Welcome to Washington!

Finally here! Spent most of my day on the plane/sleeping, and arrived in Seattle around 12:15 in the afternoon (3:15 PM, Virginia time). Met David Boushey at the airport, who runs the school, as well as three other instructors and nine other students. Evidently, David and I know all the same people (my director from Blue Jacket, Mark "Rat" Guinn, being the predominant mutual contact). Then we passed through the city on our way out to the hotel we're staying at in Lynwood. This city is beautiful; it was neat to see the Space Needle, port, and mountains all in the same view. The only downside is the fact that it is currently quite chilly, but it's not too bad. Much better than the blazing heat and sticky humidity I left behind in Virginia.

I tried to meet everyone today, but as there are 60 of us total, I highly doubt I will remember most peoples' names by tomorrow. There are 15 girls, and the rest are guys. Several people are from outside the country, too: Chile, Austria, Barbados, England, Israel, Japan, and a couple of guys from Australia. Everyone seems to have different backgrounds; some have done martial arts in the past, some are actors who want more out of their career, others are simply looking for an exhilarating life experience. We had an orientation meeting regarding everything from our lunch breaks to the professionalism expected of everyone, then ate pizza and mingled some more before calling it a night. Personally, I have been up and about for 21 hours or so, and I'm dead tired. We start tomorrow- unarmed combat!