Now that you're here (and yes, it's probably raining - oh - have you been to REI yet for gear? Kit yourself out for the rain. North Face and REI offer great, high-quality all-weather gear. We found our rain boots and warm waterproof coats and jackets invaluable. Here's the thing: Do not skimp on rain gear. It's the one thing you really need here to get out. Without it, you're pretty much stuck and wetter than, well, a wet blanket. Yes, it's grey most of the time, but there are shades and shades of grey (book? what book? no reference whatsoever!) and it's truly gorgeous on most days once you're out. They don't call Washington the Evergreen State for nothing. And Redmond is the bicycle capital of the Northwest, dating all the way back to the first Redmond Bike Derby in 1939, so get out that cycle, pop on a helmet and head out.
What you really need to do if you're going to keep from going stir-crazy in the initial days, is check out what your city has to offer. King County has a fabulous network of superbly-equipped public libraries. Check out www.kcls.org. Up on offer is a whole bunch of activities: from story time for kids of all ages (including Hindi story time every alternate Saturday) to citizenship classes for adults (though you're probably still a long way away from there); a great selection of books and videos that you can check out (100 items at a time), computer / internet use (2 hours at a time) and print outs (75 B&W pages a week), dedicated kids areas, quiet / study areas, meeting rooms that you can book in advance and use for activities... And it's all *free*.
Meetups are a great way to meet new people, connect with your interests and find new ones and the Eastside has any number of meetups happening from bikers and hikers to moms to essential oils and natural lifestyles, book clubs, writers groups, crafts, sports, DIYers, different sexual orientations... It can be extremely alienating to land in a new environment without knowing anyone at all, but here's the thing. First, people are friendly and pretty much oriented towards their interests, be they family and baking or crafting and hiking. Secondly, there are any number of desis here. While I was aware of this as an academic fact, it sort of came home to me when I was checking out preschools for my tot. A class went marching out and there were at least 7 out of every 10 kids who were desi. That's not to say that you will find your countrymen and women universally friendly. In the balance, I have probably had a better experience striking up a conversation with white Americans here than with Indians (when they are both strangers).
And my last bit of gyan is a total gem on Sunday nights. One place you totally have to check out is the "best Irish pub in Eastside Seattle" reliably reported by a lovely Irish lady who's been here for 15 years. I agree with her. Wilde Rover has this really cool band called The Herding Cats that plays every Sunday from 9pm onwards. They mostly play music from the 80s through to the late 90s covering everything from George Michael to Led Zep and more. And the coolest thing about this place one of their regulars: a 95-year-old called John Finch who sings with them every time he's there and totally rocks the place.
Cheers to that and to your time here.
फिर मिलेंगे।
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