It is currently spring break, and I am writing to you from
the coffee shop inside Powell’s City of Books. I’m sitting at a table facing a
huge sunlit window with two books, a doughnut, and a cup of chai tea.
I arrived
here when the bookstore opened at 9am and I do not plan to leave until
dinnertime. Well, I’ll take a break to hit up the food carts for lunch, but
besides that, my entire day is just going to be spent by myself wandering the
aisles and aisles of books. Powell’s is truly a book-lover’s dream. It sprawls
across an entire city block and it even has multiple floors. I would love to just
live here.
Because I usually fly home to California for breaks, I’ve never stayed on campus while classes aren’t in session
for more than a couple of days before. So, spring break is a new experience for
me. And I have to say, so far it has been a dream come true. Just living in the
dorms with my friends, without having to stress out about classes or studying
or midterms? It’s fantastic! However, since a lot of people – my roommate included
– did make the choice to either go home or go on some sort of trip for break,
it has been a lot quieter than usual. It’s a little disconcerting, but I’ve
gotten used to it already.
Since break has started...
1. I went on a long leisurely run in Tryon Creek State Park, and plan to do that several more times before the week is over.
2. I finished Firefly
and watched Serenity. Joss Whedon,
why must you hurt me so? I didn't need to feel that sad over my break... I also watched Anastasia, Sweeney Todd,
and tonight my friends and I are watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies together.
3. I tried pho for the first time at Luc Lac with my friends Robert and Sam. It
was delicious!
The bowls are larger than Sam's head, it's not too expensive, and the broth is the tastiest thing ever.
4. I also went to the Saturday Market and Stumptown Coffee with my
friend Rose.
The Willamette River waterfront.
Stumptown Coffee
5. One morning, my friends Marissa and Brian made crepes, and we all got to try some!
A little tiny crepe with berries and whipped cream!
6. And last night, I played a rousing game of Cards against Humanity while
eating cookie dough with a group of seven or eight people.
To end the break, on Friday my mom is flying up from California to see me! We’re
going to rent a car and drive to the coast for the weekend. We've booked a hotel on the beach in
the little town of Seaside. I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet, but I’m
really stoked!
Besides either staying on campus or going home, there are plenty of other options
for what to do over break. To give you some ideas, I’ll just tell you what some of my friends are
doing. Charlie and Jasper are on a College Outdoors kayaking trip. Andrea is on
a College Outdoors yoga trip. Anna, Matt, and Kayla took a bus up to Vancouver.
Minoru is in Las Vegas with some of the other exchange students. Zoe is in
Hawaii on tour with an LC choral group. Ian is in New York to look in a library
for a rare manuscript (?). Basil is in Iceland (?!). There’s certainly a lot
you can do in 9 days.
Well, I’m going to get back to my books and chai tea now. I need to start an English paper too, and study Japanese so I don't forget it all before the break is over. If you
have any questions, email me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu.
Jess
P.S. This is what I ended up getting for lunch at the food carts! It's Georgian cheese bread with an egg, also called acharuli khachapuri. It's about the size of a football, and yes, I ate the entire thing.
