Original post found on Steve Sakanashi’s blog:

It’s been on my mind for about a week or so, and today i finally got around to it. After helping my sister move way too much stuff into her sorority house I parked my car near the university, got some quarters at the bank, and hopped on the 48 bus headed to Rainier Beach. Basically, i crossed the line most in the North side never cross and went down to South Seattle.

It’s a different world. Almost surreal. The North side has all these trendy spots and shops everywhere. When you go south of I-90 though, everything changes, fast. In a way i felt like a missionary parachuting into a foreign country. My four years in Seattle were spent in one of the richest areas of Seattle. I’ve been worlds apart from the people i was walking amongst today. Even though i’m Asian-American like many of the people in the South Side, i’m different. My homeland is the 2nd largest world economy; most who live there are from 3rd world. And i’m the fourth generation in America whereas the majority are first/second generation. No real conclusions to anything. These are just some things i’ve been wrestling with, in part because students i’ll meet at UW will come from this area, and because i live in Seattle–and we basically ignore half of the city in my opinion.

Here’s one thing: even though socioeconomically i was pretty different and disconnected, it was refreshing to be the majority culture for a little bit. When i’m in the North, apart from the UW, i’m often the only non-white person in a shop. But on the bus and walking the streets, i just blended in. It was weird, but from Chinatown southward i felt at home.