Wow, I really need to stop disappearing for months at a time. But what can I say, I've been busy. The last time I wrote on here, I was just arriving in Seattle. It's now...5 months later. How's it been? Well, it's been quite a story, but I think I've decided: I will be staying in Seattle for a loooong time :-)
When I first got here, however, it was a bit of a different story. It was always dark and cloudy. It was cooler than California by a ton. I started grad school and didn't know anybody. My housing situ wasn't the best. After a few weeks, I was beginning to think I made a serious mistake. But, as with San Jose, I just told myself these things take time. I mean, this is the second time I've uprooted myself, left all my friends and changed states; it's not easy.
However, after living here a couple months, I ABSOLUTELY love it! And while many people (especially Californians) think I'm crazy, I can't really find much that I dislike. I think it's because Seattle reminds me a lot of the Midwest, just not with tons of snow and humidity. That's fine with me :-) I've come here a few times before this, and loved it each time.
I can now truly say I will be living in Washington for the near future and that I'm probably not heading back to CA. Of course, I really do miss everyone down in the Bay, and it's still been rough meeting people. Still, it's only a few hours by plane, so I'll be visiting a lot; heck, I'll be there in 3 weeks :-)
So what's new? The short version: I'm in grad school, I TA, I'm (still) writing my novel, I'm working on starting a company, I'm starting a new volunteer group like SVV (yay!), I'm dating, and I'll be starting an internship for 6 months in March...MAN, a lot can happen even over a few short months!
As always, I have a list of things I love about Seattle. Without further ado, here we go:
- Meeting Danielle, an awesome girl who doesn't make fun of my awkwardness :-)
- And Sydnie, the best roomie EVER
- Snow days
- "Pop" instead of "soda"
- Underwater freeways
- Jimmy Johns
- Electric busses
- Feeling like I live in a NW version of SF
- Gay marriage
- Bike trails everywhere!
- Cozy, cool days
- Coffee shops
- T smoked salmon guy
- Yay Ballard!
- Rainy bike rides
- UW (Go Huskies!)
- Roundabouts
- Ferry rides
- Farmers markets
- Driving the viaduct
- C89.5, dance music 24/7 and no commercials!
- TAing
- Seeing Mt. Rainer while walking to the EEB
- Draw bridges
- Costco, Starbucks, McCormick, and Amazon
- Fremont Troll
- Gasworks Park
- Viewing downtown from West Seattle
- Canada
- Entrepreneurship
- PDX and VC in under 3 hours
- "Fish" Philosophy
- Duck Boats
- Uwajimaya
- Locks
- Lucid Jazz Lounge
- The "Have a great day" guy by Safeway
- Riding the SLUT
- 13 Coins in the middle of night
- Bubble Tea
- Snowshoeing
- Researching
- Space Needle
- The Erotic Bakery (still need to go)
- Food trucks randomly popping up
- Crisp, clear days
- Wearing layers
- 24 hour supermarkets
- Skateboarders w/ dogs
- Onebusaway
- Christmas lights on cranes and radio towers
- Biking under bridges
- Seatac runway lights
- Sunny days
- Dogs, dogs, dogs!
- Steep hills
- Green grass and green beliefs
- Acting too cool for an umbrella
- Green Tortoise
- Bus tunnels
- Olympic National Park
- People who can drive
- Food that's horrible for you
- Breaking the Seattle Ice
- Having a Frys
- Strolling Pike & Pine
- Randomly meeting people in town
- Living in a small city with a big city feel
- Fresh seafood
- Alaskans
- Underground Tour
- Following speed limits
- Parallel parking
- Thanksgiving bar hopping
- Indie music
- Midwest town with a west coast feel
- Punks
- Candycane stop signs
- Street art at Tubs
- Houses in the hills
- The one Polish restaurant
- Green and muddy trails
Whew! I think that about does it, and it's not even a year in haha. It's a great place, and sadly Seattle often keeps me too busy to blog BUT I promise to write an update at some point.
The quarter's almost over and that means the Bay Area is next, followed by my internship. I can't wait! I'll see y'all down there and to my readers, stay classy 8-)
-StM
