Portland, Eugene&Detroit, Oregon

My friend invited me over to her family Thanksgiving meal. She was studying abroad at my university in Japan for a year. I was so happy to meet up with her and other friends again in Oregon. To tell the truth, the reason why I picked a school in Pacific Coast is that I have more friends on this side than the other side of America.

I booked a plane ticket two months before the trip. $200 round trip from San Francisco to Portland is such a good deal. I was so excited to go there and also to get out of California.

Not that I hate San Francisco. I get sometimes overwhelmed by all the unique and international backgrounds of people here from all across the world. And I think I am one of them. But when all the coolios gather in one place, it feels a bit uneasy when I try to have a peaceful time.

Anyway, the West Coast is the best coast. I’d love to go up to Seattle next time. Plz watch a video below if you have time! It is hard to capture all my excitement and wonderful experiences only through words.

A Video for My Adventure in Oregon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNFPGaT5PEE

Though I stayed in Portland for only 4 hours on the first day, thanks to Ryan, I was able to enjoy touring around the city in a short time. We had an overview of Portland from some hill that I forgot the name of. After that, Ryan drove me to Rose Garden and Pittock Mansion.

Portland is known for nice restaurants and bars. The place we went to was so nice. I felt Portland culture on my skin, and it was definitely different than San Francisco’s.

People jog along Columbia River that divides Washington and Oregon. Some eat salad while sitting in a bench out in the park. The hills we went to had outdoor people going deep inside the forest. Health fanatics and nature lovers.

I took a bus to Eugene since there are two more friends residing down there for school and work. Both of them have been to my university in Japan for study abroad. Eugene was a small town with nice cafes and University of Oregon. The architectures of school buildings are classic and antique. There was a gigantic sports center with bouldering walls. I wish I could school there.

Jacob was my roommate back in Akita. Ryan was the very first roommate of mine too. I met both on the same day!

Lily was done with her class and her father drove here to pick up her for Thanksgiving break. They were kind enough to invite me over to Thanksgiving dinner! Thank you so much.

Her family has a house nearby Detroit Lake. It was such a nice place, and I want you to watch the video on the link up here. This is definitely a place I want to come back to and even wanna live. There were RVs and empty cabins as summer time, people come here and spend their vacation.

I had turkey first time in my life. So good. Stuffings inside was my favorite. There were many kinds of pie at the table, blueberry, rasberry, and you name it! Her parents, brothers, sisters and their families came together and celebrated Thanksgiving day. I was so happy to stay there with them to enjoy the day.

I wanna say thank you to everybody who’s supported my stay in Oregon. People that I met and cats that scratched my hands. They were all lovely and made my stay wonderful!

I love you guys!

Kouta Nakano
knakano@mail.sfsu.edu

Howdy, it's Kouta from Japan. I am an exchange student from Akita International University and staying here in San Francisco for a year. I train parkour/tricking as well as studying International Relations. Photos will be posted to share with you the progress of my training every now and then. Stay tune for seeing my life in SF!

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