Dedicated to my cousin, Johnny, who I miss. Sorry kid, I haven't watched enough anime to keep up with you.
Seattle // Tacoma // San Francisco
Seattle // Tacoma // San Francisco
REFLECTION time. I'm always a fan of introspection, especially after long trips. As I also mentioned in a blog post way back, I traveled to these cities for vacation, but am also evaluated them as future homes for my career and me. Some of the thoughts I have regard whether or not I could see myself in these cities, while others regard the literal cities and my experiences. Without further ado, let's get it!!! SEATTLE & TACOMA (I include Tacoma here too because the first couple of days were held at the seminar in Tacoma, though I didn't explore as much. Just thought the city should get a shout out! Ok, carry on~) Going into this leg of the trip, I had high expectations of Seattle. When I first conceived the notion of being a packaging engineer at my university, I considered Amazon to be my dream company because it was the biggest packaging company (in what I thought packaging consisted of) I could think of. As I learned more about packaging, I realized that the field consists of more than just cardboard boxes and shipments. As a result, I found that I could find a career in packaging in any industry (cosmetics, food, pharmaceuticals, technology, etc.), and Amazon was no longer my ideal. But even after that, I still glamorized Seattle. I thought it was a very trendy and hip city. Several people told me they could see me really enjoying it, which I didn't take lightly. It's like when someone tells you, "Oh hey I think you'd really get along with this person," and it makes you feel special that they were able to identify things in you and in that other person that would mesh well. You know??? BUT ANYWAY, I liked Seattle, but not as much as I thought I would. HOWEVER, I admit that my experience would have been different had I 1) stayed in the heart of the city and/or 2) went by myself or with different people. Here are a couple things I noticed from traveling...
The thing I liked the most about Seattle was the nature. Mt. Rainier was astoundingly beautiful and honestly breathtaking. It made me think of how vast our world is and how much there is to see. It also made me feel very small, but not in a bad way. I also loved the bodies of water I saw and how many people were outside enjoying the views. Bottom line - would I live in Seattle? Maybe. I haven't quite given up on it. I think it would take another trip on my own to see if I liked it more. It's certainly a cool city, I wouldn't discount it at all. I think I would find many like-minded people there. Plus, there's a big frisbee scene! For the first half of Seattle, I stayed with my parents and my brother. For the second half, we linked up with my 2 aunts and cousin and stayed at a bigger AirBNB. I think being on this extended family trip as a more mature young adult, compared to vacations past, allowed me to understand my family more. For example, Aunt Myung was just my crazy, high energy aunt who told roundabout stories and cooked all the time. Now I feel like I recognize her better as a person, and not just as my merry aunt. I feel like I can see her on the same level, rather than looking up towards a higher, older-family-figure level. Overall, Seattle was good. The seminar was good, as was exploring the city and spending time with my family. I wish I got to see more of it, but perhaps time shall tell. SAN FRANCISCO We said goodbye to our family members and jetted 2 hours to the lovely Bay area. Similar to Seattle, people also told me they thought I would enjoy SF. Before going in, I only knew San Francisco for San Francisco Fury (#livelovefrisbee), the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, very liberal thinking, and my parent's trip many years back in their younger years. I went to LA last summer and always wondered what SF would be like. I was told that the vibes were very different. I found that to be indeed true. I really loved SF. It felt much more homey to me, and also reminded me of Paris. The weather was a bit cooler than Seattle and required long pants and a light jacket. Riding a cable car for the first time was really exciting and kind of euphoric. I actually stood on the steps and the sensation of almost touching the opposing traffic was weird, but cool. The flora here was also very beautiful and the air was fresh, as was the air in Seattle. Like Seattle, there were many bodies of water nearby and plenty of nature to enjoy. I liked the color scheme (more warmer colors) of SF better than Seattle, which I guess is something I notice in cities. There honestly isn't much else to say about SF. It was just a beautiful place. It sounds kind of stupid, but what sticks with me now about SF is the feeling I had being there. It's hard for me to explain why I like it to people - I just do. Bottom line - would I live in SF? Probably, yes. I think I would need to travel around more, but I definitely enjoyed my time there. I enjoyed the vibes, for sure. California is a pretty cool state in general. I just know that SF is terribly expensive. We'll see. This leg of the journey, my parents, brother, and I were in a single room hotel in the heart of the city. I liked this a lot due to the location, but I also felt like I learned more about my family. I endured a couple of nights with a chorus of snores, coming from literally everybody except for me, but dommage. I tried sleeping before my dad, but I was usually awake. Womp womp. You make do. The more and more I grow, the more I see the effects of my parents on me. My personality, character, actions, mindset, etc. So many things that make me me. Right off the airplane, my dad knew where to go (more or less). Similar to my planning of Paris, he had already researched transportation options, how to get to our hotel from the airport, how to get around in general, getting a bang for your buck. I love that kinda stuff, organization and all. I think more of it is just knowing what is going on. Having control. That's something I can relate to. I also liked observing our family dynamic. We were in close quarters for a couple of nights in our hotel room, so there were some funny conversations. My brother in particular would sometimes pull up the walking route from our location to our home (which would take days), show it to us, and say "Ok, bye, I'm walking." I think we all learned how to laugh at each other too. My mom and brother in particular are goofballs. Overall, I enjoyed my family time in San Francisco. We made good memories and saw beautiful views of the Bay. I realized how tiring biking can get. I had In-N-Out and realized that it's just ok. Yet I would come here again. COOL, BEAN.
So what now, you ask? Good question. This was a pretty surprise trip for me. I didn't expect to get days off at my internship, but it worked out. I loved exploring these parts of the West Coast and would love to explore other places - maybe other cities in California? Portland? I feel lucky and grateful I got the chance to travel. Thank you for reading about my experiences and the inner workings of my mind. I hope to travel more so I can use this blog. It's super fun, really. Til next time?
2 Comments
fillmore
7/12/2019 06:56:57 pm
i hope u travel more too cause i love your blog !!
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rebellious asian goth girl
7/13/2019 01:40:17 pm
Omg!!! Much love + merci beaucoup~
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Another blog, who dis?Omg it's me again! Yello, I am Minhee, this time documenting my spontaneous ish family travels to these places. ArchivesCategories
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