Before getting started, let’s review what we have learned about Kingston so far.
Kingston is a very old settlement on Route 27. Drive along Route 27 the the west, one can arrive at Princeton University; far far away the the East, one can eventually arrive in New York. The western boundary of Kingston is defined by the D&R Canal, which once brought prosperity to Kingston, until its closure in 1933.
Today, I’m going to explore the north of Kingston.
According to Google map, Route 27 itself is the northern boundary of Kingston.
Well, then I’m done! How surprising!
In Kingston, all the facilities supporting daily life are seated along Route 27. On the northern bank of the road, there are the post office, an Italian deli/grocery store, an American deli, an Indian bar/restaurant, a pancake house, a barber shop, a hair salon, and even a pet grooming salon.
If one doesn’t mind eating out, or cooking with Italian ingredient everyday, living in Kingston is in fact convenient enough. Food, barber shop, plus daily supplies ordered from Amazon, I believe these elements are sufficient for one to lead a decent life.
It would be outrageously boring if I just end here.
So I decided to take a walk along Laurel Avenue, the street between the two photos above, to find out what lies in the north, regardless of the boundary defined by Google map.
Hmm… Not much. There are just houses, and more houses.
What I like about American suburb is that (almost) every house is uniquely designed. One house looks like a barn, another looks European hut in the forest, still another looks like an stern archive. Even if two houses are of the same structure, it’s very unlikely that they also have the same material as their outer walls.
Even houses of a simple design can be exuberant with some surprising elements, such as a porch with Greece-like columns, a bright red door, or a fence which gives the house a hue of a secret garden. Simply put, these houses are aesthetically pleasurable to look at.
Further down Laurel Avenue, I saw something different from residential houses.
A K-8 school.
The building itself doesn’t differ a lot from what I have known about American schools: a compact main building, and a huge playground.
It’s worth noting that in comparison with an urban or suburban elementary school (grade 1-6) in Taiwan, an American K-8 school enrolls students across a wider span of age, but the number of students is definitely fewer, judging from the size of the building.
In this setting, the teacher-to-student or resource-to-student ratio must be higher in an American school than in a Taiwanese school. In American education ethos, students are treated as independent adventurers, exploring their own futures with occasional help from teachers; whereas in Taiwan, schools are like factories, molding and “producing” batch after batch of “educated” students.
I think this difference explains why, compared with a Taiwanese kid, an American kid not only possesses multiple talents, but actually enjoying the talents that s/he practices. Because s/he is not forced to acquire these talents in order to compete with other kids, but to color his/her own life.
What’ more, this school on Laurel Avenue is not just a normal K-8 school, but a Chinese-English bilingual school. That’s cool! I have seen many Asian faces in Princeton, and know that many Asian families do live in New Jersey. But I didn’t expect that the population, not Asian in general, but Chinese and Taiwanese, is numerous enough to have a school with Chinese education program!
Ambling along the campus, I saw a sign:
“Franklin Township preserved open space”
OK, great, then I was indeed not in Kingston anymore. Time to go back.
Back on Route 27, I noticed a new sign set up by the bus stop:
A Chinese New Year party held by the bilingual school? That’s even more cool!
