| p>Being a novice of the Internet and realms of | | | | world was to be in the North of London in a |
| technology in general, the idea of hanging out in an | | | | suburb called Neesdon or 'Sneezdon' as the Aussie |
| Internet café scared me about as much | | | | mates I met up with liked to call it. Here, the |
| as it used to when I first sat in front a computer | | | | Café was totally different from the |
| trying to figure out how to turn the thing on. | | | | previous one and I assume -I don't like to |
| Pictures of super-obese, nerdy, snotty-nosed | | | | assume-that like people, each café is an |
| tech-heads filled my head as well as visions of | | | | individual entity with both positive and negative |
| stagnant, sterile rooms crammed with blue | | | | traits as well as bonuses and letdowns. This |
| screens flashing the latest comic heroes and teen | | | | 'café' was in the back of a mobile (cellular) |
| idols. Well, I just went on a trip to several | | | | phone shop and was just a tiny room with a |
| countries around the world and I ventured into | | | | handful of computers that no one else seemed to |
| this unknown sector, as I wanted to keep in | | | | be interested in, everyone looked more focused |
| touch with people back home. Although I | | | | on phones, but I have a weird feeling they might |
| admittedly didn't visit many of these cafes (I | | | | have been dealing something else 'under the |
| needed a break from the computer worlds of | | | | counter' that was sparking hot interest. |
| school and work), the few I did see were quite | | | | We paid 1 pound (approx. $1.75U.S.) for an hour. |
| different from what I expected. | | | | Three of us walked in and we sat down at two |
| First stop was a café in Prague, Czech | | | | computers, I think this was probably disallowed |
| Republic. This was hidden down an alley but was | | | | but again no one was paying any attention to us. |
| next to restaurant so it seemed safe enough. I | | | | My friend said he had been to this particular |
| paid the equivalent of just over $1.00 U.S. for a | | | | café a few times previously as he was |
| half hour on the machine-not too bad eh? Now I | | | | living in the area for a year, and had seen and |
| don't know if I was attacked by an evil spirit or | | | | experienced some undesirable situations. One day |
| just had something with my brain that day, but | | | | he believes he saw a cannabis deal go down, and |
| for some reason it took 25 minutes to just get | | | | on another occasion a drunken man came in and |
| into my hotmail! First of all, the keyboard was | | | | told him he didn't like the look of him and would |
| different, and in weird ways I tell you. If you hit | | | | he go outside for a fight? The confrontation |
| the Y key it came out as a Z and vice versa. I | | | | dissipated with the use of calm communication but |
| was surprised later in London that their keyboard | | | | you can imagine that this type of Internet |
| was also different from the ones' back home. I | | | | café would be rated poorly on a world |
| thought keyboards were universally the same | | | | standard. So, beware where you enter the virtual |
| around the planet! I finally got into my hotmail, | | | | world my friends, reality may just arrive to |
| sent a one sentence email and left. Looking | | | | smash you in the face! |
| around me as I departed I saw that most of the | | | | In the end, I think like all things in life these |
| people using computers were so-called normal | | | | Internet cafes need to be approached with |
| folks like myself, mainly backpackers and tourists, | | | | optimism and hope, as one never truly knows |
| but also businessmen etc. If I had more patience | | | | what there is to offer in a new experience. I |
| that day it probably would have been a nice | | | | imagine that there is a multitude of different |
| atmosphere to be part of, I saw that they | | | | types of cafes-some you may even deem as |
| served coffee and tea, but as I was in a beautiful | | | | cool places to gravitate. If strange and twisted is |
| foreign place I needed to get out under the Sun | | | | what you look for, or a common normality, I |
| amidst the real action. | | | | believe both can be found in the cafes of the |
| My other main experience in the public Internet | | | | future. |