Daniel Onzo, 61, begins his night with a peaceful run along scenic Shore Road in Brooklyn, New York. After completing the four mile run, he makes the trek to Julius’, one of the oldest gay bars in the United States, where he works as a bartender. As a native to Sullivan Street, Onzo’s love for running began when he was a mere seven or eight years old. Being a hyperactive child, he was forced to find a productive way to release energy.
Most sports, however, were out of the question.
As he puts it, “I wasn’t a sports person, I didn’t like running around playing baseball, or football, or any of that crap.” So, he settled for running.
During his daily runs, Onzo opts out of the usual playlist of hip-hop or rap songs, and instead chooses to listen to audio recordings of one of the many languages he speaks. He uses this time to help him stay focused, and in turn, running gives Onzo the perfect opportunity to study his heart's desire: language.
Onzo has always been extraordinarily skilled when it comes to learning new languages; in fact, by the time he reached high school, he already had five languages under his belt -- about four more than most people. When questioned about his love for language, Onzo nonchalantly wiped his eyebrow and replied with, “Language gives you an insight into the culture”.
He describes the way one can obtain an intimate comprehension of the way people think simply through the words they speak. He personally knows Italian, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, Chinese (two dialects), and Amaharic, as well as being a perfectly fluent English speaker.
Not only has Onzo experienced the lingual side of the world, he has also experienced the world itself, having visited an incredible amount of countries, such as Egypt, Sudan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Java, Borneo, Bali, the Maldives, India, Panama, Costa Rica, and that’s not even the extent of it.
He had a soft smile that lingered on his face as he said, “I travel, that’s my goal in life.”
Onzo has upcoming plans for moving to Baguio City, Philippines which, according to him, is a city not unlike San Francisco. He intends to open his own bar, meaning we will very likely be hearing about a successful Asian bar called either, “Wrong Number” or “Oops, I’m Down”-- the jury is still out.
Onzo’s daily runs allow him to connect to the side of him that he loves the most. “I like people.” He says. “That’s why I perform, that’s why I work at a bar. I like people.”
By utilizing his linguistic and athletic capabilities, Onzo has found his personal meaning for life.
After long nights, he says he doesn’t even mind the daunting bus ride from Coney Island into the city. He looked directly at me as he said, “I have other goals that are better than getting more rich.”
