Midwesterner

I have arrived safely in Seattle.  A few interesting moments aside, it was a fairly uneventful journey.  I must also add that 4:30 a.m. seen from the other side, without the aid of caffeine is not a pleasant experience.   I was also starting to have a panic attack on the way to the airport.  My heart was pounding and it felt like I couldn’t completely catch my breath.  I was having my freak out but luckily, there was pharmaceutical intervention in my carry-on.  Xanax!!!  That allowed the rest of the day to be handled with a sense of serene calm and a hazy fog that made sleep come like warm embrace.  Needless to say, that with a bit of shut eye, the day seems much brighter.  While we were on the flight from Memphis to Seattle, there was a fantastic moment.  The ridiculous safety briefings do nothing to educate me, only to remind me of Fight Club.  Well, the stewardess was holding up the little seat belt demo thingy with a shit-eating grin on her face, as I’m certain is required by Delta Airlines.  She did the little belt release thing and snapped it on her finger.  She had a look of horror on her face, partly due to the pain and shock but mostly due to embarrassment.  It was really funny to watch.  Then, after we had disembarked at SeaTac, there was another fantastic bit of real life slapstick.  There is a shuttle from the terminal to the baggage carousel.  We had gotten on (sidebar: there must be a lot of Koreans coming through because while there was some signage in Japanese and Chinese, the marquees on the tram were in English and Korean, as were the announcements.  We were also assisted by young Asian women, who most likely spoke Korean as well.)  The announcements said clearly and in multiple languages to hold on to a hand rail.  One woman, who I assume was on our flight from Memphis judging by her accent, made the foolish decision to not heed that advice.  The tram took off with a fair amount of force and she fell into a pile of luggage and people like a bowling ball into pins.  It was fantastic.  Even better, she just sat on a newly overturned bag, rather than get up.  It made for a wonderful moment.  My mom and I got some coffee at the airport (Seattle’s Best, which is bold claim for a brand name in this city).   We stopped off at Russ and Beth’s house to drop off some luggage and then set out to drive around a bit.  First, we hit my new house.  I knew what it looked like but I didn’t realize that I would be living in the ghetto.  Also, the house is still in the process of renovation so it’s not looking so classy.  In fact, due to work being done on the electrical, there is no power at the moment.   We had a little chat with Robert, my landlord but did not have a chance to go in.  I will post pictures as soon as I do.  Unexpected perk though.  One of my roomies has a dog!  We also drove by ACRS.  The building looks so amazing!  It’s new and a lot bigger than I had imagined.  After those drive-bys, we went to hit up one of the eighty Trader Joe’s in the Seattle Metro Area.  It was so awesome to not have to drive 100 miles to go shopping there!  It was also a lot bigger than the one in Ann Arbor.  I was freaking out over the huge variety and how wicked cheap it is.  I could feel people’s eyes on me.  I felt like such a small town girl at that moment.  I’m going to need to develop a sense of ennui and jaded disinterest to live in a city that speaks English.