Moregon

So, I'm in Oregon, and there are a few things that I like and a few things that I don't like.

DISLIKE

• 65-mph speed limits. Freeways are conservatively designed for 75. Speed limits on these roads should be no less than that.
• Gas stations attendants. I understand that Oregon is trying to create jobs, however, I think they should focus more on trying to create jobs for people who have the capacity to be functional members of society.
• The weather. The weather in Denver is bi-polar, but the frequency of change is only once or twice a day. Western Oregon can go from drizzle to sunny and warm to torrential downpour to profoundly hot and then back to drizzle in a matter of 2 minutes.
• The street layout in Corvallis. Like downtown Denver, none of the streets go anywhere and some of them do it in only one direction. Compounding the problem, some of the streets are so narrow that the city only allows parking on one side of the street, which makes it looks like it's a one-way street even when it's not. It took me 40 minutes and half a gallon of gasoline to find the Corvallis Institute of Religion today.
• The pronounced lack of navigational landmarks. I grew up in Denver, where the mountains denoted west. Then I moved to Provo, where the mountains denoted east. Now I'm in Corvallis, and I have no idea which direction is which. I'm literally buying a compass for when I move here in the fall.

LIKE

• The Civil Engineering program at Oregon State. I like the faculty and staff and where the program is going in the near future. I'm excited to be a part of it.
• The facilities. I toured the labs and offices with the geotechnical group leader and it looked like they had plenty of equipment and resources for grad students to use. It helps that I'll have my own office space (kind of cubicle-esque) with a computer. The undergrad labs where I'll likely be teaching soon also look pretty good.
• The aesthetics. Most of western Oregon and also the Oregon State Campus itself are very attractive. I'm not used to so many trees blocking my view of the surrounding buildings and other things, but I think I'll get used to it.
• The Institute. If you can find it, the Institute building is a nice place that's open most of the time. I haven't been to the ward yet, but it seems like there are a good number of people, most of whom are pretty cool.
• The bookstore. This might change once textbook time rolls around, but they have OSU spirit gear beyond my wildest dreams. I dislike the prices, but that's no surprise.

This isn't totally connected to the state of Oregon itself, but I found out from the geotechnical group leader during my tour of campus that each section of geotechnical engineering classes has on the order of 100 students in it, giving each lab section about 20 students each. My soil mechanics class at BYU had a maximum of 8 students in each lab section and most of them ended up with 5 or 6 in each. Needless to say, the idea of 20 students in each lab section sounds rather overwhelming.

Overall, I like Oregon and am excited to start at Oregon State in the fall. I'm glad I made this trip at this particular time. I knew that there would, most likely, be something that I wouldn't like about Corvallis (or about any city in which I could live) but I'm glad that I was able to sniff out those things now so that I can prepare to deal with them in the fall when I move.