Seattle

     I've been in Seattle for work this weekend. My former thesis advisor is now a colleague and we are working on a project related to diversity in undergraduate physics education. I spent the first night in the U District, which is the neighborhood next to the University of Washington, crammed full of cheap noodle restaurants, E-cigarette retailers, and hip clothing shops. I wandered around the neighborhood and was reminded of my first stay in Seattle, which was also in the winter. After I graduated from college, I took a two-month course in teaching English as a Second Language in Portland, Oregon. When I was done, I didn't really have any definite plans, so I hopped a bus north to Seattle and got a temp job in human resources at a very posh law firm. (If you are from Seattle, the Seattle Symphony plays in a Hall named for this same law firm.)
     I subletted someone's dining room in a one-bedroom apartment and slept on an air mattress on the floor. I was poor, but had a few friends in the area so I wasn't lonely. I was basically killing time, trying to figure out what my next step was. In mid-December, my temp position wasn't renewed and there weren't any other prospects, so I headed back to my parents. My earliest memories of Seattle are fond, but colored by the indecision and lack of funds that were my constant companions during that time.