Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Pacific Northwest Lumberjack Tour: Day 1 and 2

Ilana and I are on vacation in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Here is what has happened so far:

1) Our plane ride in was mildly stressful but ultimately not so bad. We sat next to a teenager who was originally born in Eritrea (African outpost located north of Ethiopia) but grew up and lives in Sweden and was making his first trip to America. He was going to Seattle to visit with his family and also participate in a longboard (long skateboard) competition. We talked with him the last half of the trip.

The trip, even more than this week's current issue of the Economist, really served to prove to me how insanely dominant America is culturally. This kid spoke fluent English, he looked like any ratty teenage skateboarder, he talked with us at length about "Supersize Me" and was well versed in American indie rock, probably because Sweden's music is their own unique take on American indie rock. It's such a big world but it's a lot smaller for us Americans.

2) After flying into Sea-Tec, we drove up nearly two hours to the town of Anacortes. Anacortes is right next to the Pacific/Pugent Sount so we took a ferry to Friday's Harbor, the big town/vacation spot in the San Juan Islands. This is one of the coolest places I've ever been in my life. Water, mountains, evergrees, seals, ice cream, whales, etc. (We didn't see whales, but were told they were there. But we did see a seal.) It's totally relaxing and nice here.

3) Took less than one hour to hear Pearl Jam on a rock station. Today, saw a motorcyclist who was BLASTING Temple of the Dog.
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