Diary Tuesday
French Peeps, Trains, and Story Ideas

Monday night I went to a dinner with my French conversation group to meet with some French-speaking peeps at a restaurant called the Hot Italian. Most of the people were very nice, a few I can't speak for because it was a large group, and I didn't speak with them, nor have I met them previously, and one I admittedly cannot stand, but I did not talk to this person much, and I'm probably just being petty as this person has never shown me any actual malice; I just find their manners annoying. Luckily I was seated next to an actual Francophone and someone just learning but reasonably proficient. Actual Francophones are great since you can learn the most speech from them. And people who are just learning but reasonably good are nice to talk to because it makes me feel good about my skills while still exercising them.

The restaurant also had pictures of hot Italians painted on the side and there was a man hovering around our group who looked like the male portrait.

After the restaurant, I went to catch the train to meet a friend at SacState. My friend thought he could meet me at the restaurant at 9:30pm but wasn't certain. I always like to be certain of things, so I thought it might be better for me to meet him at his student union which would be open until 11PM. If it were somewhere I was familiar with, I may have been willing to wait outside, but quite a lot of Sacramento is sketchy, and I'd never been to this area, so I wanted an indoor place to wait. I realized that going to the student union would actually mean I'd spend more time in uncharted city areas, but I tend to prefer moving rather than waiting if I'm nervous about a situation. Harder to catch a moving target is my reasoning. Plus, I just hate waiting and tend to get irrationally angry at the person I'm waiting for if I'm in a place where I'm not comfortable, so I wanted to spare my friend that since he is typically late for things.

Anyway, I heard a guy talking to a girl (sounded a bit like he was chatting her up). But I was amused cause it sounded like what I imagine my dad would have sounded like if he tried to chat a girl up. So I made a fool of myself trying to speak Chinese to him, and he said he was from Thailand and didn't speak Chinese. Then I ended up talking to him and stepping on the same train--which was the wrong train. I'd like to say I was distracted from talking but I step on the wrong train all the time even when no one's talking to me. So I stepped off at the next stop but it was a ways from the other one and I had to walk along the track in effort to find my way back. Luckily, but also embarrassingly, my friend called me en route and rescued me but it of course meant I had to admit what had happened which I was hoping I wouldn't have to. I was so proud of being independent and this ruined it. But safety is always more important than pride so I'm glad he came and got me.

On the way home I conceptualized a whole universe for one of my stories and was really excited. Unfortunately I can't hash it out here other than to say it's about dreams but not in the annoying waking up makes everything better way. I don't like sharing ideas that are yet to be fully realized (or at least partially in actual writing). But I will certainly let all my friends read it once it's written.