Portland with AEI

Katie D.

March 8, 2009 - 11:30 AM

Yesterday I completed my first real trip with the American English Institute as an activities coordinator. Instead of just showing a group around campus or helping them get settled in US culture, I was taking a small group of students on a day trip to Portland.

As I continue the job of Activities Coordinator, I'll be doing this kind of short trip more and more: trips to Portland, the coast, skiing, and to Crater Lake. I'm sure that eventually the trips, especially around Portland, will become somewhat routine and less exciting as I become more used to the driving, more accustomed to the city, and less surprised by Portland's quirks.

This trip, though, was really wonderful and exciting. Because of scheduling conflicts, our group ended up being just five, instead of the seven it could have been: my boss, myself, and three Argentinean law students. We piled into a car (postponing the day I'll have to drive one of those 12 passenger vans for a long distance) and headed north. Some of us slept and some of us talked about everything from the AEI language classes to our opinions on the political situations in various Latin American countries. I even learned a bit of Portuguese. I have really enjoyed working with this Argentinean group, partly because of my Spanish language abilities, and partly because they are a really fun group interested in social justice, the environment, and US culture.

The trip was also fun because I have not spent enough time in Portland to really feel like I know the place. We stopped in Woodburn for a shopping trip at an outlet mall I didn't even know existed. We ate at Escape from New York (which is apparently a famous and "must see" pizza place) and I was impressed again by just how quirky Portland can be. And, although I have been to Powell's Bookstore almost every time I've been in Portland, I doubt I will ever get bored with that place. For an obsessive reader like me, Powell's is just about a wildest dream of Heaven. I could easily spend an entire day there.

We also went to Voodoo Doughnuts Too, which I hadn't ever been to before, and were again impressed by epic quirkiness. Aside from the doughnuts themselves (both delicious and aggressively eccentric), the decorating of the place defies description. Let me just say that the place is pink, has chandeliers, and that the seating is...unconventional. The Argentineans loved it, and so did I.

Then we went to Pioneer Square and Pioneer Place. We took pictures with the umbrella man and stood in the small amphitheater in the square (if you don't know what about it is special, I'm not about to tell the secret). Then other people in our group shopped while I sat on a bench and read (have I mentioned that I hate malls?). We ended our day at the Rock Bottom Brewery, where we watched a rowdy bachelorette party and generally had a very funny time.

Basically it was a perfect day. A long day, but a really great time seeing Portland again as a newcomer, introducing international students to some of Oregon's charm, and talking and laughing the whole day. I got to climb on the umbrella man and eat at a traditional Portland pizza place. Plus I feel very privileged to be a part of these students' time in the US and hope they have some of the same kind of wonderful memories of the USA that I have from my time studying abroad in Chile.