I was wondering whether I should mention the dramas surrounding my flight to Seattle as it's a little embarrassing. However I've decided that I shall as it's not that much of a big deal ... I missed my flight simply because I got the day wrong - ha. For some reason I had organised everything with everyone in terms of departures and arrivals ok but managed to book the wrong ticket. Awesome. Realised the night before and frantically had to buy another ticket for the next day. It cost a lot - that's all I'm going to say. Barring that though everything else went along smoothly.
Met Travis at his work and it was pretty much good times from then on! We immediately started drinking at a place overlooking the bay with what is apparently the coldest beer in Seattle. I've gotten into a terrible habit of not planning what I actually want to do in the cities I visit as I'm kind of just visiting to see friends, yeah?
(This is what I've travelled around the world to experience)
I was joking that the trees/foliage made it look like the town of Forks and that we were living in the world of Twilight. Turns out Forks isn't too far away but I didn't really have any interest in going. It was one of those moments when a joke is real and one is left feeling unsatisfied. On that note though we did go visit a Native Indian Reservation (Snoqualmie - heaps of fun to say with an American accent) where we saw a cool waterfall, stood around in the drizzle for a while and had a buffet lunch at the casino. Turns out that the stereotype of casinos on Indian land is totally true. I'm going to show you a picture of the waterfall and a plate of food from the buffet. The food was terrible.
How long are you supposed to look at waterfalls for? What is an acceptable time frame?
The weather started off being a bit sub par; It's cold here people. Did Kris bring a jacket? What, and carry it around the whole time? ... No. Kris did NOT bring a jacket. So I've been rocking the thermals which include my stripy tights and a turtle neck skivvy type thing. I feel like Steve Jobs. Funny though that the main competitor of Apple, Microsoft, is largely based in Seattle. They've got like a Microsoft TOWN where all the employees and their families live in a Microsoft community doing Microsofty things. The weather later cleared up though and I got some pretty cool views.
(Saw the Space Needle. Didn't go)
I was able to meet with a friend, Whitney, from Japan and some of Travis' friends which was really nice. We had a Russian themed dinner night, went to several bars and even had a dance party. Gotta say though that there is a noticeable Japanese presence here. It kind of caught me off guard to have to whip out my Japanese but it's been fun! Very なつかしい。 Everyone in the USA so far have been lovely. I've been telling all the touristy places that I've just enrolled in the nearby university but don't have my student card yet so I've been saving a few bucks from that.
Seattle is a super hilly city though. After a visit to the highest tower in Seattle I did a tour of the underground in a poetic fit of vertical differences. I won't go into details but after a massive fire, some of Seattle just kind of moved up a level. A building's first floors just became like a basement and the street was on the same level as the first floor. Turns out there was a lot of prostitution in those underground areas. Who knew?
(Closer to god)
(Some say you can still hear the prostitution)
So now I'm off to Portland to see Justin and Cara who are friends from Miami. Portland has been a big thing on my list as I've been watching a show called Portlandia aaand I'm pretty sure it's super accurate. Tell me what you think.
I'll let you know. Until next time!
(I'm collecting these public transport cards like crazzzy.)
(All of them are better than Myki)
