Oct 31, 2006
Discoveries
I just returned to North Carolina after nearly three weeks in Portland and Eugene, Oregon (where I had a very sloooow Internet connection that precluded website updates).
The purpose of my trip was to present at the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) conference in Portland. The Eugene portion of the trip was to visit family.
Travel brings discovery of all shapes and sizes. Here are three things I discovered during my Oregon trip:
1. The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) in Portland has a wonderful library full of intercultural books, videos, course packs from their summer institutes, and other resources. Best of all, the library is open to the public.
2. One of my favorite restaurants in little Bloomington, Indiana now has a location in my hometown. The Eugene Laughing Planet Café is located on Blair Blvd. near the very tasty Sweet Life Patisserie. The Eugene LP isn’t as funky as the Bloomington location, and the menu had changed a tad, but it was nonetheless a tasty treat to order a chicken quesadilla, green salsa, and fresh lemonade.
3. It’s a surreal feeling during a landing when you think your plane is about to touch the tarmac but instead fires up the engines and takes off. On my Portland to Minneapolis flight our pilot aborted the landing because we overshot the runway. It was startling but it actually ended up not being a big deal. After climbing for a few minutes, we simply circled around and landed.Happy Halloween!
P.S. I still love the Marina laptop bag. Perfect for traveling.
