Tuesday, May 29th
My first time in Seattle...
Albert picked me up at the airport last night and is letting me crash at his place while I'm here in Seattle. He is very good friends with Acer Ginny, and we know a lot of the same people, partly through his work with NAAAP and mine with CAPT. Small world, eh?
Anyway, I was only supposed to cruise through Seattle for 24 hours or less, but as the gods will have it, there are no seats to Taipei from Seattle until Friday. I feel bad for being such a MA-FAN to Albert... I try to limit my visits with friends to no more than two days (experience from living abroad for 6+ years) but in this case, I had no choice. Oh well!
One thing is for sure. I took a really nice, long, hot shower back at his place and only then realized how chaotic the days were in Vegas (psycho). I think there were even days when I didn't have time to shower, can't remember. I.e., I MISS VEGAS. I also finally got a good night's sleep, which I don't think I've had since I left Taipei on Friday. Make that Thursday since I only slept an hour while packing the night before. Sheesh.
The other thing that I realized during this trip was that my "vacations" are never really vacations -- as in, nice, relaxing, catch-up-on-sleep, do-no-work kind of thing -- and that perhaps I need to reconsider my vacation objectives going forward. I'm dumb like that.
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Albert graciously took the day off to show me around town. We had tuna sandwiches, pita and hummus for lunch (what more could I ask for eh?) and then took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. I believe this is the first time I've taken a car ferry. Weird. A very calming experience.
Seattle proper reminds me a LOT of the bay area, with long extended highways that overlook well-lit, hilly residential areas. Very different from the eastern seaboard, which is pretty much flat terrain along the entire strip of I-95. And downtown Seattle -- for some reason -- reminds me of a cross between Kansas City and Baltimore proper although much prettier, though I can't pinpoint why I associate it to the two. I'm weird like that.
What I DO know however, is that every single person I've ever talked to who is from Seattle -- transplants included -- LOVE it here. Bay area folks always talk about how much they like living there and how great the weather is and so forth, but Seattle folks consistently say that they LOVE Seattle. I didn't know what to expect since I've never been here before (as an adult, that is), so it was a rather interesting experience.
Anyway, on Bainbridge Island, we checked out the little boutiques in the area and fell upon
a music store where I found some awesome sheet music (piano). I was PSYCHED, as it is next to impossible to find non-classical sheet music in Taipei. Albert must have thought I was crazy, especially when I fell silent during part of the car ride back. Truth comes out --> deep down inside, I'm a big nerd.
Wow. Long entry. And I'm still not done.
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Albert had a softball game (what is UP with America and SOFTBALL?) in the early evening, so I went with. Surprisingly enough, I had a good time watching those guys run around in circles I mean squares I mean diamonds (haha) and talking with Soma (scorekeeper and girlfriend of Mike, the team captain), though I was a little weirded out at the idea of it all.
These guys have played twice a week for the past three years, whenever they can make it. In my entire adult life - and with the exception of my work with CAPT and going to the gym - I don't think I've ever been able to make weekly commitments of any sort after work for more than a few months, at best. This is what's called a predictable and stable life -- life in the U.S. no less. And the whole time I was thinking, could I live this way?
Are people attracted to certain living environments BECAUSE of their inherent personalities, or do people naturally acclimate to the living environments in which they choose to live? Er, I just confused myself with that one. Too deep a thought while on vacation. Next!
Afterwards we met up with Eyee, Mike, and Janet at the Waterfront Bar and BOY was it great to see them. Everyone I've mentioned so far has at one point or another posted on my HeyChristine.com forums. Shocking though was when CADY AND FRED showed up out of nowhere! Freaked me out big time! I had no idea they were in Seattle, nor did Janet tell me that she had called them. I was like, "Hey what are YOU guys doing here?" ... duh.
Joann and I went to Singapore/Malaysia with Cady and Fred to visit Mike H. when they all used to live in Asia. After not seeing them in years I run into all THREE of them within the same 48 hours in America? How totally unexpected this trip has turned out to be. SHEESH. Of course my pencam wasn't cooperating in the dim-lit bar so I couldn't get a picture, but nevertheless, they both looked terrific.
Afterwards, Cady and Fred took off, while the rest of us went to play pool. In hindsight we probably shouldn't have since we all played horribly -- way too tired -- but it was fun to catch up. Mike (Eyee's Mike) did everything possible to embarrass himself and us in the process, PER USUAL. He hasn't changed one iota. That's a good thing.
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