Incredible and Wonderful Portland

Do you want to refresh yourself? If you want, I highly recommend you to go to Portland. In Portland, there are many historical places so you can feel like going to an old town, and also there are many shopping places so you can enjoy shopping without tax. In addition, in Portland there are the universities, so you can enjoy watching sports. During November 9th to 12th we, extension students, went on an awesome Portland trip by bus to learn about history and culture, and I had a totally amazing time there. There were three fabulous points which I liked about the Portland trip.

Enormous Bookstore

First, the Powell’s Bookstore was definitely fascinating. The Powell’s Bookstore was the largest bookstore in the world, so there were a bunch of books and the store was enormous. I love reading books so I was very excited. The most interesting point was there were many books from another country. I saw a lot of Japanese books, not only Japanese learning textbooks, but also Japanese culture books, and Japanese comics, Manga. Also, I saw there were Japanese popular novels such as “Haruki Murakami” who is a really famous novelist in Japan. There were also Japanese elementary school’s textbooks. It was really interesting for me. In addition to books, there were many items such as stickers, bags, T-shirts, and so on being sold. Moreover there was a coffee shop so I could read books while drinking coffee. It was an absolutely nice place, so I never got tired of being there.  

Fascinating Fort Vancouver

Second, Fort Vancouver was absolutely wonderful to learn history. In Fort Vancouver, we could learn the history of the Pacific Northwest. There were model houses from the Pacific Northwest from old times and they had old furniture. Also people who wore the old clothes. Additionally, they demonstrated what old people did in the old times and also we could talk with them so we could ask some questions to them. It was really easy to understand the history. Actually, they made some tools using iron and it was the first time to watch so it was really interesting for me. By watching these models in practice, I could feel what their life was like. I learned there were many differences between the houses and Japanese old houses so it was enjoyable for me.   

Exciting Basketball Game

Third, the basketball game was exciting. It was held in the University of Portland. The guest team was Portland University. The score was so close and both teams had really great players, so I was quite excited and impressed. It made me feel I should work hard like they do. In Japan, university basketball games are not so popular as American ones, so usually there are no brass bands and no cheerleaders. Therefore I was surprised that I watched brass bands and cheerleaders give us the performance, and also they did some activities. For example, they threw some T-shirts to the audience, and children also played basketball during break time.

These three points such as the Powell’s books store, Fort Vancouver, and the basketball game were especially marvelous for me. They were new for me, and taught me many histories and culture. Aside from these, I also experienced other tremendously wonderful things, so I was really glad to go there. In Portland, there is the international airport, so it is easy to go to. If you want to release your daily stress, please visit Portland. I believe you can enjoy yourself there.