Friday, December 02, 2005

Bremerton: It's snowflakes falling on rooftops...not cedar.

What a beautiful day it was. the northwest has great things to offer, and though I've only been away in Korea just a few short months~ it's really taken just this short time to realize how good home really is!

I woke up to another cold, cloudy day. But the unusual part was that it started snowing just about 11am. I had crashed over at Juan's after a pretty fun day hanging out in Seattle with Juan and his roommate, Richard, and one of their Teletech co-workers, Mike. We had a blast over in Seattle, yesterday~ but I'll get back to that later. Juan and I decided to go down to our old hang-out, Cafe Destino's where my old friend, Jennifer, used to work. They made pretty good coffee~ 2 muffins and a chai tea and caramel latte 10 minutes later, and we went walking to the bus stop: he off to work, and I walking gingerly home to freshen' up and see the folks.

We walked past Evergreen park, after visiting a local all organic food store that recently opened up (it had been closed for some years when I left for Korea) and suddenly realized that the small drizzle had turned into light snow flakes. We looked at each other rather surprisingly, both stopping at the same time, racking our brains realizing that it was actually snowing and not raining! We then continued walking with a smile and giggled at the funny moment we shared. It was cold; he had the umbrella and I with my wet running shoes. We walked frozen in the cold, commenting on the luck we had that we left right at the exact time that it started snowing. I recalled how it had been years since I saw the snow like that tumble so gently in my hometown. The last time I remember, I was young and had made a snowman or two in my parents' front yard. What a memory; now I get to relive them during this blink-of-an-eye vacation!

Yesterday was a blast event too. I woke up half-awake and groggy from going to bed late Tuesday night (go figure; my body was still adjusting to the new time). Indeed, I went over to Juan and Richard's apartment about a quarter to 10 for plans we had to hang out in Seattle (just a clarification: me and Juan's old apartment for those who don't know but might care; and yes, Juan is my ex-turned-dear-friend. Richard is Juan's current roommate who'll take over the apartment when I return back to Korea, and Juan moves back home to the Dominican Republic. In a nutshell, this apartment change was one of the reasons I took this interlude and vacation back home!) So, back to the story~ Juan and I showed up after getting some groceries at the local Safeway. $12 bucks later, we met up with Richard who was just starting the German pancakes (more like cornbread!) that he promised to make us for breakfast; Mike was just about on his way to join up in the pre-Seattle breakfast.

It's rather funny~ the dynamic between the four of us folks and how the day played out in Seattle yesterday. Picture this: Me, 27, visiting from Korea, still adjusting to speaking English, just getting to know Juan's roommate Richard and their friend Mike; Juan, 24, Dominican, mutual friend and ex, the talkative one of the crew; Richard, 57, Juan's roommate and young, spirited soul bound to be full of fun and laughs; and Mike, 19, looking as if he's recovering from a night's drink out, thoughtful and playing the role of a wannabe graffiti artist.

Oh, don't worry! You'll get to see pictures of us soon and our trip pto Seattle; however, I need to finish the current CD on my Mavica camera before I upload them here. I've forgotten my USB cable back in Korea~ so I won't be able to upload often. We'll see :)

Anyway, in summary, we walked around, quarelled about taking the bus vs. walking to the Seattle center; we ate some awesome Thai food near the Seattle Art Institute near the eastern quarter of the Seattle waterfront; and last, accompanied Mike on his trip to check out the Seattle Art Institute to see if the graphic artist $70,000 program was right for him (that's a heck of a lot more than I remember when I was looking into AIS!!) We met some interesting people along the way, and basically enjoyed the evening.

For the day's closer, we decided to check out a Seattle SUPERSONICS GAME at the KEY ARENA at 7pm. The Sonics were playing the Charlotte Bobcats (unheard of by me, at least); nevertheless, the basketball game was a blast, except the moments I was nearly falling asleep... (Which, by the way, I'm not sure why; maybe it was the annoying highschoolers sitting behind us yelling, or the cheer of the crowd incidently heard during the half-time Sonics junior wheelchair basketball team play, or maybe, on last thought, the Sonics lady cheerleaderss shaking their blessings during the 20 second time-outs. Hmmm, I dunno. There could be any number of reasons!)

We enjoyed some expensive beer at the game, and later, while waiting for the 11 something ferry to come home, I enjoyed some wine at a ferry terminal restaurant while Richard bought Mike some tap beer that turned out yucky. I chose the wine because I figured it's harder to find bad wine than good beer. Interesting times.

Well, folks, it late here. Friday comes quickly, and I'm already heading into my 4th day back in Washington. I think the plan for tomorrow so far, is to call up my friend Stephanie and my grandma and see what their up to. Tomorrow night, Juan and his Teletech buddies are supposed to go out to Red Robin for chow in Silverdale, maybe afterwards going bowling. This is another 'we shall see' event. I've got a big checklist of this to do while I'm here.. and I'm just getting started! Oh, that includes maybe some 'cannot find in Korea but you can find in the States' shopping...

Night 'all! Maybe there'll be more lovely, flakey, so-like-home snow flakes in the mornin' :)
~ Chelsea

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