Beards, Berries, and Bowties

I have been in the Northwest for a week now. Whew! What a week! All sorts of things have been happening and life has been busy! Dad and Little Brother left to go back home on Tuesday, but Mom will be staying for an extra week to help me out and to make sure I’m okay. The original plan was for them all to head back on Monday, but things got switched up a bit after the accident.

*I have moved into the house that I’m sharing with four other girls.

*I’ve seen the school and my new classroom and delivered my classroom goods to the school.

*Before Dad left he helped me find another car. Poor little car… it seems like a good car and I’m comfortable driving it, but I am just not loving it so much. I don’t even have the heart to name it.

*We’ve done some shopping at Ross, Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Fred Meyer, and Top Foods. There are a lot of options for grocery shopping in Seattle!

*One of my roommates took me and my mom on a short tour of the Seattle area. I didn’t have my camera with me, so these phone shots will have to do for now…

Puget Sound

Skyline and Space Needle

*I have attended a conference in Oregon (pronounced “or-ih-ghin”. Kind of as if you were saying “organ” with a little hiccup between the two syllables) for Classical Christian schools (actually am on my way home right now!). Oregon is beautiful. Maybe I like it because as I’m driving through it is all green with beautiful trees, hills, and some mountains, but at the same time I’m seeing fields that look similar to Indiana fields. I think the trees and fields make it feel a little bit like home (aka: Indiana). I could easily live in Oregon.

I’ve noticed some interesting things about the Northwest. I’ll share what I’ve observed so far, but please understand, these are huge generalizations drawn from minute observation. ;)

*”Beards” appear to be a thing. I’ve noticed a lot of men seem to wear them.

*”Bowties” also appear to be a thing. I’ve observed that many men in formal dress wear bowties.

*I knew that “being green” would be a thing before I moved here, but boy! Is it ever a big deal!

àShopping bags are mostly paper but you are strongly encouraged to bring your own, reusable bag. At one store we went to (I think Fred Meyer’s?), you had a choice to forgo the bag for your produce or you could place it in a small brown paper bag.

àAnother “green” thing that the Seattle area does (I’m not sure about the rest of Washington), is that they require recycling AND composting. By the road you have a trash bin, recycling bin, and a food and yard compost bin.

àPublic transportation and carpooling is also strongly encouraged.

àEmissions tests are required for your cars. In fact, I found out that the Washington emission testing is so strict that if you move to another state and get license plates/registration in the new state, the new state will most likely just accept the Washington emissions test in place of their own because the Washington test is so strict.

*Hondas and Toyotas are the best/favorite cars in this area and hold their market value really well. (Apparently they hold their value better here than in many other states, and so they tend to be more expensive here.) The next most popular car is the Subaru. Seriously. They are All. Over. The. Place. All over.

* The Northwest is all about buying locally. There are all sorts of signs up in the store, on billboards, in restaurants, and just about anywhere else. “Buy local!” “Support Northwest farmers!” “We support Northwest agriculture!” “Buy from your local farmers!” I thought maybe it was just a Seattle thing, but when I visited Oregon this week I found the same thing.

*I had never heard of a marionberry before. I have now. Apparently they are only grown in the Northwest. So, with all of the supporting of the Northwest agriculture, they are found everywhere in the form of jellies and jams, pies, ice cream flavors, scones, muffins, cookies, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find them paired with meat dishes too.

*People are really friendly here. Everyone returns my smile if they haven’t smiled first. Greetings between strangers are common, and many times people will even ask how your day is going. The Midwest is a friendly place too, but so far I have found the Northwest people to be just as friendly and sometimes friendlier. The pace of life seems to be quick, but not frantic, and people still have time to be human.

Each day brings new sights, sounds and smells. I’m enjoying every minute. I miss my Indiana folks, but am starting to put down little rootlets here in the Northwest.