A week off of school in February, and that was not even our midwinter break. A welcome surprise greeted us this past week, with the trees, roads and rooftops covered in snow. It was something all of us, especially students, were really looking forward to. Nobody expected such a large amount of snow, as the weather forecast for flurries with 60% chances of snow was common in the months of January and February and wasn’t something we anticipated about too much. The Sunday before, people were so excited by the first flurries that greeted us that season, immediately rushing out for a car ride in the swirling flakes all around us.

As soon as the 5am alarm sounds on my phone, mostly because I’ve forgotten to turn off a previous alarm, there are people gathering outside stores, lining up, their wallets full and their bags empty. This mostly happens on only one Friday in the entire year. Black Friday! Right after Thanksgiving every year, after families have celebrated and spent time together, they pull up to all the nearby malls and outlets.

This week, a storm welcomed itself into western Washington, one that a lot of people weren’t prepared for. I myself hadn’t experienced one like this ever, with winds going at about 60 miles per hour, the tree branches swishing in the breeze. It was exhilarating at first, with the constant sounds of nature at its best outside, the wind and the rain making it almost impossible to see anything.

I came home at about 4pm Tuesday evening (19th November 2024) on what I thought was a normal day in western Washington. There was a light breeze and rain, which was expected. I had heard the warnings on the news that morning, and hadn’t given it much thought, knowing that storms were frequent during this time of the year, and the one last year wasn’t so bad. little did I know what I was in a treat for. The lights kept flickering throughout the day, when I was studying and eating dinner. They started getting more frequent and we first lost power at 10pm.

As the weather drops a few more notches, the air starts feeling magical. The cold, dry air circling around you every time you’re outside makes you feel closer. Closer to the north pole. As winter draws nearer and the night falls quicker, something changes in the air and fills you with warmth inside.

That’s when I know it’s time to take the Christmas tree out. I love the tradition in our home, where we all help set up the Christmas tree, taking out all the ornaments we’ve collected over the years. Sometimes we also get ornaments from places we’ve been to, like mementos of our time there. The Christmas tradition is very profound in the United States, which is why almost all souvenir stores in all states have  a souvenir of a Christmas ornament. Whether it’s a tiny snow globe, or just an engraving of the state’s name on the small colorful bauble, they make the ornaments that much special.

October just ended, and with it, ended a spooky season. The beginning of October is always special, with the cold just starting to seep into the weather, the wispy remaining of the summer still there, the sun still in the sky. It’s also when all the spooky decorations start getting put up at people’s houses.

All this, in celebration of Halloween! The Halloween decorations are all always exuberantly arranged on people’s front yards or porches, things like pumpkins and stuffed ghosts, witches and basically anything else you might see in a children’s horror movie. Some of the cooler decorations also include motion sensor witches, which yell or say menacing words in a witches voice every time you walk past. Some of the Dracula or vampire decorations also raise their hands as you walk past. There’s always this one house in the neighborhood that’s the most extravagant of all, with the coolest decorations and the best candy.

Fall colors are just something else, the way the trees just seem to change their whole personality as their favorite season approaches. A bright sunrise gets me up in the morning, sparkling with shades of crimson, baby pink and orange. The way the sky sings as the first rays of the sun hit it still mesmerize me. It’s time for my favorite season!

Fall is something that can’t be summed up into words, because it all feels too surreal to be true. The way the misty fog engulfs around the ground, as if hugging the earth as the world is slowly waking up. Like a blanket enveloping the land, it tickles your ankles as you walk past the grass, the sun’s rays hitting the water droplets as if diamonds are protruding up from the earth.

One thing I love the most about India is the community, (and the food of course). Ever since I was 3 years old, I remember going downstairs at exactly 6pm to play with my friends. It was like a ritual we followed every day. I would drag my parents to the playground, where they would sit and talk with my friends’ parents. My friends and I would fight for the swings, play games on the slides, and pretend we were superheroes saving the world from peril.

I love the water. ever since I was a little girl, lakes and seas always mesmerized me, their cold, peaceful waves drifting with the wind. The way the sunlight danced on the water, reflecting the blue sky always made me smile. The serenity you experience at a lake or a river is unparallel. It’s peaceful, looking out into the water, surrounded by it to as far as you can see. This is why I am glad I live in a place with a lot of water bodies. Seattle is home to multiple of them, as it is a city bursting with rain. One of my few favorites are a 10 min walk from my house.

Carnivals! That simple word brings me so much joy. I’ve grown up listening to childhood stories of all the fairs and carnivals at my parents’ and grandparents’ hometown and have longed to visit one someday. I’ve always lived in a big city, which is why the carnivals there were a lot different than the typical traditional setting. I had even grown fond of them through movies based in USA, including Mary Poppins. I’ve always been an energetic person, seeking thrill rides and fun with friends.

There are a lot of experiences to experience in the world, with a lot of them on my bucket list as well. Over time, I’ve managed to check some of them off, including a very important one this weekend. Shreya Ghoshal’s concert! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and an important check in my bucket list.

The initial moments once we entered the arena were ethereal. There was buzz about the concert, people wearing Indian attire, and a lot of Indian food. Everywhere I looked, I could see a splash of color, whether it was the food, clothes, or the enormous posters of her concert.

As June comes along, with it comes warmth, the happy feelings of school ending, and then finally, the best bright red fruit. Strawberry season is my favorite, the red berries bringing sweetness to our lips in the time of heat. Which is why, a person like me is the most excited for strawberry U-Pick. As I mentioned in my previous blog (link) a U-pick farm is a huge farm with various different varieties of fruits and vegetables planted, and the most unique thing is you get to pick them yourself!

As the summer approaches, the weather in Redmond warms me up to the extent that I never want to leave. All the Washingtonians are so happy that the rainy months have finally come to an end and the sun has started peeking through the clouds, pushing them out of the way. With the warmer weather comes a facet of other activities, one in particular that I love for its tradition.

There’s this one store that completely wowed me the first time I walked into it. I was small at the time, just about 11 years old, and the minute I walked through the first entrance, my eyes were transfixed, and my neck started cramping as I stretched it towards its full potential. There were things, all kinds of things, everywhere I looked. The lanes stretched for what felt like miles on end and racks and racks of food and clothes lined the shelves. Of course, I was at USA’s most beloved wholesale grocery store, Costco!

As I celebrated the weekend of finishing my first AP test and started studying for yet another one, the universe gave me the sweetest surprise by showing me what, in my opinion, is the most beautiful sky I’ve ever seen. Indeed, I saw the Arora Borealis, or Northern lights.

Arora Borealis form due to the charged ions in the thermosphere (a layer of the atmosphere) that is hit with solar radiation at high speed, which creates interactions with Nitrogen and Oxygen, hence creating a dancing blue, green and reddish pattern in the sky. I didn’t know that before I took my APES class in school. It was cool to learn about them and even cooler to be able to experience it.

I was just a little baby when I was introduced to the magical lands that reside in writing on pages, coming to life when the reader read off of it. It was always there, it’s presence vibrant on the shelf, it’s glossy cover gleaming as it urged you to pull it off the shelf. Whether it was about a spider trying to go up the spout or a visit to the seven dwarves, the stories always encapsulated me. Books for me was where magic resided.

I was 9 years old, just beginning to register all the changes happening around me, how the quiet streets had started to grow louder, the people in the area increasing. I was 9 years old, my imaginative streak running wild, smiling at all the new experiences, however big or small they might be. I was sitting on the ocher couch by the window, the lined pattern on it digging into my skin as I flopped on it in my denim shorts. I was gazing out the window, sliding the blue-screened blinds until I had a clear view of the peach-colored buildings in front of me. It was a warm summer day, and I was hoping to catch some of the late morning breeze still confused on whether to stay or move on.

As I woke up in the morning, all ready for the daily study schedule I planned out today, I couldn’t help looking at the beautiful day outside, the snow still glistening on the rooftops, the temperature being 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 degrees Celsius) but the sun still shining down upon us like it was the middle of July. The snow glinted in the sunlight like diamonds in a jewelry shop. We didn’t get a lot of snow this year, only a few flakes for a couple hours this week. The roads and treetops are still bare, but the flakes in the grass and on rooftops have still not faded. You know, truth be told, there are times when I wake up in the mornings on weekends and all that lays ahead of me is hours and hours of studying. Sometimes it motivates me, but sometimes I feel like going on a car ride first to clear my head. Like me, a lot of high schoolers or anyone taking exams have a lot to study, learn and execute. It’s hard sometimes, which is why I’m glad to be living in a place that’s so soothing to me.

One of the first things that connected me to USA just after I had moved, was the library. When I was little, my parents would read to me every night, and so, I always had a love for stories. Ever since 1st grade, I would never leave the house without a book and was always in the middle of some drama or mystery. I would usually associate what I read to real life, and even implement some of the things I learned. For example, after I read a spy novel, I would carry a flashlight and a rope everywhere with me. Books were always a huge part of me growing up, and I think some of them definitely contributed to my personality. I started using words that my favorite characters used and got to know more about different cultures and lifestyles. Which later made it easier for me to adapt here, in the USA. Books life Spy School (Stuart Gibbs), Judy Moody (Megan McDonald) and A to Z Mysteries (Ron Roy) were a pathway for me to know more about life and trends in USA, and Disney series helped too.

Winter is finally here! With it, it brings friends, family, and most of all, Christmas joy! Being a resident in Redmond, Washington for the past 4 years, I’ve gotten used to some dreary and rainy winters, but the lights that I see around my area always ignites a warmth within me. I live in an area that is called the temperate zone. This is where the weather is cold during the winter but not freezing, and hot during the summer, but not sweltering. The sunrise is also really late, the day not starting before 8:00 in the morning. Plus the sunset is super early, the shortest day of the year ending at like 4:00pm. It used to seem a little bleak at first, but the way that everybody starts all the activities is truly magical and

Today, I want to take the time to talk about my grandma (Nani, my mom’s mother). Growing up in an Indian household, I was used to being around a lot of my relatives and family friends. I’ve always loved being part of a large community, a large family, especially during Wedding Season. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve known to dress up in Indian attire and go for poojas (prayers), and celebrations of various kinds. I know a lot of my extended family by name and grew up having small talk. Though I think my favorite family member besides my parents, is my grandma.

Hi everyone, I go by my virtual name Navaka. I am a girl from two worlds. My idea behind starting this blog is comprised of a lot of factors. In my life, I have attended 6 schools (both in India and USA), lived in two countries, visited 14 states in India and 13 countries in the world which includes three continents. I have always liked travelling and have written about my experiences ever since I was 6 years old. The reason I’m starting this blog is because I want to put my experiences on the table and create memories.