Portland Trip

Hi again, this is Loana! So last time, I talked about some ways that students can hang out with friends over the weekend. Well, on the Friday of midsemester break International Student Services hosted a trip to Portland. Since I've only been to a total of two states in the U.S. (California and Washington), this was quite exciting for me to visit Oregon State!
First, we stopped for lunch in an area filled with food carts. There were all kinds of food available: Chinese, Greek, Thai, Japanese, German, American, ect. After walking around the food carts for 15 or so minutes and being completely at loss, I decided to get some Japanese food, just because I missed it so much; it was really nice to have good tasting rice!

Next, we went to the Powell's Bookstore. This was really exciting for me, since I really love books and the Powell's Books in downtown Portland is really big, I had a really good time. I bought two books: It by Stephen King and Atonement by Ian McEwan. I'm really looking forward to reading both books.

Our third destination was Vodoo Donuts. I have two words to describe that store; Donut Heaven. I don't think I've ever saw that many donuts in my life, and they were all really unique looking. The concept of the store was really interesting, and I enjoyed stuffing myself with good donuts and good coffee (there was an espresso cart near the donut shop).

And our last stop was the mall. One thing to know about shopping in Portland: it's tax-free. That's why it's a really good idea to buy things that you need there. So I bough a pair of formal boots, some food items like hot chocolate at the Dollar Tree, and an art piece for my room. All in all, it was a really fun day, and I enjoyed getting to know some of the other international students!