Matt Schiavenza From the Dragon to the Apple- A Sinophile in New York

Jazz in the Park

On Saturday I accompanied several of my classmates to Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem to watch the jazz pianist McCoy Tyner perform at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. Tyner has had a very long career in jazz and is perhaps best known as a member of John Coltrane's group in the early 1960s. He played solo for nearly an hour. Alas, we were sitting too far away to get a good look at him.

During my walk through Harlem I saw many residents sitting on the stoop or on chairs placed on the sidewalk, chatting. On our way back to Morningside Heights, we walked through an impromptu 'block party' full of loud music, children's games, and barbeques. The festive street life reminded me of what I liked most about Asia.

I also enjoyed meeting some of my future classmates, a truly international bunch. There was a girl from Slovenia, an Indonesian daughter of diplomats who lived in North Korea for three years ('It wasn't that bad!'), an Indian ex-engineer embarking on a career change, a returning Peace Corps volunteer who had the distinction of being evacuated from three different west African countries during her tenure, a black guy from LA fluent in Hebrew and at Columbia to study Arabic, and an Icelandic film student. There was also a biology PhD from Dalian who graciously allowed me to speak Chinese with him despite his superior English.

Later yesterday I took the subway downtown to meet an old friend living in the Bowery, a once-dangerous neighborhood now among the more fashionable places to hang out in all of New York. We toured around some of the bars in SoHo and the East Village before finally ending up in the Meatpacking District, which might more accurately be described as the 'meat market' district.  The scene from the Harlem block party seemed a world removed from the beautiful people scene downtown, yet Manhattan's tiny size and efficient subway system made both excursions a breeze.