Other side of the world and just like home…

So now that I’ve got that LA post out of the way I better rattle through the past six weeks.

The following are stories that occurred but I can’t actually remember when. (That’s hopefully a good thing as it shows I’ve been having such a good time that I can’t remember the order of events.)

So a group of us International Students got together on afternoon to share cuisine’s from all our various different native countries. Amongst us were people from Germany, Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and Scotland. The meal was filling and delicious, to say the least.

Continue reading →

Friday March 9 2012: Woke up 5 am. Ready for the taxi. The day before had been gloriously warm and sunny. Now the air was cool.

At the airport I had a virtually flawless passing of security with the guards admiring the sheer high quality of the new British Passport. After that we got breakfast and it did not feel like long before we were boarding the plane. We had a bit of a mix up with the seats as someone had taken up the seat I had booked but it worked out for the better as I managed to sit next to Devangshu and so I was sitting next to a friend.

Continue reading →

We’re into March already. I think I hit the fast forward button by accident. Phew!! I’m struggling to remember all that has happened between this and my last post. (I’m going to have to go and read what I’ve previously posted… *5 minutes later* did I really write that? Deary me!!)

Again, I’ll try again to keep this brief.

February 22nd (Wednesday): I had yet another surprise Scottish connection waiting for me at the small group I’m involved with down in Portland State University (PSU). One of the leaders had met a girl who had been an international student in Glasgow for the Spring Semester of 2009/10 (when I was in first year) and after having spoken to her for a short time about international stuff in Glasgow it quickly became clear we had several mutual friends and the first names to spring up in conversation that we both knew were David Forrest, Alisdair Pert and Doug Tooth. Boy I was surprised to have such a big reminder of home. (My list of connections with Scotland appears to be ever growing. First, the pastor of the House Churches in Solid Rock was part of the team that planted Re:Hope in Glasgow, and then there was the lad at the law students football (soccer) from Fraserburgh now a former international student  from Glasgow. And more connections were to follow!!) Continue reading →

It’s a scary thought that I blinked and now I’m over 6 weeks in to my American adventure. In that the time elapsed between my last post and this post I have done little adventuring. Why then, you ask, are you bothering to write a new blog post? Partly because I feel I need to say something (we all know how much I love talking) and partly because some really cool stuff has happened that is not really adventuring.

I woke up on the 30th January to the shocking revelation that Kris Boyd had decided to follow me out here signing for the Portland Timbers. I found great amusement in hearing all the locals raving over the idea of him being the all time top scorer in the SPL and then subsequently learning that he’s a lazy poacher. I do feel rather strange though when pieces of Glasgow come chasing me to the other side of the world. (I now must make a point of going to a Timbers game in March.) Continue reading →

So to bring things up to speed I’m going to do a brief post to cover this week. I’ll see how brief this can be…the target is anything shorter than the last one.

Before I do anything else I just want to mention something that bothers me about Portland. (So you don’t switch off and miss it!) What bothers me is the sheer number of homeless people and the number of either of elderly or mentally insane homeless people (not that a young or sane homeless person is any better but because these people are far more vulnerable than the young). I do not know what mechanisms there are in place to care for the homeless but whatever these mechanisms are they are failing drastically in Portland. Virtually on every street corner in the downtown area you will find at least one homeless person. (And as Portland is a grid format like Glasgow that’s a lot of street corners!!) From what I see, the only bodies in place actually actively caring for the homeless are the churches. Please pray for these people and this situation. (It’s fantastic that there are Street Churches. These people need the word of God just as much as anyone else in Portland.) We do not realise just how good the welfare system is in Britain until one compares it to America. Continue reading →

So last post where did I leave off… hmmm Oh yes!! Voodoo Doughnuts and Pizza. I remember. Well this time we could summarize this post with ‘hot tamales’, ‘blown hard drive’, ‘ripped pants’ and ‘meteorological hypochondria’…

Anyways off we go, on with the show…

Soooo Saturday I morning and evening spent writing the previous post on this blog before heading out to watch a basketball match at the College Arena between the Lewis and Clark Pioneers and the Willamette Bearcats (such a typically American name that!). This was definitely a new experience for me. I’d never watched basketball before and my great-uncle Frank in San Francisco every time he visited us in Glasgow would tell me how basketball was a fantastic sport. I can now say I concur. Michelle (my flatmate) and I were invited by the girl who gave us a lift to the supermarket (see the previous post) to watch the match. Continue reading →

Hey folks!! I’ve been in the USA for just over a week now and did not intend to do this… so blame Andy Forrest if you didn’t want your Facebook News Feed clogged up with yet another blog.

Anyways for those of you out there who do genuinely want to hear how I’m getting on, this is probably the place to go (unless you are Skyping me everyday which is always welcome). I’m amazed at how I have gone as far West as I could have gone in America and on the otherside of the world I find myself in a place that is astonishingly like home. The scenery is green and hilly (just bigger) and the people are just as friendly (just louder). The differences are that Portland has smooooooth roads with signs by the roadside that say ‘Pothole Hotline’. The accents are actually American (another big difference). Did I say it was bigger?… Bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger gardens, bigger bellies… etc

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Continue reading →

I never thought I’d ever do this but my arm was twisted behind my back (not really!). On the basis that someone suggested I make a blog it’s reassuring to know that I’ll at least have a readership of one. This will detail my fun times in Portland and the rest of Oregon and perhaps in Seattle, Vancouver and California if all my plans come together nicely.