Living in Portland

                The mountain was out this weekend! What I mean by that is the weather was so clear and beautiful after about a week of clouds and rain that Mt. Hood could be seen from campus. Although I enjoy the rain (especially going running in it!), it was really nice to bask in the sunshine for a while.
                In addition to the weather being lovely, I had a really good weekend in general, mostly because I had been craving sushi all week and finally got to go downtown and have some! My friend Kat and I took the bus, which is a very convenient way to get off campus. Lewis and Clark has its own bus called the Pioneer Express, or Pio, and it takes students to the intersection of 6th and Salmon in downtown Portland with a stop at Fred Meyer. Being from a small town I definitely don’t have a lot of experience with public transportation, but the Pio makes it fairly easy to get to the city even for me. One of the reasons I love L&C so much is that it is removed from the city, but I can still go there if I am feeling adventurous.
                Kat isn't exactly a “city person” either, but the two of us still only got a little bit lost trying to find the Ben and Jerry’s after our dinner at Shigezo, which is a nice restaurant but not too pricey. That was my second time eating there. My first time was a few weeks ago with a group of about 9 people from my dorm, Akin. Since we were a large group, we got to sit in one of the special rooms where we had to remove our shoes before entering and then sat on the floor on cushions! My friend Sarah took this picture of us.


                Akin is the multicultural-themed community, so I have met people from all over the world and although it is a fairly quiet dorm, there is always something going on in one of the lounges - usually baking. Just in the last week, we’ve had caramel bars, honey cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and apple cake! I got to make friends with some of the Japanese exchange students through our mutual interest in sushi too. I was talking to them about how all food should be eaten like sushi is eaten – slowly, savoring every flavor of every bite – and my friend Kentaro told me that I must be secretly Japanese because I knew so much about how to eat sushi! So apparently I am an honorary Japanese citizen now! Other cool things my dorm has done include playing Cards Against Humanity, watching Tangled and The Hobbit, and having a French toast night.
                Another reason I love living in Akin is that the dorms are extremely spacious and we get walk-in closets! My roommate Sully and I keep our mini-fridge in my closet because I don’t really have lots of clothes taking up all the room like she does. Here’s a picture of my half of the room and another of the view out our window on a sunny day.






                In short, I am incredibly happy with the my (relatively) new home. Now, it’s time for a trip to the computer lab just across the street (Akin is close to everything!) to print out an essay on Euripedes’ Bacchae, which is for Exploration and Discovery class. Also, my anthropology class has just started finished The Other Side of Eden by Hugh Brody, which was a great book about the Inuit and hunter-gatherer culture. Now I get to read a book about Sherpa-climber relations on the slopes of Everest. I’m really excited to start that one because I have always been fascinated by that part of the world.
                As always, email me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu if you have any questions about Lewis and Clark.
                Hope you all had good weekends too!
                Until next time,

                Jess