Seattle, WA

Seattle from my window

Apartment hunting

Yesterday was our apartment hunting day. Apartment hunting in Seattle is very different from apartment hunting in Norman/Hazelwood. I accompanied some of friends to find their apartments back in Norman. We did the apartment hunting in Hazelwood last week. It was significantly different in Seattle. Or maybe I never looked for apartments in the center of the downtown. Finding apartments in the center of the downtown is a perilous task.

The first thing I noticed was I had make an appointments in order to get a tour. That was something new to me. And the property managers usually don't have any office unless the complex is really big. Property managers have no intention to sell their apartments, somehow all of them are in high demand. Parking is a mess. Find a suitable parking is somewhat comparable to the conquest of troy.

Driving in downtown Seattle is a nightmare. The roads are hilly. I am not familiar with their street sign and two sides of a street are always filled up by parked vehicles. It was a pretty hectic day. Apartments are very expensive. I have seen 430 sqft studio apartment with the price tag of 1650$/month. But I have to say, they know how to design a studio. Some of the studios are so well designed that it feels like everything is in separate room. The most important part is they are neat. In general, Seattle is a pretty neat city.

I hope I'll find something by today. Not that I'm in hurry but I want to wrap things up by this memorial day weekend.

Emerald City

Finally, I am in Seattle, WA. It would be my new home for next couple of years. People like me who don't have permanent address, our home floats around with us. I am lucky, Seattle is a beautiful city for being home. We have reached last night. I was quite a shock for me: the way I was treated in Seattle. After being a graduate student for so long I almost forgot that I have any importance at all. Amazon treated us well since yesterday. I picked up my car from VIP car lounge where five other cars were sitting there to be my ride. And then got a place in the middle of the downtown on sixth floor with immaculate furniture and wooden floor.  That was quite a treatment. I think Seattle would take a good care of me.

We had burger last night. The place we had burger was not that expensive but they charge five cents for ketchup! That was something new. I think people would take it as a joke if somebody starts asking money for ketchup in Oklahoma. Life is different here. I think I am gonna get an apartment in the middle of the downtown as well. I wanna see embrace the busy life next.

Norman to Seattle! It was quite a shock. Everything is slow and flat in Norman. Seattle is quite opposite. People are busy, lands are hilly and tranquility is a dream. This is a new america, totally unknown to me. Goodbye my Oklahoma life. I hope I would be able find a new home here in this beautiful Emerald city.

Springfield, MO

It was a busy day. We packed our stuff, sort everything out and left Norman. Our plan was to get as close as possible to St Louis, MO by tonight. Finally, we stopped at Springfield, MO. Somehow we always stop at Springfield, MO in between Norman and St Louis. This is our second time stay in Springfield. In turns out that I always end up in some hotel room in Springfield. I have no idea about this city. I saw a long list of tourist places downstairs of our hotel. I think there are couple of popular places nearby. I will make some plan for Springfield someday. For tomorrow, our plan for tomorrow is to wake up early in the morning, have breakfast and start toward St Louis.

Real life

My next stop is Seattle, WA. I would be there for some time. This part of my life is often called real life. Like Fareed Zakaria, I also don't know why the other part is not real. The real life is not entirely new to me. I had a glimpse of it back in 06. I worked for KAZ Software Ltd for two years. I am not sure whether KAZ was like real world or not, I had enjoyed every moment of KAZ. I am still proud of KAZ. I met some brightest people there. I often think about KAZ, the more I think, the more I respect Wahid Aziz Chowdhury. I think he is the architect of such a great work place in Dhaka.

KAZ was not very famous when I started working for KAZ. I don't know whether KAZ is famous now or not. When I went to the interview I was not very sure about the company. Even when I joined KAZ, I didn't know much. I was kind of taking chance. But one thing I was sure about, I liked the people. I liked the people I met on my interview. So I was not too worried about the company. After all it is the people that make an organization.

I am going to join Amazon on May 27th. This part of my real life would be defined by Amazon. Amazon is a big name, apart from everything, I liked the people who interviewed me. I know that does not matter much for big companies like Amazon. But that matters for me. I believe I have to spent at least one third of my day with my colleagues. So, they need to be the way I want. Let's see what real life has for me.

Norman, OK

I am counting my last days in Norman. I came here in Norman from Dhaka back in 2008. Norman is the place how I know America. I have been living in Norman since then. Zafar was asking how many days I can recall out of my 5 years in Norman. I think I can recall pretty large number of days. I have tons of memories in Norman. I have my success stories, I have my failure stories. I saw my dreams, materializing into reality, I witnessed my dreams, evaporating into ashes.

Norman is one of the best places to live. I have enjoyed my days in Norman. I didn't know what to expect from Norman when I first came here. Everything was a surprise. I think as a college town, Norman offered way more than I expected. I meet my life parter here in Norman.

I think the beauty of Norman lies in its tranquility. It has an interesting attraction to its dwellers. Norman pretty much except everyone from everywhere. Life in Norman is usually very slow. It's not a very happening city. Today here is not much different from yesterday. Again, it has everything a modern city dweller might need on daily basis. In that sense Norman was perfect balance between busy and calm life. People who live here tend to keep living here.

I think I would miss Norman. I would miss its tranquility, its vive during the first week of fall. I guess my life won't have fall, spring and summer any more.