Well Now That's Different

In my 6.5 weeks of being here in the Seattle area, I've noticed some differences.

For starters, there are coffee shops EVERYWHERE! This a coffee culture. They have closet size coffee stands all over the place. These "espresso stops" have all kinds of coffee and specialty drinks. It's crazy. It's just understood here that everyone drinks coffee. And more often than not, people will say, "Let's grab some coffee!" Rarely do people suggest going to lunch or dinner. Just coffee.

When you let someone into your lane, the driver does not wave to show appreciation for the kind gesture. They just come on over. It's highly unusual for someone to give the wave. I always do.

The food genre of "BBQ" doesn't really exist here. I've seen literally one BBQ restaurant the whole time I've been out here.

People in the northwest vacation in Hawaii all. the. time. Someone asked me how many times I've been, and I told them I went 1 time. Their response? "Oh my goodness!! Just once?!" It's a pretty big deal that I've been to Hawaii. Why are you looking at me like that?!

People actually plan their days and commutes around the carpool lane. Several times people have been surprised that I've driven into the city by myself since that meant I couldn't drive in the carpool lane. These Seattleites LOVE their carpool lane.

We drink pop up here. And pronounce bag with a long "a" sound.

There are really funny misperceptions of the South. They think everyone goes to church and has good manners and eats fried okra for potluck lunch on Sundays. The girls are confident the men in the South are all true gentlemen, and they would have better luck finding a decent husband down there. And they don't believe me when I tell them it gets cold or that it rains.

From what I've observed there are far more biracial couples here. But not many black people in general.

I'm not sure what kind of food dominates the greater Atlanta area, but here, there is a teriyaki place or noodle soup place on every corner. Or both.

And there is definitely significantly less churches here than in Atlanta. I can go for miles without seeing one.

OH!!! And the spiders here are huuuuuuuuuuuuuge!

Those are my observations for now.