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Working life
Exploring Central Avenue
By Masako Yamada
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オールバニーを歩く
雅子さんの住む町から州都オールバニーに車を走らせると、Central Avenueという通りに出ます。普段なら素通りしてしまうのですが、先日、探索を兼ねて通りを歩いてみました。すると、奥まった所や路地に世界各国の食料品店が点在しているではありませんか。そこで後日、同僚と「ミニ世界旅行」に出かけることにしました。
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Central Avenueには、各国の食料品店が数多く存在する。これはロシアの食料品を扱うお店
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Central Avenue in Albany is nothing much to look at. I previously wrote about the boarded-up buildings on State Street, the main road in the town where I live. State Street turns into Central Avenue as you drive into Albany. Central Avenue is a bit more exciting than State Street, given that most of the storefronts are actually active, and there are shoppers bustling to and fro. However, there is an overall tired look to the street. It boasts a large number of car dealerships, usually not the most attractive kind of store to have around.
One day, I decided to walk all the way from State Street to the end of Central Avenue, in downtown Albany. The trip took around half a day, mostly because I wanted to observe my surroundings carefully.
I noticed several trailer parks, including one with a faded sign written in Chinese, as well as a few stores selling live bait and gun ammunition. The most common type of restaurant was the good ol' diner. I passed several malls, large and small. Many of the thoroughfares in the area do not encourage pedestrians, so I was lucky that I could even walk on a sidewalk the entire way. I hardly saw anybody else walking, and I felt especially silly crossing a major highway on foot: Fortunately, there were traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing.
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インド系の食料雑貨店で棚に並んだ商品をあれこれ物色する筆者
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These are unsurprising features of upstate New York. Personally, I'm still a little shocked that people I know from work fish and hunt regularly. But what I'ｖe found even more shocking is the number of specialty food stores flanking Central Avenue. These stores are usually tucked away behind large parking lots or on tiny side streets. I'm sure there are many that I simply have not noticed, but I'ｖe already gone to two organic food stores, two Chinese markets, two Indian markets, a German butcher, a Russian deli, as well as a small Vietnamese market.
Last weekend, a colleague and I decided to take a mini trip around the world. First we went to the German butcher and bought kielbasa, sauerkraut and a ham called lachsschinken. Then we went to the Russian deli and bought a smoked whole fish, sour cherry juice and chocolates. Finally, we went to the Indian market to get munchable snacks and some spices.
These stores don't necessarily cater to Americans, which make them even more worthwhile to visit. It's a lot of fun to choke out (and undoubtedly mispronounce) the word "lachsschinken," or to be warned by a witty Russian shopkeeper not to get attacked by the fish, or to vie with Indian women for the best okra or green chili peppers.
Needless to say, dinner was a feast. Over our meal, I discovered that my colleague had actually never been abroad, except for Canada. It made the trip feel more special for me.
When I first visited Albany two years ago for the interview for my current job, I was not impressed by the nondescript surroundings. My boss insisted that the area has more to offer than meets the eye. It's just that you have to know where to look. A large portion of the scientific researchers in the States are foreign-born, and my company is no exception, so I knew that my workplace would have an international flavor. What I didn't know, and what I'ｖe since found out, is that the greater Albany area has quite a few amenities to cater to such an international population.
One thing that is unfortunately true is that there is no Japanese market on Central Avenue. The Japanese population is extremely small in Albany (at my workplace alone, I know more Turks than Japanese) so my friends make do by shopping at Korean or Chinese stores. For special purchases, they drive three hours to go to a Japanese shopping mall right outside New York City. Many of them make the trip only once or twice a year, usually for birthdays, New Year's Day or other holidays. The shopping mall is within walking distance of my parents' home, and many people I know have worked there part-time, pushing shopping carts or tapping the register. It makes me feel strange to see my friends up here get so excited over it.
That's when it really hits home that Central Avenue, although it has its charms, isn't quite complete as a culinary United Nations.
Shukan ST: March 5, 2004
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