Seattle makes me giddy

I moved to Seattle, Washington a little over two weeks ago, and I currently feel about living here the way you feel when you're just starting to date someone whom you're totally infatuated with: everything about this place makes me a little giddy. While I was in Asia in July, my dad emailed me saying that I had gotten off the wait list at the University of Washington's school of social work. I was only mildly enthused because I had completely ridden it off as an option, and I was pretty set on the idea of taking a year off to do some campaigning and other random "explorations." But UW doesn't allow you to defer a year, and it just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. As I started to work out the details of what my new life in Seattle would entail, all the pieces gradually fell into place and I became increasingly excited. Now I'm pretty much living in my equivalent of an utopia. Here's why:

The Social Work Program
"Social work seems like the perfect fit for you," said my adviser during our first meeting. We met for an hour-and-a-half and discussed all my academic and career goals. She's right: I feel so at home in the social work department. The classes are rigorous and stimulating, and they are a good balance of the historical/theoretical and the practical. (I'm taking: Poverty and Inequality, Intro to Counseling, Historical & Philosophical Foundations of Social Work, Local Policy and Advocacy, Stats for Social Scientists, and Cultural Diversity in SW. So much reading!) Even more importantly, the social work field spans the spectrum of all my interests: at the micro level, we study individual counseling, therapy and case management; at the mezzo level, we work with institutions on things like educational outreach; and at the macro level, we talk about creating systemic change through policy. We haven't gotten assigned our first internships which will start in January, but I'm hoping for something in the juvenile courts. The program also offers opportunities for research and for international social work.
There are 80 people in my program from across the country: predominantly gay and/or female, all have worked in the field for an average of 2 plus years before entering the program. Lots of Peace Corps alumni. Lots of Marxists. My religiousness is the element of diversity I add to the mix.

The Setting
Where I live feels "urbany" because everything I could possibly need (including TRADER JOE'S!) is just a bike-ride away, but it's "quiet pretty urban" because the neighborhood is made up of small old homes with trees and grass everywhere. We're a 15-minute drive north of dowtown Seattle, and a 7-minute bicycle ride north of UW's campus. A huge fruit/vegetable stand resides around the corner from my house, and Green Lake - with its 3-mile perimeter of bike and running trails - is a five minute walk from home. In a blessed act of mercy, my grandma gave me her '95 Honda Accord which she hadn't been driving, and it makes life so easy. Last week, I didn't get in it for five days, but having it there to run errands is ideal - like when I drove to Goodwill and bought myself a five-dollar dresser, and then drove to Home Depot to buy some red spray paint for it. The bike that I mostly use during the week is my mom's hot pink Schwinn that is almost 20 years old. I almost don't feel cool enough to ride it, but she gave it to me and I love it. The college town street, "The Ave." is also about 2 miles from my house and has used clothes stores, independent movie theaters and great Thai food. Oh, and there's a really intricate bus system all over the city and campus. And a 30-mile bike trail that runs past my house and along the entire east bay. And there's a stunning view of Mt. Ranier from campus...when it's clear.

The Big Pink House
If my current roommates lived in NYC, they're hip enough to live Williamsburg, minus the elitism. They're all in their late 20's, almost all have master's degrees and they've all painted their room funky colors. Individually, they are an art therapist, a Boeing interior design engineer, a high school counselor, a graphic designer and a marriage and family therapist. I gave into the peer pressure and painted my room a happy shade of goldenrod, which was kind of necessary because I have a basement room with low ceilings. There are actually 3 of us who live in the cave: me (Jen), Jill (half grey, half orange walls) and Julie (light fluorescent green walls). I lucked out and have the room with the biggest window which gets lovely afternoon light. We share a low-water-pressure bathroom, then Cassie is on the main floor off the living room and kitchen, and Megan and Kaylene are upstairs with their own bathroom and kitchen. The girls invite people over almost every night and this Friday we're celebrating Megan's birthday with a cat-themed party. We're taking food and decoration suggestions.

The Church
I got a calling as a Relief Society teacher my very first Sunday in the ward. Turns out one of my roommates is the RS president and she had been scoping me out for a job. There are 3 university singles wards and they all meet in the institute building. Each ward is pretty small, which allows for a nice family feel, but there are also a lot of other people to fulfill your mingling needs.
It has always been one of my nerdy dreams to have a real institute building. This one is only 2 miles from my house and just half a block away from the social work building. Institute classes are bi-weekly and meet in the a.m. or during lunch, and there are two full-time teachers. Every Friday the senior missionary couple makes us all a hot lunch for $2.25, and in the building there is library for quiet studying, a ping pong table (I've already taken down a few poor male undergrads), pool table, vending machine and even little frozen dinners in the freezer for purchase. It really feels like a homey community center; I love retreating there during the school day.

The Old Friends
Turns out there are a lot of people here whom I already know and love:
Jill Bodily Jensen was a freshman with me at Stanford and then my roommate junior year in the French House. She is surprisingly serving in my ward with her husband, who is a counselor in my bishopbric. They had me over on my very first Sunday, and today I just got assigned as her visiting teacher. (My companion is a Brasileira!) The Jensen's also feature prominently on my bike trip blog because they were our generous hosts the weekend we spent in the Seattle.
Amie Adams Spjut was one of my favorite girls on the mission and lives here now with her husband and baby daughter, and they've already had me over for dinner twice to share old mission stories and gossip.
Clara Wilkins was on dorm staff with me in Twain my senior year and she's out here doing a PhD in psychology. She's the woman who gave me my first pair of hoop earrings.
Moroni Benalli is another Stanford Ward alumnus who just moved here to start a PhD in public policy.
Abe Allen I know through a friend in Provo and works for Boeing now. He helped me to buy a bed.
Colin Drake was my RA my Sophomore year in Toyon, and he was also one of the other Treat Fellows with whom I went to Asia in 2001. We were together on 9/11 in Singapore. He moved to NYC before I did, and I have followed him to Seattle where he now lives with his wife, whom we always lovingly knew as "Boston Jen."

The Jobs
I got hired by two separate tutoring organizations, TeamUp! Tutors and Club Z, to go into people's homes and tutor rich kids one-on-one. Both pay about $20/hour and it will be nice to keep up my teaching skills and to create some long-term relationships with the families and kids. I haven't gotten any assignments yet, but I'm eager for that to get rolling.

The 2 Bad Things
1. It's already too cold here for me to wear flip-flops. Too bad that I hate wearing close-toed shoes.
2. NPR here seems to be lacking some serious funding because about 50% of the time that I turn it on, it's jazz music. Which is nice of course, but it's no All Things Considered. Come on Microsoft, step up your pledge.

If only I could love a man the way I love this city...