially BB7)
• No smoking in public places
• Watching films
• Borrowing books from libraries
• Wearing skirts, dresses and other pretty, girly clothes
• The Guardian
• Hot showers and baths
• Cooking my own food

I'm not looking forward to...

• Significantly higher cost of living (My toothpaste cost me US$0.43 – How much was yours?)
• Reality TV
• Junk mail
• People being unfriendly
• Drunken rowdiness (unless it's my own)
• General hum-drum
• House cleaning
• Our over regulated society (As Liam and I sang, "There are too many rules in the West.")
• Feeling prudishly shocked by Western women in skimpy clothing
• Lots of cars on the roads

I won't miss...

• Getting stared at
• Having little kids look over my shoulder all the time to see what I'm writing (yep, including right now)
• Being asked "Where from?"
• Banging my head on low doorways
• Having to be ultra careful about water (Microbes from a wet plate can really ruin your day)
• Being asked how much everything I own cost me (Response: "I don't know it was a gift.")
• Rubbish and poo on the streets
• Mosquitoes
• The "Om Mani Padme"song on repeat
• Spitting and the hacking sound that precedes it

I will miss...

• Delicious curries
• Walking past lush green rice paddies
• Glasses of milk tea for US$0.08
• Riding on top of buses
• Genuine, friendly locals
• Mangoes
• Buddha statues
• The joy of finding a really special guesthouse
• Feeling like a celebrity and seeing people's faces light up in surprise when they see me
• Terraced farming cut into steep hillsides
• Noodle soup in its many beautiful incarnations
• Shampoo in single serving sachets
• Parle-G biscuits
• Street food
• Walking barefoot around temples
• Being able to eat out every single meal
• Vibrant religious festivals and ceremonies
• Animals out and about, taking themselves for walks and hanging out in the street
• Tailor-made clothes
• Markets!
• Meeting amazing travellers from around the world
• Tasting exotic fruits for the first time
• The Muslim call to prayer
• Overnight train journeys and waking up somewhere new
• Swimming in warm sea and snorkelling
• Feeling intrepid at land border crossings
• My own child-like wonder at the newness of the world around me