Advertisement
Published: July 21st 2005
Edit Blog Post
09/06/05 - 12/06/05:
There is no more striking way to see the difference between the north and south of the US than to fly straight from Texas to Seattle, Washington (Northwest US). If you want a city where trends are created not just observed then Seattle is the place to be.
I spent just over a week with my brother-in-laws aunt and uncle who treated me with open hospitality. Hazel and Dave met on the mission field in Ethiopia and came to Seattle where they raised two girls. I admire their love towards one another and the way that they both put in 100% for the benefit of the other. Every workday Hazel drives Dave to the train-station where Dave waves goodbye from the train on his way to the corporate battlefield in Seattle.
Hazel and Dave live south of Seattle in a place called Tacoma on a suburban street which I feel epitomises the American street. Most of the houses are two story wood and vainer with very little yard space between the houses along the street (apparently this is the new style of house). People from these parts must not be terribly worried about their privacy because
there are no fences between the houses. With the exception of one house that had a fence you can step into their backyard and look through to all the backyards on the entire street.
Hazel and Dave are pro Bush/his policies so coming from Australia where things are more liberal made for some interesting conversations. I think we lack a little patriotism in Australia and Hazel and Dave theirs by flying the US flag out the front, something I have never seen in Australia. The flags come complete with rules entitled "Displaying and Honoring the Flag of the USA". The prelude states that "Because the US Flag is the symbol of our country, it should always be displayed in the most pominent, most honored position. No other flag should ever appear more important. Remember, the flag represents a living country and, as such, is considered a living thing." The first 2 (out of 6) rules state:
1. Always display the flag with the blue union flied up - never display the flag upside down, except as a distress signal.
2. Always hold the flag carefully - never let it touch anything beneath it: the ground, the floor, water or
merchandise.
Don’t let it touch merchandise, the flag is a living thing? Does this mean that if you burn the flag you will have to answer to the US military or the RSPCA? The best way of disposing of a worn flag, by the way, is to burn it.
I had two trips into downtown Seattle on the train which were great fun. I like to think of Seattle as the 'geek' town, primarily because this is the home of Bill Gates and Microsoft. That’s why it was amusing but not surprising to come across the most high tech toilet I had seen in the middle of the footpath on the Seattle foreshore. It wasn’t incredibly inviting, looking more like a cylindrical water tank than a public toilet but I need to go so I thought I would give it a shot. Pushing a button opened the door to the tank and upon entering I was trying to figure out how to close it. The doors closed and a women's voice came through saying "The doors have closed automatically and the room is now secure. blah blah blah". Feeling like the captain of the Starship Enterprise I looked
around for the control panel to open the doors. After the auto flush, auto handgel, auto taps, auto blow/towel I eventually found the manual button to get out. Apparently the toilets cost tens of thousands to build which, in my opinion, was well worth it for my 5 second pee. No wonder there are so many homeless people in Seattle because the street facilities are great.
A big tourist attraction, the Experimental Music Project (EMP) right near the Seattle Space Needle had some really spunout architecture but I couldn’t justify spending the $20 to see a few posters and Jimmy Hendrix's broken guitar etc. But I did get to enjoy the enormous free digital library and did what any boy that was brought up in the 90s would do and listened to a Nirvana, Pearljam and Soundgarden soundtracks, who all made their name in Seattle. Seattle....the home of grunge rock and homeless people.
Seattle is also the home to Starbucks, a chain that I don’t think has reached Perth - give it a few more years and I’m sure it will be there. Starbucks in Seattle is pretty much on every street corner so even though I don’t really like coffee I felt compelled to stand on a street corner and sip an iced coffee. My Seattle experience was complete except for one thing....this is where is was supposed to be buying my car.
Mike
Advertisement
Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0325s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb