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Mom and I arrived in Portland Airport (PDX) last night around 10 pm local time. The terminal smelled completely new and different, but with a hint of maple syrup. Most of the restaurants in the airport were closed so we had to eat Wendy's. A solid choice most of the time, but I was hoping for something more local.

After sleep we picked up our rental car and headed downtown. We explored the Pearl District neighborhood, stopping at the world famous Powell's Books, as well as a coffeehouse. Then I met with one of my colleagues at yet another coffeehouse, where I received some briefing on my job. I've agreed to conduct the pit orchestra for the high school production of West Side Story at the end of January, which was a huge undertaking on my part but being mostly alone out here I thought it would be a good time to dive head first into the job.

After that, we checked into a hotel in Keizer where I'll be teaching and grabbed dinner at a surprisingly excellent Italian restaurant. Tomorrow I'll be looking at a number of apartments and (hopefully) making a decision by the end of the day.

It has been raining non-stop since we've gotten here.