So...I officially live in Seattle
I don't have my Washington State driver's license yet (still have to get it) but other than that, I'm essentially a resident. I love it here so far, and only miss home a little, but I guess that's not saying too much, since it's only been three days. Damian and I left early, early Wednesday morning, and got here late morning Seattle time. Wednesday was fairly uneventful; all we did was chill at our grandparents' house, but basically our whole family was there so that was pretty nice. Then yesterday morning, I went to take my first college placement test. I decided to take math first and get it over with. There were two math tests I could have taken...one was the "Intermediate" that would place me, at the highest, in Precalculus, and the other was the advanced, that would place me, at the highest, in Calculus. Originally, I planned to take the advanced, since I did have four years of math in high school, but I did some online practice problems and almost died. Besides, I didn't have either Precalculus or Calculus in high school. I had trig, but that was awhile ago, and my teacher sucked. What made me make the final decision was that on Wednesday I was talking with our old family friend Andy Rutton, who's a college professor, about my classes, and he was like "just take precalculus. Take the easiest load you can first quarter, especially if you're gonna work." I was like "amen to that, fuck that advanced shit," and ended up taking intermediate. It wasn't too hard, and I scored in the highest possible range, so I'll be taking precalculus this quarter. It was really funny, though, when I went to take the test. We had to show ID to check in, and of course I took out my good old VA license. The lady who was doing the check-ins did a double take and said "Wow, you're a long way from home!" I was like "yeah, most definitely." Then after the test, when they called me up to get my score, a completely different person said to me "Are you the one who's from Virginia?" Yay for being exotic. It's not just at the UW, either. Anytime I mention to anyone here that I just moved in, and from very far away, they're so polite and helpful and curious. It's really cool.
After I got my math score, I went out just to walk around, and had a wonderful time. Every time I visit Seatte, I'm just struck by how beautiful and vibrant and unique and full of life it is. I kept looking around at all the little independent restaurants and shops, all the bridges and beautiful views of portage bay, all the evergreen trees, all the beautiful campus buildings, and smiling. I was that weird girl walking down the streets and smiling. Even more importantly, I managed to find Radio Shack and buy a new cell phone charger without getting lost. Then some girls tried to recruit me to join Greenpeace, which I found amusing. I didn't join, but they were very nice and I talked to them for awhile. After that, I walked all the way back to my grandparents' house. It was a long walk, but I got to take in the area some more, which was nice.
This morning I went to take my French test, and the testing ladies were like "Hey, you're back again!" and it was magical. The non-magical part was that I was early, and decided to go to the Starbucks that was like half a block away for some coffee while I waited. I got a vente Caramel Macchiato, and I'd already had coffee about an hour before with my breakfast. Normally I have a really good tolerance for caffeine, but I guess the coffee overdose combined with nerves about the test was just too much. By the time I picked up my pencil to start the test, my hands were shaking, and I was so jittery I could barely even read. It didn't help that I was more nervous about French than math. I didn't care how I did on math, and neither did anybody else, but French is one of my strong points, and I expected myself to do well and knew that my family would, too. The test seemed easy, but I felt like I was so frazzled I couldn't possibly have done well. So it was a nice surprise to learn that I tested completely out of first-year French. I'm taking a test on the 15th to see if I should be in second-year or third-year. After my test, I opened a bank account at a bank recommended to me by one of the Greenpeace girls, had lunch, and applied for a job at Starbucks. Then I took the bus home cause I'd already done a lot of walking.
So, in summary, it's going very well. I just hope I meet some cool people who live in the area at my orientation. I really want some people to hang out with.
After I got my math score, I went out just to walk around, and had a wonderful time. Every time I visit Seatte, I'm just struck by how beautiful and vibrant and unique and full of life it is. I kept looking around at all the little independent restaurants and shops, all the bridges and beautiful views of portage bay, all the evergreen trees, all the beautiful campus buildings, and smiling. I was that weird girl walking down the streets and smiling. Even more importantly, I managed to find Radio Shack and buy a new cell phone charger without getting lost. Then some girls tried to recruit me to join Greenpeace, which I found amusing. I didn't join, but they were very nice and I talked to them for awhile. After that, I walked all the way back to my grandparents' house. It was a long walk, but I got to take in the area some more, which was nice.
This morning I went to take my French test, and the testing ladies were like "Hey, you're back again!" and it was magical. The non-magical part was that I was early, and decided to go to the Starbucks that was like half a block away for some coffee while I waited. I got a vente Caramel Macchiato, and I'd already had coffee about an hour before with my breakfast. Normally I have a really good tolerance for caffeine, but I guess the coffee overdose combined with nerves about the test was just too much. By the time I picked up my pencil to start the test, my hands were shaking, and I was so jittery I could barely even read. It didn't help that I was more nervous about French than math. I didn't care how I did on math, and neither did anybody else, but French is one of my strong points, and I expected myself to do well and knew that my family would, too. The test seemed easy, but I felt like I was so frazzled I couldn't possibly have done well. So it was a nice surprise to learn that I tested completely out of first-year French. I'm taking a test on the 15th to see if I should be in second-year or third-year. After my test, I opened a bank account at a bank recommended to me by one of the Greenpeace girls, had lunch, and applied for a job at Starbucks. Then I took the bus home cause I'd already done a lot of walking.
So, in summary, it's going very well. I just hope I meet some cool people who live in the area at my orientation. I really want some people to hang out with.