Leaving on a jet plane

I lend a suitcase for a trip to Seattle. An orange and cute suitcase was delivered and I packed my stuff in it. Though only half of the space was occupied, it was as much as 17 kg in total. It means I have room for only 6kg of souvenirs.

The flight was actually terrible in that it was shaking all the time. I could sleep only for 2 hours during the night flight and the day just started again when we arrived at Seattle. It was OK for me, though maybe because I used to staying up late.

15-year-old boy was sitting next to me. He was returning to Seattle from a short exchange programme held in Tokyo. He knew some Japanese and he read Japanese comic "Bleach". He was reading a book about "Otaku" too and he even took some notes. oh... The girl who was sitting the opposite side was 17 years old and she was returning to Seattle too. She said he had an ankle and a cousin in Tokyo and she visited them for a week. We talked about the difference between Seattle and Tokyo. For example, people in Tokyo walk very fast, likes shopping, and a lot of women wear high-heels, which American women usually do not wear. She told me a lot of things about Seattle, too and she even gave me some coins to make a phone call at the payphone. I was so surprised to her kindness and I really liked that attitude.

A friend of the person who lends me her room picked me up at the airport and took me to the house. She gave a quick tour of whole house, like how to use the kitchen, how to do the laundry, and how to get to the university. One of funny things is that I got on her car on the left side, which has a driver's seat. I knew that everything is opposite when it comes to cars, but I still did it. It also takes some time to get used to the fact that cars go on the right side of the road. Anyway, she was very nice. She even took me to a bookstore where we can get free Wi-Fi just to make sure the bus route. Without her, my 1st day in Seattle would have been so difficult. I thank her very much for her time!

There are a lot of nice cafes and restaurants around my house. As you might know, Seattle is famous for coffee shops like Starbucks, Tully's, and Seattle's best coffee. There are many other kinds of cafes along the street and you frequently see people with paper cups of coffee everywhere.

I went to downtown in the evening by bus. Bus drivers are also very friendly; they ask every passenger how they are doing. There are so many shops in downtown. The roads are all in gridlike fashion, so it is rather easy to find what we want to see. The town and the road seemed to be built artificially. In other words, it was designed to be convenient for human. It is how this City, or this country, developed.

The market had a lively atmosphere. In "Pike Place Fish", they sell fish with a loud voice and they throw the fish to their customer! The store was always crowded. The flower shops were also nice. They sell rather cheap bunches of flower.

So many things to write on the 1st day. It is because of the time difference. I left Japan on 23rd, took a night flight, and 23rd started again just after I arrived. I know it is weird to say that "day" had 48 hours, but it actually did.