Hanging around with friends

It was again a very very long day. It is a typical Friday, for the young and pretty enjoyable. In the class we took turns in telling an anecdote, and knew some basic history of Seattle. And then I went to Fremont area with my classmates, where there were a lot of cute and artistic buildings. Then we took a water taxi heading to Alki beach, from where we were able to see the beautiful scenery of downtown Seattle. At night one of my roommate came back from Peru, so we went to a bar together.

We really spoke English a lot today, which was surprising for me. For us Japanese, who are majority of our class, it is rather inconvenient and strange to talk to Japanese in English. I know how it feels and think it is natural. However, now I am in America in order to improve my language skill. I wished I were a minority like students from Korea, Taiwan or Saudi Arabia so that I speak English all the time to communicate with Japanese. Fortunately, some Japanese students were keen to learn English, so we are good friends never letting ourselves rely on Japanese.

One of my friend, Kahori, is very energetic to brush up her English. She stayed in Canada for 3 months last year, but she spent most of the time speaking in Japanese since her roommate was Japanese, too. She regretted it so much that she decided not to speak Japanese when she is in Seattle. I have never heard her speak Japanese yet, which I found honorable. Her English is actually very good, especially in the vocabulary, so I wonder why she is in the 2nd highest class.

The first US settlers found Seattle in 1851, which is quite late in comparison with other cities like New York found in 1624. Seattle is still a young city. The first industry was fishing and logging as Seattle faces the seashore and have a plenty of big trees, mainly cedar. There was a gold rush in San Francisco, and many people went there trying to be rich. They need houses so there were high demand for wood. It developed forestry in Seattle and the engineering to build a canal to carry the logs or lumbers. It is interesting to know how the city developed.

Fremont was awesome; I definitely go over there again. My roommate told me the best sandwich shops in there, so I will go and eat the sandwich next time. The look and the atmosphere of that area were sophisticated.

Water taxi was awesome. The fare is quite cheap, so it is definitely an indispensable public transportation for the locals. From Alki beach, we could see the beautiful view of downtown Seattle. It would have been better if we could see the sunset but unfortunately it was cloudy. We had a lot of fun.

Next weekend I am planning to go to Victoria, Canada. I wonder why I cannot use my credit card online, so I cannot make a reservation for anything on the Internet. It is very inconvenient for me but I had to make a phone call to book the boat and the hotel. The operator was so kind that he spoke slowly for me and tried to understand well my English. I successfully booked it at last, and it made me more confident. I had a feeling of achievement. The more you practice, the better you get.

I tried Fish and chips for the first time in this evening. It is a very famous seafood in Seattle. Fish and chips are usually made from cod fish. The smallest serving was yet too big for me, so I shared one with my friend. It was tasty.

Then I went to waterfront area, walking straight up to north from downtown, to pay the ferry fare I just booked. The staff there was so nice and kind. He printed out my itinerary for the trip. I just wanted to check the spelling of my name since the staff in custom would see my passport in Canada. The staff said, however, they would check my passport, but not my ticket. So my name could be John Smith on the ticket He was so funny. I really like his sense of humor.

On the way to home, it drizzled when I was on a bus. A man sitting in front of me talked to me looking outside the window. "If it rains on evening, it will be sunny in the following day", said he. I told him that I did not know that and then he told me about himself. He is from Italy working at the Sea-Tac airport, and studies business online at night. He wakes up at 2 in the morning and catches the first bus at 3 to Tacoma, and starts working at 4. He must be very hardworking. It made me happy that I had a short conversation for a while with someone who lives in the same city. People are truly very friendly here.

One of my roommate who just came back from Peru, took me to a bar with her friends. The bar was full of people talking , drinking and laughing. Fortunately, smoking was prohibited in the bar! In Washington state, smoking inside is illegal. I wish nobody would smoke in Japanese bars too. The bar was nice. I drank soda and it was free. They sometimes do that, to a designated drivers or newcomers.