It was a classic night at college; no sleep, and a whole lotta coffee. Of course, by the time I was in bed my roommates managed to keep me up enough that I decided to forego sleep altogether.
Around 6am, I gave up trying to get more shut eye and, instead, wrapped myself with layers and layers and went out to get a cup of burned black coffee at McDonald’s or something. I turned just around the first corner down the street from apartment. This was when I ran into my wonderland: Starbucks of Dinkytown.
I didn't hesitate for a second in making my decision to walk promptly in. Starbucks has been my bae ever since it first touched my lips at the tender age of 15. Starbucks coffee always evokes a bit of nostalgia for me, and reminds me of my home back in South Korea.
Especially during the holiday season, I used to take a walk to the west side of Seoul. I'd traverse the busy streets, with my shabby iPod shuffle in hand and on blast, and end my adventure at a two-story Starbucks located just around the corner from one of the most energetic and exciting places in the city.
Trips to Starbucks have become a ritualistic way to ease my mind and find some comfort. I almost always make a trip there on holidays or my birthday as I am often forced to spend them away from my family. Although things may be drastically different in the country that I come from, and I may be incredibly far away from it, Starbucks always tastes just the same.
Upon entering, three fairy godmother-like baristas surrounded me and cheered out, “The first customer of the Dinkytown Starbucks!” They woke up my soul with the aromatic scent of exotically sourced and freshly roasted coffee beans. I made sure this special moment of my life was to be forever memorialized, and did this in the most millennial way possible: I posted it to Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.
Keenan, the recently promoted manager for the new store, kindly wrote my name on the venti soy mocha, and followed this by scrawling the most rewarding title next to it: "The First Customer of Dinkytown Starbucks." After I finished the first cup of Dinkytown Starbucks, I made sure to wash it gently and set aside for careful preservation in my apartment.
Over the last year, several new commercial features have been added here in Dinkytown, and Starbucks is the newest addition. Whether you agree or disagree with it's latest location, it is is the new “it place” in our Dinkytown. Anytime I'm there, I'm guaranteed to run into at least a few people I know.
Besides the coffee, the opening of a new Starbucks store in Dinkytown adds to the roster of awesome places to study during finals, and conduct coffee meetings and brunches alike. Check it out, ladies and gents. Your lazy Sunday fix of a grande-sized skinny non-fat mocha is now even closer! You know what that means...you don't have to walk as far in the freezing Minnesota cold.
(Starbucks at Dinkytown opens 5am to 11pm everyday.)
