Exploration Assignment 2 – A Walk Around UW

Start: Blue Star

End: Green Circle

Practically every single school day, I walk the path from the Burke-Gillman trail starting by Hitchcock, up through the physics/astronomy courtyard, past the dorms on west campus, up to my apartment complex. The walk is one I have done countless times, but I have to say, this time when I actually had to pay attention to my surrounding, I noticed things I have never noticed before. To begin with, the path starts out at a crossroads in the Burke-Gilman trail. Like on most mornings, the trail was filled with people walking by or jogging and bikers riding along, most people trying to get to class. The trail is lined with trees and grass, flowers and shrubs. It’s easy to see why it’s popular, especially considering how nice the paving is in most places. This particular part of the path is next to a small parking lot used by the physics department, but to be honest I don’t usually notice it. Sometimes there are people loading and unloading gear, as they were in the morning, but it’s easy to ignore with the trees. Then we get right up next to the physics auditorium. This building is made out of a light colored brick. In my opinion, this makes it truly collegiate looking. On the side of the building is a sundial, which took me a long time to notice! There’s a sign that is quite large, but I only noticed the sundial a few days before my walk. The trail has a point where you can look out onto Lake Washington between the Genome Building and one of the Oceanography buildings. Although you have to look out over Pacific to see it, it makes everything seem so embedded in nature. Most of the people walking by are listening to music, and not many people are engaging with others.

   

Then we get to the stairs that lead up to the phsyics courtyard. I love these stairs! The granite is marbled and looks so fancy. Between the stairs there is a lot of grass and weeds. That’s the thing about going to school in Washington, there are green things everywhere! Even where there shouldn’t be. As I get up the stairs, I see the pillar at the edge of the courtyard. I don’t know what it’s called and I’ve never known what’s it’s called. I never even bothered to look until my evening walk. I think a lot of people might have never looked at it either. I think while there are a lot of people around trying to get to class, it’s hard to stop and really try to take it in. I later examined it and found the sign declaring it to be a work of public art. I still don’t know what it is though. But looking at it, it makes it seem like the Physics Auditorium and Physics Building make up their own mini campus. On the side of the physics building there is a seating area filled with picnic tables. It overlooks the lake and the I-5 bridge. One of the lovelier campus spots. It is completely surrounded by greenery – trees, grass, flowers. People are always sitting at the tables eating, or studying, or just hanging out. It feels like college. I get the feeling that this part of campus always seems studious in a way that other parts of campus don’t. It just feels like it has a productive atmosphere. Maybe it has something to do with the view, or the trees, or the brick buildings, or the sculpture, or the tip of the pendulum that you can just see through the glass of the Physics Auditorium.

While during the day there were lots of people walking by here, in the evening there was virtually no one. It gave me a chance to notice how many trash/recycle/composting receptors there are around campus. I never really notice them until I need to use them. But when I saw the one just on the edge of the physics courtyard, it made me appreciate how earth-friendly Seattle is. It’s something I liked seeing. I think it really does help to keep the trash levels down around campus. Walking down Stevens Way, I’m once again surrounded by trees. There really are so many different types of plants around campus! The only downside to this path is having to walk past Guthrie. Of all the buildings here, it just doesn’t look as nice. But to be fair, I never notice is that much because I am always drawn to the Architecture building and the MoIES building. These buildings are both made from cream colored stone. Absolutely gorgeous buildings, flanking the road and paths on either side. The architecture building kind of stands out, but not in a bad way. The design is different, much more European and less modern. There were a lot of people walking around because classes had just let out in the morning. Most people were walking pretty fast, no doubt trying to get to their next classes. But I noticed all the bike racks around architecture. There are so many bike racks around campus, and they’re always occupied with bikes. No matter the time of day! The campus is so big, it makes sense. But there are also a lot of stairs, so there must be a lot of side paths for the bikes that add distance to the already long distances around.

Walking up past the architecture building is a bus stop that is perpetually occupied by at least one person waiting for the bus. It’s kind of in a dingy place by the Guthrie Annex, but it’s shaded, so it’s good for any weather. Again, this place isn’t really conducive to conversation or socializing, especially when people are in a rush. But if you keep walking, there is the stoplight. This stoplight is so weird! The walk signs on both sides of the street go on at the same time, so you could essentially cross the street diagonally without getting run over. This is a new change that’s been made to the traffic signals, and I haven’t yet decided if I like it or not. But you can see people taking advantage of this by really crossing the street diagonally. Anything to cut down on wait time, right?

I didn’t cross the street diagonally in the morning, but I did in the evening. Here you walk past the Commodore Duchess Apartments, which are nice and brick like many of the other buildings on this side of campus. But then right next to this is a building that is so out of place I can’t help but stare every single time. It’s a yellow cottage-like building that has a café and a convenience store. I have never been in either, but every single time I walk by I think about how I would love to go in. I always look into the café to see who is in there. Cafes are always so interesting to me because they cater to so many different types of people, especially on a college campus. I like walking by and smelling the coffee when the window is open, and I bet others do, too. In the evening the café is closed, but I still glanced inside. Next to the café and convenience store is a little restaurant I’ve never been in, Banana Leaf. It’s cute, and two sides are completely paneled in windows. I always forget that as much as I can see the people inside, they can see me, too. This is probably a really prime people watching spot because during the day, people are constantly walking by in various states of haste.

The buildings start to look even less uniform after walking past Banana Leaf. There are a few grey buildings that are the new dorms, but the newest dorm doesn’t match at all, being all cream and glassy. The Market at Alder it fun to look into because you can always see the fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes they even sell flowers, and so many different snack foods. I always look in, reminding myself of the things I need to pick up at the grocery store. The displays are eye catching, if only because they’re so colorful. Even people in a rush quickly glance in before charging past. There are medians in the road, on Campus Parkway, that are covered in grass and trees. On one side, there is even a seating area in the middle of the concrete, complete with benches and tables. It seems like such an odd place, but I have seen people sitting there, just in the middle of two main streets. It seems so odd. But I noticed how open this area seems in the evening, when I spotted an airplane flying low. Even though the area is starting to close in because of all the new buildings being constructed, it still doesn’t feel congested yet. Right in front of Elm there is a huge Elm tree. The dorm is new, so the tree must have been quite big when it was transplanted. So many trees

 

On the side of elm there is the West Campus Fitness Center. It’s such a weird thing to me. You can look completely inside the fitness center, and the walls are full length windows. It seems so weird to me because it’s right next to a busy bus stop. Everyone inside can look out, just as every outside can look in. That doesn’t seem like a place I would want to look out! It’s utterly transparent, and it makes me uncomfortable. I wonder how the people inside feel. At this point, I walk by the fitness center, behind the dorms, and then on my way to my apartment complex. The walk in the morning took about 15 minutes, and in the evening it took about 13 minutes. I think on a normal day, the walk takes me about 10 minutes. I certainly noticed and thought about things I never have before!