Lost in Seattle

Seattle and the space needle

 

I spent a couple of days in Seattle last week and had some seriously good weather - sunshine all four days with a light drizzle on the last day. And here I thought I'd be going from rainy California to wet, wet, wet Seattle. People kept telling me that it was a freakish bout of good weather and that it usually wasn't all sunshine and clear skies. I refused to believe them :) I know I got really lucky with the weather especially since it continued to rain and flood in California with interspersed tornado warnings (tornadoes in California?!? what??). But seriously, I'm glad it didn't rain cos with all the tromping about that I had to do, I'd have been miserable and soaked ten times over. Yes, I actually had a valid reason for heading to Seattle.




I went up to Seattle last week to visit the University of Washington campus so I could talk to some of the professors and graduate students and find out more about the South East Asian archaeology program. I have always been under the assumption that visiting a school is something that is done after you've been accepted there but apparently, that is not the case here.

Seriously, once I know the results and all, I'm prolly gonna put up a little mini guide about applying for grad school. It's really frustrating that they have loads of advice for people applying for med school, law school and MBAs but nothing for everyone else.

Anyway, long story short, Billie told me that I needed to go and I'm glad I did. Actually, it can go either way. I'm glad I went so that the professors know who I am now (which may give me an advantage come crunch time) and I'm really really excited about the program after meeting everyone and touring the facilities but it'll suck big time if I don't get in for exactly those same reasons. I won't be too broken up about not getting into grad school and I've got back up plans (yay CRM) but it would be great to get in and if I can get some type of funding along with an acceptance, that would be even better. I've still got to set up phone interviews with the professors at the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois, Chicago since Seattle broke the piggy bank and seriously, flights to Hawaii and Chicago are ridiculously expensive.

 Denny Hall; oldest building on campus and home to the anthropology/archaeology department

Over the course of three days, I managed to talk to at least three professors in the department and about a bazillion graduate students, sat in on classes, and watched the first part of Planet of the Apes. Yeah, random, I know. They're all really friendly and easygoing and I was on campus and hanging out with them so much, I felt like I practically went there already :) The campus is a lot bigger than Cal and some of the buildings are really pretty. The building that houses the archaeology department is nice but as usual, the archaeologist are in the basement. Where else would they be?   

 

L: Part of the quad; R: Squirrel!! Just like at Cal. Somethings stay the same, no matter what campus. :)

I didn't get to tour Seattle properly until the last day but somehow, even just going from point A to point B, I still managed to get lost. According to Billie, the city is built on a grid.....I thinks she's trying to imply that it's usually hard for anyone to get lost. *shrugs* I can't help it. I'm a walking oxymoron when it comes to directions - I have a great sense of direction but I also tend to get lost quite a bit. Eh. 

Seattle's a nice city. Kinda like San Francisco but less edgy. People here are really, really nice though and the bus system, though expensive, was very efficient. The only issue I had with it was the payment system on the buses. That confused the heck out of me.

Anyway, Billie, Matthew and Etta were hosting me and they were great! I wish I could have hung out with them more but I pretty much spent three solid days at UW. But, we did manage to make it to Pike's Place and for the underground tour of Seattle before I flew out. 

     

Pike's Place market. 

We took a stroll around Pike's Place home to the famous fish-tossing stand and the first Starbucks. Got some breakfast while we were there then headed down to the underground tour. I think the basic gist of it is that Seattle was built on mudflats so they had sewage problems (it came in and out with the tide and supposedly caused many uncomfortable sessions on the loo when the back flow caused the waste to erupt from the toilet bowls) and whatnot. When a fire razed the lower portion of town, the city decided to elevate the streets and eventually, after much hassle and a few deaths, the merchants complied and raised the sidewalks. What this left them with was a ground floor that had suddenly become basements; hence the underground tour. It was fairly interesting but I wouldn't pay good money to take it again. 

                             

L: Starting point of the tour; there's a great little story behind this totem pole. R: One of the underground passage ways that is directly beneath the sidewalks.

Light from a skylight in the sidewalk

 

L: A shop front that is now underground. C: A crapper (there's a story behind that name); one of the few underground. R: Tour ends in a mini display room.

 

Last but not least, Etta!!