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July 06, 2004

July 4th, 2004

For some spontaneous fun, I decided to take the Amtrak bus up to Portland for a party that good ol' Mel Lasiw invited me to. I found it interesting that Amtrak has a bus service (their trains were hours behind schedule and were much more expensive) but it was clean, quick, and efficient.

I arrived in Portland in a little more than two hours, to be picked up by Mel in her uncharacteristic Volvo. We met up with Trevor (her man, a fellow Strong Islander) and Misty, a friend she met at IBM. We headed over to some guy Paul's house, and proceeded to stuff our gullets with more food than I thought possible. Trevor and Misty got drunk while Mel and I commented on the peculiarities of people from this area.

The biggest difference we noticed was a major passive aggressive attitude. Nobody ever wants to say something that might offend someone, so they dance around topics, which often leads to high drama under the right conditions.

The second biggest difference (though slightly more important) we noticed is the west coast attitude towards pizza. Here on the west coast it is not uncommon to find chicken curry, pepperoni, olives, and pineapple all on the same pie. We being from the east coast are used to quality pizza, normally eaten folded. We don't need eight thousand experimental toppings to disguise the crust, cheese, and sauce because they're actually good.

I fell asleep on Mel's couch, only to dream of Benny Tudino's or almost ANY Long Island pizza joint's pizza. It was a rough night.

Posted by Claudia on July 6, 2004 01:43 AM
Category: Oregon
Comments

I agree with you and Mel's take on the passive/aggressive attitude in the West and the results that follow. Is it being overly sensitive? Are people thin skinned? Whatever, a little honesty can actually be stimulating and fun.

I laughed at your "quality" pizza from the East.
I'm with you, but it's just what you're used to. Hard to find decent pizza, at least in Oregon, but hey, many folks here love what's offered.

Posted by: Mary on July 7, 2004 07:13 PM

Hi Claudia,

I came across your blog while doing searches for Bangalore. I am enjoying your journal entries of your visit to India. I was living in PDX for 3 years before I relocated to Bangalore for my job at Intel. I will be here for at least one year. I have been in Bangalore now for 1 month. When you get a chance I'd love to hear from you. If you have any tips for me please send them my way! cvillalon01 at yahoo.com

Great job on your blog!!!
-cecilia

Posted by: cecilia on July 11, 2004 07:09 AM



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