I love Seattle.

I went to Seattle for the first time, and I enjoyed it. On the first day, on the way to Seattle, we went by the Columbia River. I was surprised because I had never seen such a magnificent river. It took about five hours to arrive to Seattle from Spokane, but because there was a lot of natural beauty on the way, I was not bored.

As soon as we arrived in Seattle, we visited the SATECO FIELD. We could not see a baseball game or Ichiro, but we could enter the field and the locker rooms, so it was a precious experience for me. In Seattle, there were Ichiro’s posters everywhere. I am not interested in baseball very much, however, Ichiro is very popular and famous in Japan because he is often broadcast in sports news. So I think he is wonderful, and I am proud of him as Japanese. After that, we had time for shopping. In Seattle, the famous brand products were not as expensive as in Japan. I was surprised and happy because I love shopping. Another thing that I was surprised at was that most stores were closed at 7:00pm. Stores in Japan are open until late, so I was a little disappointed.

On the second day, we visited Olympia, which is the capitol of Washington State. There, we visited the capitol building, which was wonderful and huge; also chandelier was very beautiful and attractive. In the building, there was a grand piano, which was given by the Germans as a gift. Our guide, Ron, asked if anybody could play the piano. I played the piano because my friends recommend me, and I also wanted to play it. It sounded very, very wonderful. I felt comfortable, and I was also happy because I could play on a special piano. That night, we took the ferry to a village to eat dinner, which was famous for salmon. We ate dinner while watching the dance, so it was very delicious and I enjoyed the show. On the way back to our hotel, we could see the night view of the whole city. I was very touched by the beauty. I had never seen such a wonderful night view. I wish my family and friends were there to see it.

On our last day, we went to the University of Washington as soon as we woke up. It was very large. I also envied American college students because most of them commute to school by car. Our school does not allow students drive to school. After that, I enjoyed eating brunch at Space Needle overlooking the city of Seattle. Visiting Seattle was really great. I was beginning to love the city.

Next, we went to Pike Place Market, which are visited by more than nine million visitors each year. I was looking forward to going there because there is the original Starbucks in the market. It was smaller than I anticipated, and there were many people. I was surprised to see a very long line because I had not ever seen such a line at any Starbucks. The flavor of the coffee and atmosphere were great. I love Starbucks, so I was happy. Another thing that I was amazed by at the market was that some clerks were throwing fish to each other, and they threw imitation fish once in a while. It was exciting, and they made us laugh. There were not only fish but also a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit which were shined as if they were diamonds, and they looked delicious. American Markets are different from Japan. The Japanese markets are only for selling, however, markets in America are entertaining and make customers happy. On the street, people were dancing, singing, and performing magic, and drawing pictures. It looked like a festival. I was really excited about shopping there. In Seattle, I recommend Pike Place Market. Seattle was a wonderful city, and I was touched by everything I saw. I was sad when I left there. In the future, I want to go to Seattle and visit Pike Place Market again.