Therapy

In the south, there is a church on every corner. There are more denominations of Baptist that you could ever imagine. Here, there is a yoga/medition center/homepathic medicine/naturopathic medicine/massage therapy type place on every corner. Everyone is very touchy feely. You can find any kind of therapist you ever imagined...what exactly is a astrological therapist anyway????

I went to a therapist near my house. I thought it would help with the transition of the new move, new job, leaving my kids, my nephew getting killed in Iraq etc. At first I really liked her, although her office was in a house and it was decorated with Victorian furniture and she offered me tea at each session. I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland...with the Mad Hatter offering her tea. I was determined to keep an open mind. I told her about kayaking and mountain biking, etc. I told her how much I missed my kids. She seemed to relate to that, she had grown children who lived away also. Then she asked me if I had tried to connect to them through the earth...I told her I couldn't even get them connect with me through Facebook, so I doubted I could connect to them through the earth. I was just joking...I have an overdeveloped sense of humor. She was NOT amused. End of therapy...

People

One of the biggest cultural differences here are the people and how they interact. They have their good and bad points (doesn't everyone).

On the good side, the people here are very tolerant and accepting. I have never lived in a place where there was so much respect for diversity. When you go out to dinner, there are people of all races and ages together, eating and talking. It just doesn't matter what color you are or what age you are. You are respected for the individual you are. People stand up for what they believe, they know the issues, they are very involved in politics (both men and women). They allow women to be anything they want, there aren't the sexist norms that there tended to be in the south.

On the bad side, the people here can be "intellectual" snobs. Everyone is smart, well read, environmentally concious, politically correct, and preaches social justice. But it is interesting that if you argue against one of those things or might not be as literate, you aren't seen in such a favorable light. Everyone has a lot of money and lots of "designer" things...designer kids, designer dogs, designer clothes and houses, etc. Not much room for a "thrift shop" girl like myself to fit in. When you say something they don't agree with, they tend to be very sarcastic, but do it in a "smart" way where they are actually slamming you, but you are too stupid to get it.

It is hard to fit in and make friends here. In NC my friends came from all socioeconomic statuses. You'd bake something, invite people over for coffee and POOF... social hour (though with no mixing of sexes and little mixing of different ages). Here, people invite your for coffee, but they really don't mean to have you over, it is just what they say, kind of like southern women saying "bless your heart". Seattlelites say, "stop by for coffee." I wonder what would happen if anyone ever did...

Weather

One of the first things I noticed when I moved here was that every conversation sooner or later turned to the weather. It was August and sunny and beautiful. People would say to me, "we'll see how you are doing about March". I knew it was going to be rainy, but they were really beginning to unnerve me. The worst comment I heard was from a guy at a mountain biking class I was in. Tom said "Don't worry about the weather, the suicide rate peaks in February...if you make it through that, you are home free." I laughed.

The scary part is when I repeated that to other people, thinking it was a joke and laughed about it, they all said...No that is really true...but you'll be okay. WHAT???????

Sea Kayaking

One of the greatest things about this place is the abundance of water sources. I went kayaking out near Deception Pass. The waters of the Pacific are so different from the Atlantic. They were clear, cold, and filled with animal and plantlife. The bull kelp was absolutely spectacular. It was cloudy and started out rainy, but the weather turned and became sunny and the scenery and the animals just took my breath away. The porpoise, the whales, the sea otter, the starfish, the purple sea urchins...all of it was fantastic. This trip is was so helpful in combating the overwhelming homesickness I have had for NC. This is one of the things I moved to Seattle for. Now I just need to find the time and a bunch of money for my own equipment so I can do it more often.

The water is much colder than the Atlantic. You need a dry suit all the time (so much for getting a tan in the bikini). I found that I needed my dry suit. As I pulled off from a beach, in front of a bunch of tourists. I wasn't quite centered in the boat yet, lost my balance and turned it over while still on shore but in enough water that I went in. Nothing like practicing a wet exit while still on shore with a bunch of tourists looking on....

Beer Gardens

Every event here in Seattle is advertised as having a "beer garden". Everyone would say, oh go to such and such of an event, it will be fun...there will be a "beer garden". This left me wondering exactly what a beer garden is. I got to find out when I went to the roller derby championship match (yes the roller derby). My next door neighbor is on one of the teams of the Rat City Rollergirls, the local Seattle roller derby league. The roller derby in and of itself was quite an experience. It took place in an old airplane hanger at Magnuson Park. People of all walks of life, execs from Microsoft, soccer moms, tattooed interesting people, goth people, etc. all mixing together to watch girls skate around a track and plow into each other. There wasn't enough bleacher seating, so they had people sitting on the concrete floor also, basically to provide a cushion for when the players got into a shoving match and fell, the crowd was there to keep them from hitting concrete.

I get to the roller derby and I am trying to figure out what the beer garden is. I notice this one area where there are people packed in behind a chain link fence. I just sat on the floor with the crowd on the floor. After a few minutes the announcer yells out, "let's look over at the beer garden, is everyone having fun?" The people inside the chain link fence all cheered. Okay, so that question was answered.

What is a beer garden? An area behind a 6 foot high chain link fence, where if you have ID and money, you can sit inside this caged in area, drink beer, and become part of the entertainment for the non drinking people. I was reminded of a petting zoo....

The Adventure Begins...

In the summer of 2007, I decided to move after 25 years living in the same place, most of them in the same house even. I didn't just move...I MOVED. From rural eastern North Carolina to Seattle Washington. This blog is to help me remember the culture change that I am experiencing which at times is funny, sad, scary as hell, and altogether, one of the greatest adventures of my life...I feel like I am Alice in Wonderland and I just fell Down the Rabbit Hole