A Fond Fairwell to West Seattle

This is almost the end of my stay here in the lovely city of Seattle. It is at this juncture in the year that I would like to take a moment to thank the lovely city of Seattle and its continuous supply of awesome. Also, I’d like to point out something for everyone: West Seattle is the bomb. Really. I mean it. Amazing water. Good food. Useful classes in bleak, overly warm rooms. Okay, mostly the first two. By the water I mean the puuge. Alki beach is a great place to swim and the sound regularly leaves me astounded by the glory of the creation of the Lord. There are also oodles of trees that make the whole place have this aura of greenish wonder. If Jesus were to ask me what I thought of West Seattle, I’d say “Well done Lord.” which He would hopefully respond to with a kind “I know.”

I finished my medical interpreter class today. It was about time. 40 hours is a long time for class. 8 hours a day almost starts to kill a man (and his back too, those chairs are not made for tall people). There was some tension in the class today between the woman teaching and a few of the fiesty Latina women in the class. You could cut it with a knife. It was uncomfortable. You know the feeling when someone is offended and then withdraws from the conversation? That was it. That lasted almost the whole day.

We ended the class by taking a test (which I think I did well on) and then we did a fairwell exercise with a ball of yarn. Closing thoughts on class are bulleted:

1) Having class was great. I learned a whole lot of useful things that will make me a better interpreter someday. I also met some bomb people and made lots of networking ties. People dropped sentences like, “Maybe you’ll be working for me someday.” and “You should work with this airline I work for, we’re looking for bilingual people like you.” There were so many wonderful and professional people there. I was really impressed and blessed at the same time. So much wisdom. I got to learn from it.

2) It was a blast to hang out with so many people who spoke Spanish. We went out for drinks tonight. I say drinks, but allow me to clarify. They got drinks, I got water. I’ll talk about that later. Anyway, we went to this Mexican restaurant and hung out afterwards about 15 spanish speaking folks, a couple korean women, and a russian woman. It was one of the coolest experiences ever. The entire table was talking in multiple languages. We drifted in and out of spanish, we asked the korean women about food and pronunciation. It was amazing. I took a moment at this table to realize that the people there were primarily hispanic and for one of the first times in my life I felt like I belonged with them. I didn’t feel like an outsider who didn’t understand what was being said. Mind you, I’m not perfect…but just having that little piece of belonging made me feel great.

3) I got multiple offers for lodging and food in the Midwest. Specifically Wisconsin. If I ever make it over there, my friend Sonia says she has a room for me and all the mexican food I can eat. That sounds pretty frikkin awesome. Again, allow me to make the point that this was probably one of the best groups of people that I’ve ever randomly taken class with.

Okay, let’s take a tangent. I mentioned that although everyone else got drinks, I got water. Why did I do this, you ask? This is why. I signed an agreement several years ago saying that I not drink alcohol outside of “family traditions”. It’s part of the SPU Lifestyle expectations agreement. Which I will comply with. There may be some boos and hisses from the crowd at this point. This is my reasoning. My friend Daniel Lowndes asked me once what I thought my word meant. He asked me if I thought it was important to me to do what I said I would. I answered yes. That’s stuck with me until this point. Follow through is a key part of life. It’s also a key part of life with Jesus. We’ve gotta do what needs to be done. 

Thus I don’t drink outside of “family traditions”. There you have it. Some people argue the “What does it matter?” line or the “it’s not biblical.” line.

I’ll take the “it’s not biblical” one first. Jay walking isn’t biblical, and yet we all acknowledge the importance of crossing the street in a manner that allows you to not be in danger form automobiles. You do a lot of things that aren’t necessarily biblical. Why moan about this one? Is it because you want to do what you want to do, despite agreements you’ve made? Western individualistic society getting to you? I think so.

Next point the “what does it matter?” point. My answer to this came from today. I didn’t get a drink at drink time. The people in my class asked me about it. I said that I was going to do what I said I would do, regardless of how fun it was (it was not more fun). Everyone at the table who heard this said things like, “That’s really impressive.” and “Not a lot of kids your age would do that.” They were impressed by the integrity that this showed. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here. I’m not that great of a person. HOWEVER, I am trying to show you that integrity matters. The lovely people from my class have more respect for me and for my beliefs as a result of something as simple as not ordering a margarita because I said I wouldn’t. I think that matters.

I came back to the house after “drink” time. That water…got me a bit tipsy. Oh my. Nope. Just kidding. I had to pee. That was all.

I hung out after that with my friends Cate and Leah. I’m in bible study with them. They’re great. We had dinner and it was nice. Afterwards Cate and I watched “Hot Fuzz”. Great film. Really funny. Even the 4th time. I ended up having pleasant conversation with Cate until about 11 and then I came back. I learned something interesting (other than the fact that I appreciate Cate). I have people who watch out for me. Cate told me a story that I’d never heard about how a couple friends of mine talked to a girl I know about how she should be careful of sending me the wrong signals. I thought about being mad, but then I realized that these people were watching my back. They’re guys who are older than me. The way Cate told me the story it seemed like they were watching out for their little brother. That made me chuckle. It’s nice to have people who care about you. Especially when they act like it.

The last few days I’ve been texting a lot. I’ve been talking to my friend Jess during class practically the whole day. I have enjoyed it. It’s nice having a cell phone. I didn’t have one until the beginning of this year. As much as I hate to admit it, they are very convenient. I can make calls whereever I go. I can talk to friends without interrupting class. I can even get pictures of the ocean in San Diego (thanks Jess. I think I probably get charged more for that. You better enjoy the sun. It was dark and cold today). Cell phones are pretty useful inventions. Several years ago I would have said something entirely different. Now, I’m a fan. High five to verizon wireless.

That’s about it really. I start camp on Sunday. I hope that it’s good. I really don’t know what to expect this year. Maybe I’m just old and jaded. Or maybe I just need the break that camp is going to be. We’ll see. In any case I am leaving Seattle tomorrow and I would like to once more bid a fond farewell to West Seattle. It’s been my home this last week and it’s been grand.

 

PS: Also, I’d like to thank Wayne and his parents for putting me up in their home. In case they ever read the blog, it was a blessing.