3 Weeks Back in Tacoma - Some Notes

I have a lot to say about our trip to the US, but I'm not feeling eloquent enough to turn it into a nice and coherent thing to read thing.  However, I took excellent notes during the whole trip and I think it would be entertaining to share these one-liners with you.


During the car ride from the airport to Tacoma:

"I forgot about those really big trees." - David

"This is scary." - Miles, while we were on a freeway onramp.

I kept looking around and sitting with the feeling that my mom wasn't there anymore.

"What was that?!" - David, about the noise a car made while it revved its engine.

"It's a flipped over white ship made of tires. Really big." - Miles about the Tacoma Dome.

In Tacoma:

This latte cost $5.99 omg.

The political yard signs were less loud - more green, more unique blues, less red.

"I recognize that park, but just a little." - David while driving past People's Park for the first time.

Continuing the theme that David didn't remember as much as we expected...

Miles - "I remember this [street]! It's the way our bus went!"

David - "Our WHAT?"

Miles - "Our bus that went to school!"

It kept surprising me to hear people speaking English, particularly when this kid at a playground came running up to me and making me a part of his make believe.

Seeing squirrels also surprised me.

To me, Tacoma felt really comfy, but not like a warm and welcoming blanket.  More like a flood of happy memories and sharp, needly reminders of the problems.

The kids used Alexa to give themselves math problems to solve.

I was both feeling comfortable and anxious around people.

The Salish Sea ("Puget Sound") smelled extra good.  It has a different smell than the canals, and of course than the coasts.

Despite my annoyance with cars and pavement, I also found driving to be soothing.  NPR was soothing.

On Thursday 8/8, Miles started to feel homesick for Leiden... he missed croissants.

I had a pang of homesickness for Leiden when I saw a hijab for the first time, quite some time into our trip.

"It looks like a Dryad" - Miles in Point Defiance.

In Our (previous) House/Neighborhood:

At one point, I was walking a street that I used to walk on all the time but has been fancified and I had to wait for 3 light cycles that prioritized the cars before I could cross the street.  Wow.

There are definitely people who drive in Leiden with their music super loud, but I had sort of forgotten about the volume where the bass shakes the car itself.

Everything in this house is more reachable than my house in Leiden.

"Bougie Fuckers" - I hope that the person who said this reads this post and giggles.  I loved this statement so much.

In Portland (a trip I took alone):

The first thing I saw while exiting the freeway was a lesbian couple holding hands.

What on earth is happening with the radio?! It felt like it was still 2004.  I Heard Weezer, Foo Fighters, The Offspring, Blink 182... Ryan Seacrest was even on a commercial ad.

I had the realization that the Dutch understanding of Americans being just so nice is actually true.  The customer service is super on-point and people aren't afraid to make eye contact and say hello when walking past, but once you get past that interaction the contexts can change.  It's helpful to be a European tourist for sure, and depends on which part of the US you're in.

There is just SO much payment.  This shock was less about the cars or our reliance on them, not about the fact that whole cities were built around them and how long it takes to get somewhere.  But just the vast swaths of pavement everywhere you look.  The streets in the neighborhood I grew up in and hadn't visited for 15 years were so much wider than I remember, even though I was a much smaller person at the time I lived there.

In Lakewood:

"Why does everyone have such a big front yard and such a big backyard in America?!" - Miles while taking the dogs for a walk.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.

In Conclusion - things in Tacoma to miss:

• So many dogs.
• Squirrels.
• Coniferous trees, so many trees, so much green.
• Hills.
• Individuality of expression, particularly in style/dress.  The "Dutch uniform" is contextual, but feels very real after visiting the US.
• Customer service.
• That volcano.
• Our people.