Seattle

Who knew that someday I would be able to handle months of intense transition with very few emotional repercussions?

My life recently has consisted of moving from Hawaii, spending a couple weeks in Portland, taking the bus to Spokane for a few days, taking the bus to Seattle, flying home to Minnesota for a whirlwind weekend (btw, to my MN friends, I would have LOVED to see you and I'm sorry I had to keep it to mostly family. My dad had air miles and he flew me home to surprise my mom!), flying back to Seattle, and now getting ready to take the train back to Portland and then fly to Bangkok via San Francisco and Taipei in less than a week. Insane. Over the past year, I seem to have developed an ability to not think farther ahead than today and to let go of things--literally and emotionally--that I would have held onto or over-analyzed in the past. I think it's good...but also leaves me kind of flat and unmotivated at times.

The time in Seattle has been awesome! It's been fun spending time with both Isaac and his cousin Maile, exploring the BEAUTIFUL city (I think one of the most beautiful I've ever been in), getting things in place as far as grad school and Thailand go, and just beginning to develop a bit of normalcy and consistency in what's been mostly a long-distance relationship. It's incredibly hard to think about leaving. But I am genuinely excited for the challenges and beauty of living and working in Bangkok, and I'm excited for what's beyond, whatever that is.... I got to meet with the director of creative writing at UW, and I'm excited about the possibility of going either there or Eastern Washington. They both seem like solid programs. Not that this will help beat my 6% chance of getting in, but it was nice to make some personal connections with a few staff and faculty members there.

I have an album of Seattle pictures Maile took:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045139&id=110900370&l=eaa0ef30c4