Trip to Portland

WOw... I have been super busy lately, but now things are starting to slow down a bit with the weekend. Early Wednesday my class left for Portland, i ended up driving so i had to pick up a large van early in the morning. I skated over to the motor pool where i revived a ~11 seat van, and then drove to the dorms to pick up all my stuff. We didn't have to bring to much because the hostel actually provided bedding. I then drove and met up with everyone in the parking lot where we loaded up. We then had a ~2 hour drive to a restaurant called "Bejing Hot Pot." The restaurant was very cool because in the middle of the tables were stoves with boiling water to cook our food. Unfortunately all they really gave the vegetarian table was lettuce and spinach. After, we headed to the Chinese Dao gardens which were stunning. The garden lies in the middle of the city and has old styled building and manicured gardens. Our tour guide let us walk around bear foot because the garden had a stone floor which was designed to improve circulation and revitalize senses. I also purchased some very good Tisane Tea Flowers which are similar to black tea. We then went to our hostel which was extremely nice. I shared a coed room with five other people and slept on the top of the bunk bed. We then hung out and explored around for the rest of the day. For dinner my mini seminar group was in charge of making dinner. We made an amazing burrito buffe with very tasty guacamole. For desert we had ice cream Sundays. The weather was very cold and gray and kinda rainy.
Day 2
After break fest we left the hostel around 930 to go to the art museum. We rode free intercity transit to the museum and then explored inside for 2 hours. The museum was very cool and there was a large amount of Native American art, Chinese, and Japanese art. After we went back to the hostel and had some amazing chili for lunch. We then met with the teachers and peer mentors to discus how things were going. After we got into our film groups and practiced filming and interviewing techniques in a park around the corner. For dinner we had some killer Indian food and chocolate. We then wandered around Portland and explored a huge 4 story bookstore for the rest of the night.
Day 3
We left at the same time today and went to the Japanese gardens. These gardens were huge and contained many giant trees and unique plants. in many of the ponds they had koi swimming around. This garden has many hidden Buddhist features such a curvy bridge to loose the evil forces. There was also an amazing view of Portland and mt. hood. There were a few sand gardens also with many cool designs. We then headed back had lunch and then bounced back to Olympia. We got back around 6, and i rushed to return the van and then caught some dinner. It was a very fun trip and i feel like i got to know all my classmates very well!