Day 6/7 - School & Church

Day 6/7

Where we manage to make our way to Seattle, WA, discover the joys of having our own apartment and acquaint ourselves with DigiPen’s Redmond campus.

It was 10am on a Saturday morning by the time we touched down at SeaTac Airport. Having gotten used to LA’s insane heat, we were completely unprepared for Seattle’s blustery winds. Huddled in our jackets and coats, we hopped on a train that got us to Chinatown. From there we called an Uber, earning ourselves a scenic drive from Seattle to Redmond, where we would be staying for the next three months.

Look at that sea.

We dropped Moses off at his apartment and had the Uber driver circle back to ours. Unfortunately, the ride was extremely expensive, costing a total of USD107. The price was painful, and we would later learn that taking a bus to Seattle from Redmond would only cost USD2.50.

Despite this setback, the excitement of moving into our first-ever apartment could not be abated. We headed down to the Leasing Center at the Gates of Redmond complex and met up with the friendly DigiPen housing staff there. Joe, our laid-back Resident Assistant, showed us to our apartment and gave us some instructions on how to get settled in. We quickly checked the apartment for damages, filled out some forms, then went down the greenery-lined Redmond Way in search for food.

Home for the next three months.

Beautiful greenery.

We decided to try the local KFC, which was the first thing we saw along the road. The service was awkward at best. For some reason, the staff were quite messy, with most of them not really responding to anything around them unless prompted by their manager. Still, we managed to order. Shaun and I got honey BBQ burgers filled with succulent shredded chicken, marinated in a salty-sweet sauce. Jieqi devoured a Famous Bowl, which was basically popcorn chicken thrown into a bowl of mashed potato and cheese. Unsatisfactory service aside, it was a delicious meal.

They don't have this in Singapore.

We returned to our apartment and waited for Joe—earlier in the day he had mentioned that he would stop by for a Q&A session with us regarding apartment-living and life in Redmond. However, Joe was late, and the rest of us fell asleep, no longer able to withstand our sleep-deprived state or the comfort of the apartment’s soft, warm beds.

The next morning was our orientation at the DigiPen campus. I made breakfast for myself and Shaun while Jieqi and Kenneth slept. As the morning wore on, both of them got up, and we got ourselves ready to head out for our first day in school.

The walk to DigiPen from our apartment took approximately half an hour. Along the way, we met up with a few other DigiPen students from Singapore, and by the time we got to the door, we formed a sizeable scouting party. Ashley, the international student affairs liaison, let us into the building. She and Michelle—another DigiPen staff-member—were both bubbly, helpful and very friendly.

The orientation began as soon as the rest of the DigiPen Singapore students streamed in. We went through a couple of ‘good-to-know’ things that could help make our lives in Redmond easier, as well as listened about the various resources and services DigiPen provided for their students. The best part about the orientation was the free lunch, featuring pizza from DigiPen's famous Bits & Bytes Café.

If only we had this in DigiPen Singapore...

When we had finished all the mandatory info-sessions, Moses and I skipped the optional campus tour and, since it was Sunday, decided to attend Mass at one of the local Catholic churches. We took a bus down to St Jude’s Catholic Church, a small parish which apparently houses a little over 700 people (though the main church is so small, I find it a little hard to believe). The Mass felt quite awkward, mostly because of the juxtaposition of praise-and-worship-type music (complete with full band, including dual guitars, keyboard, bass and drums) with the solemn gestures and nuances of the Celebration. Or perhaps Moses and I were simply not used to it yet.

St Jude's Catholic Church

After Mass we rolled on down the hill to the Redmond Town Center. It was a Sunday evening, and almost everything in the Center had ceased operations for the day. Starving and thirsty, we combed the area and found a Thai restaurant called Thai Ginger. The prices were a little steep but the food tasted authentic and good. Moses had a glass of Singha beer and a dish that looked suspiciously like hor fun. I ordered Thai milk tea—something I did not expect to be drinking while in the States—and some Thai-style grilled pork, served with sticky rice and tangy chilli sauce.

Thai food in America?! Heresy!

Later that evening, Moses came over to be jealous of our apartment. Joe dropped in as well to check up on us, educating us on some safety protocols and how to use the dishwashers and dryers (because we’re all idiots). The night ended pretty uneventfully, with Jieqi making dinner for Shaun and Kenneth.

This marked our last unofficial ‘holiday’ period, with the next day being the start of the summer semester. So to everyone on holiday now, make the most of it while it lasts!