I'm thinking of taking about a year out and do some traveling, away from Great Britain. 1 of the places I'm interested in spending a lot of time in, is the Pacific Northwest. Just wondering really, is it quite a friendly place? One of the main things I am concerned about is whether there is a lot of racism or any of the sort. Weird question maybe but, I don't want everyone to be hostile or unpleasant towards me. Plus just want to know what are some of the good places for young students to visit and settle down in for about a couple of months.
Anonymous2008-10-23T14:40:47Z
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I live in the Pacific Northwest and have all of my life. I live in Oregon where it does rain a lot, but not everyday like a lot of people think. The summers are beautiful and not too hot. We have beautiful beaches, though the water is generally to cold to swim in. The mountains are just an hour away for snowboarding and skiing! There are tons of wilderness areas for hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, and camping. Portland has a good night life if you are into the bars and clubs. Portland is the micro brew capital of the US! One of the mottoes here in Portland is "Keep Portland Weird", it is common to see it on a bumper sticker on every other car that passes. The downtown Portland area has a little bit of everybody in it. If you come in the warmer months you need to check out Saturday Market, which is a weekend market where tons of different kinds of people get together and sell tons of different kinds of wares. It's a trip! And the food is great! We are culturally diverse and very accepting people in Portland. The waterfront is beautiful too. I hope that you swing out to enjoy our beautiful area and I hope you enjoy your stay in the NW! If you have any more questions or specifics that I can help with just email me at taciturntalker@yahoo.com
I live in the Seattle area and the pacific northwest is probably one of the least racist areas in the US. If you want to be here for a few months June through September is the best time if you like warm temperatures. Rain starts in Oct and runs through April. If you like hiking there is a lot to do, MT Rainer, MT ST Helens, and many other mountains, the Cascade range, lots of lakes, the Puget sound, the Pacific Ocean. Every city is a little different, so really depends on where exactly you will be going. You shouldn't have any issues at all with racism, the only thing you may get a lot is where you are from. My wife is southern and people always ask her if she is from England. You should have a good time and no need to worry about racism.
I am from southwest Washington and love it here. For the most part the people are pleasant and friendly. There are areas that you will run into some racism but that will happen all over. Some do call it rainy and cold but we actually have very mild weather patterns. We get less rain then many other states including Alaska and Hawaii. The scenery is wonderful and there are so many wonderful things to experience here.
What you overlook is that it is not just Whites who want to separate away from the main country. In the Southwest the Mexican immigrants have long been talking of secession and creating their own Hispanic nation "Aztlan." There has also been talk of a black "Nation within a nation" by Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) so this is nothing new. And in any case in the same way that the Soviet Union broke apart some years ago, because it was an empire, not a single Nation, America has also become a multi-racial empire of different nations all forced-living together. Tensions are rising so it will also break apart, because all empires eventually break up....
I live in WA state, it's cold and rainy every day basically. I wouldn't particularly say there's a lot of racism, etc. It just depends on where you live. I think you'll encounter racism everywhere so.