Megan's Summer Recap

Hey guys, it's Megan! 
Although most of the international students have gone home for the summer, I chose to stick around and spend my summer in the U.S. So far, I've stayed pretty close to home and explored the Pacific Northwest - which has proven itself to be quite the summer vacay spot! Despite a couple of rainy days (or weeks), most of my days have been spent by the lake, at the beach, or just enjoying the summer weather with friends. 

This coming week I'll be heading down to Florida for the remainder of the summer, so I figured I'd give you guys a recap of what I've been up to thus far. Hopefully this will give you guys an idea of things to do around PLU if you're new to the area. Here we go!

May 2019

Graduation
Graduation marked the end of the school year and beginning of summer, and I got to see my boyfriend get his diploma!

PLU's graduation ceremony takes place in the Tacoma Dome, so I went with some of my close friends and celebrated those of us who are done at PLU for good! Going into my senior year, I can say that I don't feel ready to graduate from college at all , so luckily May 2020 is still quite a while away!


My First Mariners Game

A couple days after graduation, I got to check another point off my bucket list - going to a baseball game! My friend somehow managed to get a hold of 4 free tickets to a Mariners game, and I was more than happy to keep her company. To be honest, I have very little interest in watching any sport, but going to games is an event in itself. The food is so good (and so bad for you <3), and baseball is the kind of sport you can watch while chatting with friends. 

As you can see, however, I didn't really know what was going on. I applauded and stood up when everyone else did, and that's pretty much all it takes to pretend to know the sport! All in all it was a very entertaining evening, and this game in particular had fireworks in the end. And the best thing of all... 

THE MARINERS WON!!!

Countless Trips to American Lake 
I've also taken it upon myself to become a regular visitor of the local lakes. I love to swim in fresh water, so whenever the weather allowed for it, I made sure to drag some friends with me and head to the nearest lake. American lake is where the PLU rowing team has their daily rowing sessions, so I'd been here a couple of times before. 

I would definitely recommend visiting American lake if you are looking for somewhere to enjoy the sun outside of campus. It's about a 15 minute drive, and often times I run into other PLU students while I'm there. 

I also took a trip to Anderson Island this summer, which has to be my favorite place to swim so far! They have a tower in the middle of the lake you can jump from, and a waterslide! This place is a lot harder to get to, as it is located on an island you can only reach by ferry. Either way, if you plan ahead and have access to a car - this is a great spot to check out!

June 2019

Strawberry Festival

   

This summer, PLU arranged the "Summer Berry Festivals 2019". Essentially, once a month PLU students, faculty or members of the community can gather in Red Square and get a taste of summer (free if you bring your LuteCard). The Strawberry festival was held on June 12th, The Rasperry Festival on July 13th, and you can still make it to the Blueberry Festival which will be on August 7th from 11:30am to 1:00pm! 

Sunsets at Owen Beach

Another highlight of June were all the sunsets I spent at Owen beach with my friend Joseph. After a while, it became a routine for us to head to the beach around 7:00pm, in order to catch the last hour of sun for the day. 

We'd usually go to the same spot, which was pretty far down the beach, because that's where the seals are! There are a lot of seals that just hang out by the shore, so my favorite part was seeing the seals play with each other while the sun was going down. 

July 2019

My friend came to visit!

A noteworthy part of July was that my best friend from back home in Norway surprised me with a visit! She stayed with me for a little over two weeks, so I had a lot of time to show her around and take her sightseeing. Her first day here was 4th of July, which we spent barbecuing with friends and watching fireworks.

Of course, Pike Place is the first tourist stop for pretty much everyone that comes to Seattle - so I had to take her! 

Here are some other photos from her visit:

The Rose Garden at Point Defiance is so beautiful this time of year! Pictured is my friend Ida with my housemate!

This photo was taken during a concert held outside in Portland, OR!

Alright... I could go on further, but to be honest I haven't been up to much other than this! Since my friend went back to Norway, I've mainly been working during the mornings, and then hung out with friends at the lake during the afternoon/evening. Tonight, however, I'm off to Florida - so I'll finish the summer strong before being back here again in September. 

Until then -- see ya!
- Megan