It is hard to believe that this is our fourth week in Bellingham, Washington State, already. I am more familiar with the SPIE digital library system and have finally finished a big project of preparing data for the Barnes & Noble eBook library and cannot wait to see online what I have done. Data usually takes 6-8 weeks to appear online after the initial upload. I have been learning a lot about library systemization and categorization in general. Publishing and editing is quite and interesting field to be in, especially now that eBooks are becoming so popular. The weather has been fantastic- we are having the perfect summer. It is almost too hot sometimes. Apparently, this weather is not normal for Washington and the temperature is supposed to rise to an all-time record level.

On our second weekend we rented a car and went on a road trip to Portland, Oregon. It was exciting to drive down there. Not only was Portland beautiful, but the drive itself was an adventure. We finally felt like we had arrived in America, as you can do so much more when you have a car. We bought loads of groceries and are now set for the upcoming weeks.

There is a lot happening during the week, too. Going out on a Wednesday night is essential. I really got into hula hooping, which Boundary Bay, a very unique bar/restaurant in Bellingham offers. Alas, we usually head there after the $5 burger&pint deal dinner at another Bellingham hotspot and start hula hooping to reggae music. There are a lot of woods and lakes nearby as well, so swims joined with BBQ’s at the lake and enjoying the outdoors are on the agenda frequently.

We went to Seattle on our third weekend.  We took the train along the West coast down to watch Seattle’s Mariners play baseball. We went with a group of work colleagues who took us to one of the most popular pre-game breweries, where loads of fellow Mariners fans prepared for the game against Cleveland’s Indians. Unfortunately, the Mariners didn’t do that well, but the baseball experience was incredible. Our seats were up high, so that we could see Seattle’s skyline and the football stadium, which is right next to the baseball stadium. Yes- it is a European football stadium. Even though they have to share with the American Footballers, football, or soccer, seems to be more popular than ever here in the US. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Seattle and found out that a snakebite is considered a shot in Seattle’s bars and that cider is very hard to find in those West coast brewery cities. We visited the main sights and even saw the first Starbucks ever, which was established in 1912, right next to Seattle’s famous Pikes Place Market. The weekends are always over way too quickly, but at least we can lie out in the sun after work, enjoy the record breaking temperatures and look forward to another four, hopefully just as fabulous, weekends.