Fresh Start University Of Texas Austin | Tax Amnesty

ANSWER:
Jordan,
I worked in Seattle for a year in 2001, after being in Texas for a long time. I'm back in Texas now. The year in Seattle is one I will never forget.

It doesn't rain all the time. It's cloudy or overcast about 70% of the time. More in the winter, but way less in the summer.

Most of the time it's not a downpour as much as it is a drizzle when it does rain. Think of a rainy spring day after it stopped raining.

The air smells clean all the time, like it's permeated with the smell of fresh dirt and evergreens and water. It's delicious.

The winter time is depressing because it gets dark so early. I swear, sometimes I'd sleep in on a saturday, putz around and not get out until 4:30 or so, and I wouldn't see daylight that day if I didn't go outside before that.

Summertime is the opposite. Twilight isn't until 9:30. The only thing about summer is, it never gets over about 80, maybe 85 once in awhile. I felt like summer was slow in arriving, then never actually got there and then it started cooling off again. I felt like I missed summer that year because I'm used to real heat.

The winter isn't really that cold. The ocean moderates the temperatures. Yes, you get snow sometimes, but it's always so humid, and it's usually not colder than 20 or 25, so it's not that bad. Having grown up in the midwest where -10 and a hard wind wasn't uncommon, it wasn't that much worse than some parts of Texas. It just lasted longer.

There's incredible natural beauty everywhere you go. I left my kayak on top of my car because I could be on a mountain lake near Monroe 30 minutes after work, paddle and fish for 3 hours before it got dark, and be in bed by 11 pm and up for work the next day. I'd spend saturday mornings slowly paddling up and down the shore of Lake Washington, 2 miles from my apartment. Sometimes I'd cross over into Lake Union or explore the lake near the botanical gardens near WSU.

The city is an international port. It's truly a melting pot. You can get authentic food from all around the world: Thai, Malaysian, Vietnemese, Chinese, Russian, Indian (best of my life), Brazilian (believe it or not), super fresh seafood, and many others.
What you could not get was a good plate of fajitas and a decent margarita.

There are a lot of places where you can walk around and see shops and restaurants and people. The university district, Pike Street Market, Kirkland downtown, and so on. It's different but in general, I'm talking about an atmosphere like Austin's Sixth street area, Philly's South street area, Baltimore's waterfront, Fort Worth's downtown, Dallas's former "west end marketplace" before it went to hell, or LA's Santa Monica Pier area.

Cons are that you will miss having as much sunshine. The cost of living is higher than many areas of the country but not as bad as NY or LA. Strangers seem more uptight, 'standoff-ish' and ruder than the south, yet are more polite in traffic - odd as that is. Women in general were much less approachable than anywhere else I've ever been. I became friends with a couple of gals from other countries, but generally, I did not date there. Traffic is heavier than some places, depending where you go. It's not as bad as Houston, LA, Boston, and many other places - generally speaking, but worse than others.

Generally speaking, it was not someplace I'd ever move to and stay, but if I could live there 3 months of the year, at times of my choosing, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This would be for the natural beauty and food, and in spite of the weather, the women, the traffic, and cost of living.

-Kevin

Source: http://sumgait.net/uncategorized/fresh-start-university-of-texas-austin/

Jodi Arias Warriors Kelly Rowland Dirty Laundry Rolando McClain Jaden Smith Plumber Granbury Texas