We meet people II

Yesterday we again ventured out into The World to chat with some locals. One local, to be precise. At the same bar where we met the others, funnily enough.

This was another man I had found on CouchSurfers -- a 27 year old military intelligence officer named Ross who lives on a sailboat down in the harbour. Thorsten, of course, immediately took to the fact that he lives on a boat and is eager to go visit him one of these days.

I'd say that Ross was one of the most interesting and likeable people we've met so far. We immediately got along with him, and the three of us spent a very enjoyable (if somewhat drunken) evening together. He told us a lot about what it had been like for him working for the army these last 5-6 years, and also his great disillusionment with what he had seen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ross started out as something of a pragmatic idealist -- having majored in political science at Berkeley, he felt that he could contribute positively to what he generally saw as heavy and complex situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. By now he doesn't feel that he can condone working for the army anymore (even as a positive influence), and is now looking to go back to school and pursue graduate studies in something completely different (he's thinking about maybe studying music). In the meantime, he is commuting to Seattle every day for work, and spending his free time sailing.

We hope to meet up with him some other time, and are happy to have met yet another friendly local.

We meet people!

After a quiet day at home (and a long run in the park for my part), Thorsten and I finally socialized a bit again this evening. I mentioned earlier that I had contacted a few people on CouchSurfing, and tonight we were heading out for drinks at a local pub with the first of them, Garrett -- a 34 year old geologist who lives downtown.

By pure chance, he ran into some friends of his -- a couple named Lia and Jeanne -- at the bar just as we met up. The two women (a veterinarian and an environmentalist scientist, both seemingly in their early forties) joined us, and we spent a very enjoyable evening with the three of them, drinking and discussing until midnight.

They are all very outdoorsy (into hiking, kayaking, climbing, skiing etc.), and both Garret and the ladies told us they are happy to take us along next time they go on some expedition outside of Tacoma.

When Thorsten inquired about what trips we might do using only public transportation, they all agreed that that's a tough one -- best-case scenario is that we would be stuck in a bus half the day for a two-hour hike. So it seems joining someone who has a car (or renting one for ourselves) is out best bet.

Suffice to say, we were very happy to finally meet up with the locals again. Especially considering what friendly and interesting people they turned out to be.

Supermarket drama

We went shopping with Peter again the day before yesterday. Our very long, detailed shopping list included beer as well as a bottle of wine.

Well, once we had been a few times around the giant store and filled up a cart with huge amounts of fruits, veggies, cans of beens and veggies, dairy, olive oil, frozen goods, beer, shower gel and god knows what else, we were finally ready to pay.

Thorsten was asked to show his ID once the cashier spotted the beer, something that we've come to expect despite his very advanced age. T pulled out his driver's licence, his VISA card and even his student card for good measure. All three featured his jolly face and birth date.

Well, that wasn't good enough. After consulting an equally stern co-worker, the unsmiling lady proclaimed that none of these cards counted as valid ID. Our best bet, the driver's license, wasn't good enough as it wasn't a WA driver's license. Realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the cashier, T ran off to find Peter (who was waiting in the car) while I continued loading up food on the conveyor's belt.

The two of them soon showed up, and after exchanging a few words with the Keeper of the Beer, he too came to the conclusion that there was no point in trying to convince the lady. So Thorsten asked him to just buy the beer and wine for us. The cashier didn't like the sound of that and immediately let us know that would not be possible, as he was obviously buying it for Thorsten and me, who could very well be minors.

Resigned, Peter then simply went into the store and bought us the beer and wine, paying somewhere else. All the while, a concerned lady followed him around in the store -- but luckily didn't try to pry the immoral intoxicants (intended for minors!) away from him.

If there's one thing we've learned, it's that ID is serious business either in the US -- or possibly specifically the state of Washington. Thorsten once asked a waiter in the local restaurant why cashiers and waitstaff were so careful to always check for ID if you try to buy alcohol. The young man explained to us that there awaits a hefty penalty for any store or restaurant that is proved to sell alcohol not to minors, necessarily, but anybody looking remotely youthful who cannot prove they are above the age of 21.

Fascinatingly, then, what is being checked is not how old you are, but whether or not you are carrying ID (showing, of course, your age). Thus, a reasonably young-looking 35-year old who has no evidence of her age is a minor until proven otherwise!

Finally, I discovered a few weeks ago that one cannot even buy non-alcoholic beer (not light-beer mind, but a truly alcohol-free beverage) without showing ID. Stringent alcohol laws apart, that one's a bit absurd. I guess they consider it a gateway drug...

Birthday gifts

For my 29th birthday last week I received some very nice things from Thorsten, my mother, my sister Nina and Thorsten's family.

Thorsten gave me a gift card for a running store in Tacoma -- for that money I bought myself a brand new pair of running shoes, a reflective cap and a long-sleeved top (very handy, as the weather is still chilly). T and I have been running in the park almost every other day for two and a half week, and are slowly increasing our distance. This week we managed to do five rounds -- 7.5 km -- several times, and meanwhile I am also running a bit alone, working on my speed.

There are a lot of races in the area this spring, and I am considering signing up for this 5K in downtown Tacoma in the end of March. There is a sign-up party at an Irish pub in a little more than a week here in the city, and Thorsten more than willing to have a couple of beers in honour of the venerable art of running, so we'll go and see if we can find our more about the race.

As for the other gifts -- the Schillings were kind enough to sent me a big box all the way from Germany, containing (among other things) delicious candy, seeds, a practical bag, and a very nice card.

Via my mother, Nina bought me two beautiful orchids, pictured here in my window along with my little primroses.

Finally, my mother got me a ladle for my soup (I had been needing it!) as well as a whole bag full of American specialities, including pancake mix that we used to make breakfast three days in a row, candied walnuts, and applesauce that Thorsten was especially fond of. (It is actually very popular in Germany, especially served with meat. In that spirit, we ate it with our bacon-cheese pancakes.)

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture before I started digging in!

Trip to Seattle II

Pictures from the Nisqually natural wildlife refuge, coastal way and Bremerton.

Trip to Seattle

My parents picked us up on Thursday afternoon -- my birthday -- and, in their rented car, drove us to Nisquallly natural wildlife refuge, some 40 km away from Tacoma. The plan was to drive to Seattle in the evening, and sleep at their good friends Steve and Linda's place.

At the refuge, we had a very nice walk on an elevated path crossing a wide swamp, and saw several kinds of birds including a hawk and a heron. After driving through many km of sordid highway landscape consisting mainly of parking lots, stores and drive-throughs, it was great to finally see some of Washington's beautiful nature.

After leaving the park, we drove to a small logging town called Shelton for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The food was good and cheap, and the serving sizes small enough that we knew we'd still have some appetite for the big dinner we knew awaited us in Seattle.

After eating, we drove on in the direction of Seattle and luckily we got lost enough to discover a beautiful seaside landscape that didn't look too unlike the West of Norway.

Around 5 am we made it to Bremington, where boarded the ferry to Seattle. The view from the deck as we approached the big city was very impressive -- unfortunately, we didn't manage to capture the panorama on camera, so you'll have to take my word for it (or google it yourself).

We arrived at Steve and Linda's house around 7 pm, and soon got to enjoy the splendid Italian dinner that Steve had prepared. They had also invited two other good friends of theirs (a couple about their age), and the eight of us had a very nice evening.

The next day we drove out to Discovery Park after breakfast and good coffee, and a short Skype session with Nina and (a perturbed but adorable) Theo back home. Again we got to see some of the flora and fauna that this region has to offer, much of it very different from home. Giant trees, hummingbirds, a lush and green forest even in winter -- and a great seaside view of white peaks across the fjord.

We had good seafood for lunch, and after looking at the boats in the harbour we drove home.

After a round of espressos and perusing laptops and ipads and newspapers for half an hour or so, the four of us walked to discover the unimaginable choice of organic, local, free-range, bourgeois wonders at the supermarket Whole Foods (and, in my case, evidently buying quite a few of them, including some coconut-milk based yoghurt -- an item that didn't even exist back in my vegan days!).

After saying our goodbyes and thanking Steve and Linda for their hospitably and for showing us around,my dad drove us back to Tacoma. The traffic on the highway was intimidating. To think that a great amount of people do this commute (one hour each way) every day is mind-blowing.

We made it home safely and had taco chips and refried beans for dinner. Today we had a quiet day at home, and only went to the park (T to work, me to run) this afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Inspired by what we saw on our trip to Seattle, T and I are really determined to try to get out more -- our plan is to eventually (once T finishes his introduction) rent a car for a week or two and explore this state, and maybe even go even farther. It'd be a shame to stay in the US for three months and only see Tacoma. Not that Tacoma is that bad (it has its nice sides), but obviously there is a lot more to see and experience.

PS: My parents the globetrotters left the US this afternoon and landed in Mexico just two hours ago!