This park is known as P.S. 175, and has been the park I’ve gone to for the past 10 years. Since i’ve moved to Forest Hills, New York this has been the place where all races come together to play basketball. It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, yellow, green, tall, small, disabled, or Michael Jordan. Everybody gets fair play. When I was reading Netherland, there was a part on page 10 that stated: “Before the start of play, one of our team, Ramesh, drew us into a circle for a prayer. We huddled with arms around one another’s shoulders – nominally, three Hindus, three Christians, a Sikh, and four muslims.” (page 10-11) The same way cricket plays a huge roll in unity among the people of the park Hans attended, basketball played the same role here. I met 90% of my friends friends through the park and we are, to this day, very good friends. They’re Hispanic, Chinese, Russian, and Black. Our main connection is our need to win, and our love for basketball. Also the same way Walker Park isn’t really the best field for cricket, Hans and his teammates do the best to enjoy their time together. This park as you can see in the picture is located in the middle of a hill, and the courts are all slanted. However, we all do whatever we can to enjoy the game and learned to adapt to this environment. Lastly, this is the place for me to get away from my family. The same way Hans strays away from Rachel and Jake and spends most of his time at the park, I believe that is what a bunch of us in this park do. I constantly see the same people coming here at 12pm and leaving at 7 to 8pm. Its our little escape, and in this park, we have formed a little family that respects the other person. I’ve learned about a range of cultures by hanging out in this park and I couldn’t imagine my life without all the time I’ve spent here.
Nice!