Mountain Paradise and sea lions in Oregon.

Summer in the Pacific Northwest is truly wonderful.  It is sunny almost every day, it barely rains, and the evening air reminds me of the Mediterranean climates.

No wonder why the surrounding mountain trails are so popular in the summer. One of them is the Mount Rainier National Park. We decided to make a visit.   

Mountain Rainier is a dormant volcano and is also the highest peak in the state of Washington.  With good visibility, I often see from afar its snowy peak. It is also often themed on paintings, reproductions and souvenirs from Seattle.

When my Dad visited us in March, he was curious of the Mountain’s name. With the help of Wikipedia, we learned that George Vancouver, famous British explorer and naval officer of the Royal Navy, called it at end of the XVIIIth century, in honor of his friend to Peter Rainier. The name prevailed even despite the American Revolutionary War.

We entered the park in the car and drove almost to the top. We chose a less challenging trail Paradise. It was quite busy, but very pleasant. After a walk among foggy and flourishing meadows, we could not pass on iced coffee in the nearby hotel with a beautiful view of the peaks of the Cascade Mountains.

Last weekend however we explored the coastal town of Newport in Oregon. Its stunning local beach is adorned and illuminated by mysterious lighthouse, The Yaquina Head Light.

In the attached video you may see charming and very noisy sea lions that attract the city’s tourists.  Amusingly, on the famous Bachelor Row’s decks, only male species can be seen. In August they arrive to the port leaving females with offspring for the winter in warmer California.

And today we are packing bags for our exotic honeymoon.  We should not forget to stack them with colorful lei...

                           
                                   If you can't see well, pls click here:)

H.xx                

Happy Anniversary!

August marks a year since I flew to the States. Last year was full of beautiful trips and interesting observations. Stay tuned for special summer photo gallery. 

The United States  is a country of great opportunities, but also of great contrasts. On one of the major streets in Seattle one can purchase insanely expensive handbags, but right next to the shops one can also see the lonely and sick homeless.

There are times when things go less smoothly. For example, not a long ago I forgot that the bus driver does not give change - coins and banknotes fell into a sealed container. Now, usually I ride with a transport Orca card.

On the other hand, when saying my name, people mistake Helena with Hannah far by often. Remember when I wrote about this funny linguistic mistake in January?

And what do I think is still ahead of me on the way to the American adaptation?

I should drive more- especially on the highway. The longest route I made so far was when between Oregon and Washington states. It went quite well, but in the US I still I'm afraid of driving only by myself.

A visit to the capital. Especially after watching House of Cards series, seeing the White House seems a necessity. By the way, wouldn’t it be great if the next series where directed by a women with Polish origin ...?

I also hope that in the near future I will find my place in the American labour market. Recently the Polish community was intensely scrutinized for candidates interested in working language as game testers.

The national cuisines are very popular in the States.  That is also why I am also waiting for a moment when I will be finally inviting friends for a home-made pierogi dinner party. It may, however, still take me some time.

August also marks two years since in unique Kiev, while attending a Russian language summer class, I met Dean. We often took walks at the beautiful Independence Square.  How much has changed since then…

Dear readers, thank you, that since last year you visit (even from very remote parts of the world) me here. May further entries be also interesting for you! 

H.

Kiev 2012

                                          

French Meet-Ups

We finally got to attend a Francophile meeting in Bellevue. I found this group on the Meet-up website, which introduces strangers with similar interests. In our neighborhoods there is also a Russian meet-up, as well as a Bellevue Creative Writing group; there are Bollywood dance classes,  Bellevue Active Mums and Eastside Christian Faith Singles.

The French rendezvous take place regularly at a nearby bakery. What a great opportunity to meet new people and speak in French. We learned these that the group's founder, has Polish roots. The meeting has motivated me to watch TV5 Monde États-Unis more often and  frequent the French dvd collection at local library.

When I lived as an Erasmus exchange student in Aix-en-Provence, I regretted not seeing the beautiful lavender fields. Fortunately, though on a much smaller scale, I made it ​​up in the United States. It turned out that the nearby city of Woodinville we can promenade on a Lavender Farm. I discovered this charming place, while spontaneously reviewing photos on Instagram.

The farm has two types of lavender: French and English.  We walked among violets and relaxing scent of lavender. Not surprisingly, the farm also serves as a place for wedding ceremonies. Before leaving we had a cooling grapefruit lemonade. In the parking lot the owner of the farm approached us. We were told that we can always come back and ... help with harvesting. Volunteers are apparently awarded with a bouquet of lavender and an ice cream bar.

Another nice and rather frequent French accent in my American reality are meetings with Jacqes and Claude ... Dean ne t'inquites ne pas! ... You know that these are just the names of pancakes in our French Bakery:)

Quel plaisir …

H.