Ohana (Part One)

I finally found some time to blog! Yay! Only three weeks passed since I arrived in Salem, Oregon, but it felt like months! So much has happened that I don't know where to begin!

I'll start with my flight to Salem, which was horrible, mainly because my parents were being incredibly exasperating. I even broke down and cried because I couldn't take it. I had to tell myself that I only needed to deal with this for a few more hours before they leave. ><

I live in WISH (Willamette International Studies House), which used to be a sorority house:



My new home looks so cute! ^^ When you open the front door, you are immediately greeted by the grand staircase. The chandelier adds to the wonderful ambiance. You can feel like a princess every time you walk up or down those steps. Truthfully, it makes me feel a bit self-conscious!



Since we arrived a bit earlier than the registration time, we got to explore the campus. AND I SAW A SQUIRREL FOR THE FIRST TIME.



I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so I used my cellphone. The camera on my phone loads slowly, so the squirrel was running away by the time I was able to snap the picture. It held an acorn in its hands (awww...)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

On our first day in Ohana(the pre-orientation program), we went on a trip to Portland and visited Powell's (an enormous bookstore that took up an entire city block), the Saturday & Sunday Market, and Uwajimaya (a Japanese department store that kicks ass).

Jordan (from Washington), Kayla (from Hawaii like me), and I raided the manga section at Powell's. The selection actually wasn't that impressive so I was a tad disappointed. But manga is still manga! <3



After the bookstore, we headed to the market, which was alright. I found the people there more interesting than the stands!


Street performers



We still had some time left after we explored all of the stalls so we decided to take a walk down the park. We were not prepared for what we saw as a result of our innocent detour. Apparently, it was National Topless Day. I have no idea if they made this up themselves, but there were a bunch of people sitting together on the grass...naked. A woman approached me and handed me a flyer. I did not realize she was topless until she came closer. That was when I realized that she had painted flowers on her breasts. I didn't take the flyer. (Kyahh!) >_< We continued down the park and saw another naked man heading in our direction. He was riding on a bicycle and carrying a sign that read, "Free your minds! Take off your clothes!" He told us to take it off, but we were like, nuh-uh. Getting naked in public will definitely NOT free my mind...

It was definitely an interesting experience. We met up with the rest of the Ohana gang to take a picture. A random guy (furthest man on the left) also jumped into the picture...just cuz. Portlanders are weird! >__<;



Then it was off to Uwajimaya, where I apparently freaked out.

"You were so excited there, jeez!"

Haha.

But!

You cannot blame me! When we walked through the entrance, there were shelves of Hawaiian chocolates and other local merchandise from Hawaii. Apparently, it was Hawaii Week. It was definitely a pleasant surprise to see stuff from back home! <3


Shelves of goodies

There was a Kinokuniya Bookstore inside Uwajimaya. <3 I spent, like, $72 on Crimson Hero and Aka Chan to Boku manga, a Totoro hat, an adorable coffee mug set for a friend, strawberry snacks, a box of CHOKOBI, and the Ponyo artbook. Fun stuff. I would love to go again again again...!!!

I am happy that Oregon is such a beautiful place. ^^