When I lived in Washington, I had two very distinct lives: one in the city and one in the country.
I grew up outside of Seattle, and lived in the city in my mid-twenties. In between, I attended Washington State University, which is located in the far eastern corner of the state, near Idaho.
When I first went off to college in the east—in the Palouse region—the first thing that struck me was the how different the terrain was from the Northwest. Most of the eastern part of the state is grassland that has been converted into farmland, so there are rolling wheat fields and golden hills for miles and miles. Apples, alfalfa, and grains grow along the highways. Life is agrarian and slow. Washington State University is located in Pullman, which, besides the college and the National Lentil Festival, doesn’t have a lot happening.
Perhaps because of this, all the students who attend Washington State are extremely proud of our school. Our main rival is the University of Washington, located in Seattle. They were the Huskies and we were the Cougars. The Huskies always thought they were better, because they were in the sophisticated city and had Bill Gates as their alumnus, but we were the scrappy underdogs who had Paul Allen as our alumnus.
As much as I like the east side and as much as I am a Cougar for life, if I were to move back to Washington, I would head straight for Seattle.
Although Seattle is known for many things—grunge music, coffee, Microsoft—it’s really the small distinct neighborhoods that give this city its unique edge. Small shop owners take immense pride in their boutiques, flower shops, and gift stores, all of which give character to the neighborhoods. Although Seattle is the birthplace of Starbucks, Tully’s, and Seattle’s Best Coffee, the small café scene is still thriving. So is the bar and restaurant scene. Because of our proximity to the water, great fresh fish is abundant. It’s a beer drinking city, so Irish bars and breweries abound. Although Seattle is, according to the Census Bureau, the U.S. city with the highest number of college graduates, people are very down to earth. The city is liberal, with both an edgy and a hippy vibe. The pace of life, like the people, is friendly and relaxed.
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