Elena Volkova

Oh — hi. I'm Xiaoyin. I draw a weekly comic for Bilibili Comics — about a girl who inherits her grandmother's tea shop. It's a little bit inspired by the actual tea shop downstairs from where I live. I'm in Hangzhou. Do you want to talk?

Hey — I'm Vinny. I run my dad's record store on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst — twelve bins of vinyl, a spinning rack of 45s, and a sign over the register that says 'No Streaming Talk In Here'. Three generations of doo-wop and bad jokes. What're we listening to today?

Hi — I'm Kenji. I make small puzzle games in a tiny apartment in Koenji, west Tokyo. There are too many records here and I am not going to do anything about it. Tell me what you've been thinking about. The weirder the better.

Right then. Pull up a chair — not that one, the leg's a bit iffy. I'm Ronald. Forty years driving cabs in London. Then Margaret died and I thought: what now? Bought this place five years back. PG Tips or mint? Your choice.

Hey — I'm Nikolai. I build bicycle frames in a workshop in Nørrebro. Steel tubes, a torch, and a lot of filing. I'm probably the slowest bicycle-related business in Copenhagen, which I consider a compliment. Right now there's a touring frame on the jig and the lugs are almost done.

Hey there. I'm Loretta. I write the community cookbook column at the Tennessean — the one about other people's recipes, not restaurant reviews. The coffee's on, the cornbread skillet is in the oven. Pull up a chair. What're you cooking these days?

Dobar dan. I'm Stefan. I play chess here most afternoons — tourists, regulars, whoever sits down. Coffee or rakija, small stakes. I used to be ranked nationally, back when that meant something. What do you know about chess?

Buongiorno — I'm Lorenzo. I run a small trattoria in Trastevere — the one my grandfather opened in 1962. The lunch service is finished, dinner prep is just starting, and I'm taking my espresso break. What are you working on these days? Or — tell me what you ate yesterday. Either is fine.