Nothing like trying to recount a summer in the USA with your Korean boyfriend who had never before been, 4 months after doing so, but here goes nothing. Working at an International school comes with many ups and downs but by far the greatest perk of all is the extensive vacation time. School lets out for summer similar to the Western calendar, which means we had no trouble scheduling an extensive trip to the USA, visit family and explore for nearly two months. Having never been before I wanted to introduce my boyfriend to more than beer, cheese and sausage in Wisconsin, so an arrival in Seattle felt like the easiest entry point and start to our vacation. After a long flight, quick layover in Tokyo and not so much sleep on the plane, we arrived in the motherland ready for an adventure. Well, as soon as Seohui got through immigration, a bit more challenging than he had hoped. I do often wonder how much the TSA agents take the piss out of those in line, and the fact that this one was very skeptical about my exists and Seohuis purpose of visit meant he was still shaking by the time he did make it through. Our first day was very simple, taking the train into the city, locating our AirBnB, showering, napping, eating and more sleeping. We were not very productive, but that was not to say that we weren't thrilled to be there, and I knew that the following few days, if not weeks, would have plenty in store for us. Jetlag unfortunately bit me in the @$$ the first night, and I laid awake for hours, wathing Seohui sleep like a peaceful baby. Thankfully I was functioning the next morning, and after a simple breakfast at home (our small attempt to save money after realizing how much eating out would cost us) we caught a bus to the city, ready for a morning of playing tourists. We went to the most obvious destination to begin our day, and the morning spent at Pikes Place Market did not disappoint. My first priority was coffee, which was not difficult to find in the 'world center' of such. We wandered around the market, checking out different stores, the view and of course the iconic 'gum wall' before venturing to Pikes Place Chowder for an unnecessarily large bread bowl filled with goodness. By the time we were done eating we were more or less done with the city, which was great seeing as it was just about time to go pick up our Turo rental and explore further abroad. I had considered stopping by the needle, but after doing one loop around the surrounding streets with absolutely no parking, we decided that a view from the window would suffice. We stopped briefly at the Olympic Sculpture park, but were really hungry for more nature so we continued North to Discovery Park. I honeslty had low expectations for a park so close to the city, but was plesantly surprised by the diversity within the park. Despite wearing shoes ill equipped for hiking I was happy to take the lighthouse trail through the park and down to the coast. Still tired from my lack of sleep the previous evening, we decided to stop by the local market before returning home for the night. I guess you could call us old and boring, skipping any night life for our first two days in the USA, but I'm just happy I found someone who is equally content with staying home as I am. Unfortunately, jetlag caught us both that evening and we spent the wee hours of the morning brainstorming future business ideas, Korea food truck? Restaurant? all sounded like great ideas at 2am. Eventually we fell back asleep and woke hours later ready to head east to see what we really came for, the mountains and nature of Washington. There are endless options for where to go hiking in the outskirts of Seattle, but thanks to the advice of a friend we made an easy decision and drove a few hours to Rattlesnake Ledge. I suspected there would be a lot of people there, with its relatively close proximity to the city and moderate difficulty, and the parking lot confirmed this to be true. The hike itself was enjoyable, mostly under shade and offering a diversity of nature, but the number of people we had to share the trail with was less appealing. Thankfully the views were worth all the effort, especially after hiking past the lookout where most tourists call it quits. We continued up the mountain to a further viewpoint and found a peaceful outlook to call our very own. Honestly I'm grateful to have found a partner who loves hiking, eating and hanging out at home being boring, it's the perfect balance of things I enjoy and that fill my soul. We had packed some snacks for the hike, half of which we finished at the top while the other half remained with us until we decended to the lake below, enjoying a picnic before moving on to our next location. We had tentative plans to meet up with my friend that evening for dinner, giving us just enough time to stop by Snoqualmie Falls on our way. I'm personally not a huge fan of waterfalls, generally failing to see what sets one apart from another, but these were impressive nonetheless. There are two options for viewing the falls and I figured as long as we were making the stop, we may as well hike to the lower platform. Obviously this would have been more fun had we not just climbed a mountain, but I'm still glad we put in the effort to see a different view. Thankfully, my friend Jack, someone I had met during my time in Americorps was able to get off work early and invited us to his house which was conveniently on the way home from the falls. By the time we got there the sun was hanging low in the sky, a perfect backdrop to the amazing view from my friends enormous back yard. Side note: I do not have a super independently wealthy friend with property outside Seattle, rather a lucky friend with a friend who had family land they were able to live on. We decided to drive into Redmond for dinner, and spent a stupid amount of money on some good mexican food for dinner. Our night ended back at my friends in the aforementioned back yard, accompanied with beers, lawn games, and my friend showing off his stupidly big gun. I don't know if I could have put a more American ending on our first few days in the US for Seohui. As much as we were enjoying these first few days, we were both ready to head east, and had a long journey ahead of us for doing so. 42+ hours by train long.
2 Comments
Renee Boedecker
11/29/2023 11:26:43 am
Another GREAT story of you life of adventures. I never get tired of reading these posts!!! Love you, love your life. Mom
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Jamaal
1/17/2024 12:43:14 pm
I am extremely happy for you.
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North AmericaWASHINGTONWashington is one of those states that is often overshadowded by its largest city. Chicago > Illinois, LA > California, and Seattle > Washington. Although the fact of the matter is that in all of the above examples, the outskirts of the cites are often much more rewarding than what lies within. ArchivesCategories |