100° Coffee 200° is not

Author: Laoqiong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: My cup of coffee is very important every day, and I never drink it at home while driving. I take a newspaper or a book, leave the house, go down the mountain, and choose a café I like and am accustomed to, spending two hours there, drinking my cup of coffee. Even during typhoon days. Before work starts and pressure hasn’t yet arisen, I feel completely “relaxed.” I enjoy starting my day this way. Two hours have passed. The 100-degree coffee is finished. The 200-degree troubles are just beginning! The music and customers in the café create different atmospheres. Moreover, every café is different. In Japan, after work hours, it’s the women’s world in the café; in France, the open-air cafés stage a drama of watching and being watched. Men do business in cafés, while women chat about their thoughts. Cafés exist because of people, and also because of the stories that can be seen and unseen. No matter which country I wake up in, the first thing I do is find a café. I avoid the identical chain cafés on the main streets and wander into alleys, hoping to find a small café that’s rumored to be favored by some writer. Once, in a corner of a German castle, I discovered a tiny coffeeshop. The decor was extremely simple and rustic, with a man with messy hair. A small round table was crowded with newspapers, books, and coffee. Suddenly, I had the feeling of “meeting a kindred spirit in a foreign land.” I think that the awakening of the world also begins with this cup of coffee.
My cup of coffee is very important every day, and I never drink it at home while driving. I take a newspaper or a book, leave the house, go down the mountain, and choose a café I like and am accustomed to, spending two hours there, drinking my cup of coffee. Even during typhoon days. Before work starts and pressure hasn’t yet arisen, I feel completely “relaxed.” I enjoy starting my day this way. Two hours have passed. The 100-degree coffee is finished. The 200-degree troubles are just beginning! The music and customers in the café create different atmospheres. Moreover, every café is different. In Japan, after work hours, it’s the women’s world in the café; in France, the open-air cafés stage a drama of watching and being watched. Men do business in cafés, while women chat about their thoughts. Cafés exist because of people, and also because of the stories that can be seen and unseen. No matter which country I wake up in, the first thing I do is find a café. I avoid the identical chain cafés on the main streets and wander into alleys, hoping to find a small café that’s rumored to be favored by some writer. Once, in a corner of a German castle, I discovered a tiny coffeeshop. The decor was extremely simple and rustic, with a man with messy hair. A small round table was crowded with newspapers, books, and coffee. Suddenly, I had the feeling of “meeting a kindred spirit in a foreign land.” I think that the awakening of the world also begins with this cup of coffee.