John Steinbeck’s compelling collection of stories set in Monterey, creating the novel Cannery Row, passionately flirts with the loneliness of an individual as well as the inverse; the compelling nature of community. A friend of mine said, “It’s purpose is to help you find a sense of place.” I fittingly finished the book a few days ago, whilst I of course delayed the inevitable packing dilemma that laid before me. As always though I managed to pack in the final hours and I now find myself typing in my surprisingly large bedroom, with my new welcoming family, in a cozy apartment, in an alien, in the familiar city of Saint Petersburg… and in Russian.
I am moved in. To a large but rather bare, minimally furnished room. Yet, the item that matters the most, the bed, is leagues better than my old one in the University dormitory. As for now I am content… and obviously hungry. Let the awkward, barely coherent communication commence.