Skip to main content

A Meaningful Portland Trip

By

I was excited to go on the Portland trip because I could shop without taxes, but I learned many things from the trip besides shopping. This trip became one of my valuable experiences as an extension student.

At first, I went to three American universities, and that was a precious experience for me because I could see the differences between American universities. First, I went to Columbia Basin College. It is a two-year university like SFCC next to MFWI. The campus was pretty small. I met Japanese class students, and I thought their Japanese listening and speaking skill were high level. Next, I went to Reed College. This college was also small, but students seemed positive about studying. The campus was filled with artistic drawings and the buildings were nice. Even in restrooms, there were lots of drawings, and I thought students in this college were imaginative. Third, I went to Portland State University. This university was quite huge, and the campus was part of the city. I didn't go to the campus, but I could see there were lots of students who were from other countries. Even in one state of U.S.A., there were differences between some universities and colleges.

Dynamic Multnomah Falls
Next, I had a great time at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center to learn the history about Lewis and Clark. I had already learned about the Lewis and Clark discovery, but I could see their life plainly at the museum. A man had a lecture with lots of  equipment which they had actually used. I was surprised at the way to cure an injured body. They didn't have doctors, so they got rid of their illness. A man showed me tools to put teeth away. The lecture was very interesting for me. After the lecture, I looked around the museum, and I saw many interesting things. I saw the canoe, and I thought it was longer than I expected. I was interested in the exhibit which showed how many meals they ate during the journey. They ate nine pounds of meat per day per person, which means they killed a bunch of animals during the journey. All exhibits at the museum were new and interesting for me.

Third, I felt nature a lot during this trip. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy for four days. On the last day, I went to Multnomah Falls. I was astonished to see the large and dynamic water fall. It splashed and got me wet. Even though it rained hard, we went hiking in the mountain. The trail was unforgettably steep, and I had a hard time walking. What surprised me was that many American people visited to hike, and they walked without an umbrella. I couldn't understand why people came to the mountain on such a bad weather day. Also I thought about Lewis and Clark journey while I was hiking. Lewis and Clark also walked that steep trail with bad weather. I was reminded that they had a strong belief for discovery.

Through this trip, I learned American culture and history. I found some differences of American universities, about Lewis and Clark, and the nature in Oregon. This trip gave me good experiences.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Fabulous Southwest Trip

By
    The Southwest trip was absolutely amazing because I leaned the culture of the area a lot. I spent 7 days in the southwest and I impressed by people who live there and by their culture. These things were totally different from Japan and the people there preserved their traditions carefully. I talk to a lot of Americans and I saw wonderful nature during the trip. There are three absolutely wonderfu and amazing places that I enjoyed.     First, I went to a lot of museums and all of them were very interesting. I especially liked The Museum of International Folk Art. The museum has more than 130,000 objects from more than 100 countries! My favorite object was a smiling skeleton doll. This object’s theme was Day of The Dead. When I saw it, I remembered COCO which is a Pixar movie. I also liked The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Georgia O’Keeffe was an American artist and she painted a lot of flowers and nature. I think her paintings are brimming with kindness ...
Read more

Completely amazing trip

By
I had a good time visiting the Southwest USA with Extension students from 15 to 21, October. It was an education trip and I experienced new things and there was a lot of nature which is comfortable for me. I was looking forward to going on the Southwest trip for a long time. I have image that the Southwest is very hot but this place was cold than Spokane. It was interesting that the temperature was totally different in the same place. There were three emotions that I experienced on this trip. First, I was moved by the beautiful landscape of the Grand Canyon. It is absolutely enormous. When I look down the cliff, I remembered the teacher's caution for us that there are lots of people who die and I scared. I and my roommate wanted to see the sunrise so we tried to got up at 4:00 a.m. and then we could see the sunrise which was really fabulous. After that, we decided to rent a  bicycle but we changed our mind and because we had lots of time. Surprisingly, we walked 10 miles aro...
Read more

My Unbelievable Southwest Trip

By
I experienced a lot of amazing things for seven days with my absolutely wonderful teachers and friends from October 15-21 and learned a lot of Southwest culture, history, and nature. For example, we went to about 12 museums and facilities, such as the Pueblo Cultural Center, the University of Mexico, and some churches in New Mexico and Arizona. Therefore, I kept busy on the trip, but it became something I have never experienced because everything I saw was new to me. There are three things that especially impressed me. First, I was attracted to the buildings of New Mexico. These were really different from Spokane, Boston, or Washington D.C. For example, I went to Old Town in Albuquerque. Then I noticed that almost all the buildings were made of adobe. Adobe means mud brick in Spanish, so the buildings I saw were brown and some parts were air blue. I felt comfortable there. I also saw a plaza and a church which were adobe style buildings. The plaza is the most central part in Old T...
Read more