What is life like in Seattle?

The long-awaited trip to Seattle finally took place. It was quite rough at the beginning, but then things got better.

When I woke up early in the morning and opened the blinds, I felt bad: it was raining continuously. I really don’t want to go. But I still decided to leave. After all, after entering the rainy season, it is difficult to find a day with good weather to go out. If we have to wait for the weather to clear before going out, we will have to wait until next year. The bus ride was very smooth, because there is no direct bus from Parkland to Seattle, so you have to transfer on the way, and there is no charge for transfer in the United States, so we only spent three yuan to get to Seattle, and I thought we had to spend one yuan first. Five yuan to Lakewood and three yuan to Seattle. The drive took about an hour, and the scenery outside the car window was charming. Before I knew it, the sky had cleared up. The weather in Washington State is so unpredictable. There are pine forests on both sides of the road. Because there are no high-rise buildings to block it, the field of vision is extremely wide. You can see the skyline all the way. I was fascinated by the large and changing clouds in the blue sky. My companion, who grew up in a beautiful place in Sichuan, thought I was making such a fuss, but how could she know that people like me, who have been living in a colorless city in the north, have been hungry for so long.

Seattle is indeed a big city. I saw high-rise buildings again, skyscrapers that symbolize modern civilization, department stores, and restaurants and cafes (mainly Starbucks) everywhere. Although not as big as Beijing and Shanghai, this kind of city is still considered one of the best in the United States. I have been in the United States for half a month, and everywhere I go I see sparsely populated pastoral scenery. This time I have entered the city from the countryside. I was a little excited to be among the bustling crowds again. I completely forgot how I complained about the crowds in China.

The first stop is the famous PIKE PLACE MARKET. It turned out to be a large free market composed of hundreds of stalls. There were agricultural product stalls, small shops selling jewelry, gifts and other trinkets, bars, and restaurants. It was dazzling. Because this is one of the must-visit attractions in Seattle, and it was a weekend, the place was absolutely packed with tourists from all over the world. As soon as I entered the door, I saw many people surrounding a fish stall, as if waiting to see something. It turned out that this was the famous fish stall that staged the "Flying Fish Show". As long as someone buys fish, the guys will shout a few slogans in unison, and then one of the guys will throw the fish into the air towards the counter. This is the moment everyone is waiting for. Unfortunately, my photography skills are not good, so I can't capture it. At that moment, an old lady next to me sympathetically told me that it was really difficult and she couldn't take a picture of it. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be many people buying fish that day, and most of them were spectators. So the fish seller humorously said to everyone, "We are not just performing, we also really sell fish." Everyone laughed.

Our lunch was at a Chinese restaurant in the market. I ordered a barbecued pork skewer and a barbecued pork bun. The barbecued pork skewers were so-so. I just had meat to eat anyway. The barbecued pork buns are unexpected. To be precise, they should be "barbecued pork buns". There is a waterfront viewpoint in the market, where you can sit and eat while overlooking the sea view of the pier, which is very comfortable.

According to what the book said, we went to find the famous Seattle Center. The conclusion after the visit is: I regret taking this trip. This was one of the downfalls of our trip to Seattle, it was like a children's center with almost nothing to see except for the Seattle icon, the Space Needle. As for that tower, there are towers like this everywhere in the country, and they really don’t interest me. If I took a photo here, I’m afraid that when I go back, people will think it was taken at a water park.

Fortunately, when we got discouraged, we went back to the dock and went to the aquarium to have a little fun. Compared with the aquariums I have seen in China before, the aquarium here has three main points of interest: First, you can see beavers, which I particularly like. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw them lying on their backs on the water, using their short forelimbs to hold something and chew it. Another thing is that you can touch starfish, corals, etc. with your own hands. I held the little claws of the starfish, squeezed the fat body of the sea cucumber, and touched the sensitive tentacles of the coral. It felt very enjoyable. This alone was worth the price of admission. The other one is the "Ring of Life": a large glass ring like an arch, with countless transparent jellyfish swimming slowly inside, and turning red and blue with the light. It's really beautiful. The ticket price for this aquarium is 12.5 yuan, which is similar to that in China. It feels like a good deal.

Finally, we went to the pier to see the sea view. The water and sky were vast, and the portraits were like being in a painting. It was so beautiful that it was unbelievable. There is one thing about Seattle that Beijing and Shanghai cannot compare to, and that is its invincible sea view. The whole city is actually a bit like Qingdao. It is full of high and low slopes. Taking the bus down the steepest part is like a roller coaster. You can often see the parasol trees that are everywhere in Qingdao on both sides of the road. In terms of city size, Seattle is much larger than Qingdao, more modern, international, and very prosperous. I fell in love with this city at first sight and I know I will come back again and again.

Flaws in the ointment: In fact, I am a person who likes to walk around alone. Although I am blind, I like the feeling of being unintentional.

When traveling with others, it’s better if they share the same goals, otherwise you often have to accommodate the other person and feel unenjoyable. That's it this time. I didn’t even take a closer look at PIKE PLACE MARKET. I didn’t even have time to find the first Starbucks store with a long history. I also wanted to find the Afghan Amin’s store that San Mao wrote about in the book. But my companion was more interested in going to the mall to buy discounted clothes and shoes. I spent an hour just in Ross OUTLET, and there was nothing I could do about it. I'll definitely do it myself next time.

A little tidbit: It took us a lot of effort to find the station. When we finally asked a shop assistant for directions, I couldn't believe it when the affable blonde female clerk took the initiative and asked us if we wanted return tickets. She also asked us if we would come to Seattle again, and it seemed like she wanted to give us some more. I really felt a little embarrassed to ask for it again, but my companion responded quickly. He said on the snake stick that we would come again, and gave us a bunch of tickets. Her explanation was that because she had an annual pass, these tickets were of no use to her, so she gave them to us. This is really unexpected. In China, no one would give a small price to a complete stranger. They would rather do favors to relatives and friends. America is a different place.