Contemplating an exchange... (Seattle, Vancouver, Bellingham: private schools, universities, live)

[GORE]

Hello Everyone... I'm new to the forum, but very pleased I came across it. I am from Portland, Maine and am currently attending the University of Southern Maine. My college offers a national exchange program, where you can attend another University (of your choice) throughout the country. I've always had a desire to travel out to the Northwest because I have heard a lot of great things. I just wanted to hear some feedback on whether or not this would be a good decision on my behalf. The school that I am able to attend that has my major is Western Washington State University in Bellingham. What I would ideally look for is some place that has a striving cultural/art scene, clean, friendly and scenic. I am also wondering what the transportation services are like from Bellingham to Seattle, as I plan to frequently visit, whenever I get a chance. Are there buses or trains you can take? Lastly, I'm wondering if Washington is a state that advocates Art Education in their public schools (that is what I'm going to school for). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[the dufferz]

First off, public transportation between bellingham and Seattle consists of finding a pal at western that lives in or near seattle and has a car. It's a 4 county hour plus drive, so since most public transportation is county exclusive...

Bellingham will give you scenic, and a good mix of most of what you are looking for.

Have you checked out the private universities near seattle? Seattle Pacific Univercity has an education major, just not sure about art.

[scirocco22]

Hi Gore! Just a few quick words. You'll be able to gain a lot of info on Bellingham just browsing through the threads here on this forum. In fact, I just posted on one yesterday.

As I stated in that post, Bellingham is a beautiful city. It has its problems but all-in-all, it's a great town. It's close to the amenities of Vancouver B.C. and still close enough to Seattle to still make a day trip out of it.

You were asking about the transportation between Bellingham and Seattle. By all means, take the AMTRAK!! It's a gorgeous ride ...almost too gorgeous to describe in words! I think there are only three trips a day but again, it's worth every penny you'll pay for the ticket to take the train. Yeah, I think there's still Greyhound service but TAKE THE TRAIN! *lol*

And you'll love WWU (it's Western Washington University ...changed its name from Western Washington State College in 1977). It's a beautiful campus! I'll bet money you'll love it!

Okay, more later.

--'rocco

[GORE]

Thank you for the feedback! The reason why I'm asking about Western Washington is because that is the only school that I can do the exchange to in Washington state. Private schools are not included because I go to a Public school hence its only having partnership with other public schools throughout the region. I'm very interested in Washington state though because I've heard really good things. How far is Vancouver and is it easily accessible?

[scirocco22]

Downtown Vancouver is about 45 miles from Bellingham but will usually take over an hour because of the border crossing at Blaine.

Since I haven't made the trip since 9/11, I'll have to let somebody else answer about any hassles you'll encounter with the crossing ...especially getting back into the US.

--'rocco

[scirocco22]

Oh, and here's something I ran across as I was surfing the web the other day. It' a quote from an art ed' site (I probably can look it up again if need be so it can have a precise reference):

"Artists heading to Washington have reason to be excited. The career outlook for nearly every sector in the art industry has extremely favorable projections through 2012. Multimedia artists/animators are forecasted to see 32.9% growth, while art directors are slated for 30.7% increases. Interior designers are expected to see 20% gains, while floral designers should grow by 10.8%.

Washington's amazing wealth of cultural resources includes a number of museums dedicated to the rich art and history of northwest Native Americans, Asians, Africans, and Europeans. Washington also boasts a plethora of organizations committed to the encouragement and preservation of art throughout the state."

--'rocco