Week 5 & 6

The past week and a half has been incredibly busy for me between managing school, my mom visiting, and doing other trips around Oregon. I went to Portland last Wednesday with the school to see the Portland Trailblazers play the Golden State Warriors. It was a really interesting experience because I have never been to an NBA game before and being able to see the best players like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant play in front of my eyes was rather surreal. I also got to meet some kind international students and listen to their perspectives on adapting to a new region. My mom came to visit me last Thursday, and I rented a car and picked her up from the airport to drive to Seattle. The roads in Oregon and Washington are immensely better than in South Carolina and people drive extremely slow. I haven't driven a car since I left South Carolina so it was actually kind of therapeutic to be able to drive through the mountain side and listen to music. Seattle was a beautiful city although it's grey, cold, and rainy. The people are also polite but not very friendly if that makes sense. I'm just used to Southern hospitality although I realize that Southerners aren't always genuine in their kindness. Nonetheless, the architecture and technology in Seattle was impressive. I rode the ferry and was surprised to see that cars from a town called Bainbridge (9 miles away across the bay) would drive onto the ferry and park and then drive off when the ferry reached Seattle. I was completely unaware that this was a method of transportation and found it rather humorous. I have really been enjoying the experience and have been learning a lot about myself. I like Oregon and the University a lot, but I miss home and find myself looking forward to seeing my friends and family again in the summer. Below I attached some pictures. One is me in front of the space needle in Seattle, the other was taken at the beach in Florence the first week I arrived (about an hour west of Eugene), and the last was the Trailblazers game in Portland last Wednesday. Until next week,


-Ben 





Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 26, 2019 at 8:08 AM

    Ben- Looks like you had a great week! Glad your mom was able to visit and you were able to explore different cities. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts. -Jess

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1

I have been in Oregon for approximately two weeks now. I didn't start classes until January 7th so today marks a week that I've been in school. Life is dramatically different here. Academically, there is no significant deviation between the rigor and workload of the University of South Carolina and the University of Oregon. Oregon is quicker paced, however, considering they are on a quarter system that ends in 10 weeks rather than South Carolina's 14 week semester system. Students here dress differently. Intuitively, there is no Southern Tide or Vineyard Vines. The main brand of apparel here is Vans. The average student at the University of Oregon would likely be classified as a "hipster" at the University of South Carolina. The sentiment around the University and Eugene in general is certainly more liberal than of the one in South Carolina. There are all gender bathrooms throughout campus and there are dispensaries on almost every corner. The oxygen here feels ex
Read more

Week 17 & 18

I apologize for not posting weekly in May. I was sick for three weeks and was incredibly busy with school work. May was a tough month all around, but it's over now. I only have finals left and then this journey will be over. I can't believe how fast time has gone. It still feels like March to me because spring just got here in Oregon. It's in the 60s and 70s everyday (March weather in South Carolina). My friends from back home told me the heat is unbearable in Columbia. I'm trying to savor the cool weather here for as long as possible before I go back home. Even though I'm excited to go back home and share all my experiences with friends and family, I'm getting sad thinking about leaving everything here behind. I have met a lot of friendly interesting people that have helped me form a new perspective on my life. I feel a lot more confident being by myself and taking care of myself. I genuinely feel like I don't need anyone and it's an extremely liberatin
Read more