You scared me to death, Pio! I saw you posted after my post, and I said to myself, "Great...I'm in trouble again." :rolleyes:

Ever heard of the Oregon Trail? There was a reason they were going to Oregon, and not to Idaho or Nevada or Montana or something.

1. I live less than two hours from both an 11000 foot volcano and the ocean; I could go skiing and build a sand-castle in the same day. Oregon has beaches, volcanoes, high deserts, and the large and amazingly green Willamette River Valley. Oregon is WAY green. SO many trees.

2. The weather is temperate. In fact, the mean temperature of January, the coldest month, is 45 degrees, only 15 degrees less than the mean temperature of the warmest month, July.

3. The people are friendly, laidback, and helpful.

4. Oregonian drivers are the most courteous in the nation. They will NEVER honk at you unless a collision is inevitable. They stop for pedestrians, even when the light is green.

5. We have the best coffee in America, and probably the most coffee, as well. My hometown of only 20000 has more than 10 coffee shops.

See, no need to be paranoid, Folwren! :)

~*~ Pio
:p

I feel compelled to make an argument for Wisconsin here, but I have no real proof. (I mean, besides the fact that our agricultural and dairy products are completely amazing)

At least we feel all four seasons here. But that may be a bad thing, now that I look at it.

*cough* So does Washington *cough* *cough* ;)

Though, I take NO defense of Starbucks. No one drinks it in Washington anyways, we all go/drink Tully's or our local place. You can bash them all you like, and it makes my heart glad to hear such.

Gwath pretty much said the same for Washington, minus a few details that are essentially different (ex: Active volcano(s), temperate rainforest, etc.).

I was a bit charmed that National Geographic thought Olympic National Park looked like Middle Earth. It does in a way, but like an oversized Fangorn, minus the Ents. So far as I know...


Washington is nice, but I've always felt at home in Alaska and British Columbia too. Both very beautiful places, and amazingly thoughtful people.

No, we do not wear flannel, or all live in trees. Who do think makes your computer software? Hrmm?

Don't worry, I've been there.

Too many times to count, and if anything: I think your taxes spoil you...


~ Ka

Adding to the number of officially Finnish Downers...
 

Helsinki, Finland.

WE don't have sales tax....

I've been to Oregon, and it is a beautiful state, but... NY is the only state that counts. :p

I thought you made computer software in trees while wearing flannel, actually. And went shopping on Wednesdays, and had buttered scones for tea...

Exactly.


Close, minus the shopping on wednesdays. :p

Though, actually there are a few 'communities' of people who live in trees. It doesn't look as nice as Lorien at all.

It's okay though, I don't think my state is the best or perfect so I'm not going to battle for it. I think Alaska and British Columbia are nice too. The latter is not because people mistake Washington for a district of BC... :rolleyes:


NY is pretty nice, my friend lives there off and on, but she always calls Washington home. :p

~ No, I don't live in a tree. Yet. Ka

Isn't that a reason to stay out of Oregon.:D

My goodness!:eek: That is a reason to move to Oregon, except for if you living in a better state: Texas!;) I won't take it any further, we'll probably get that Chit Chat squirrel coming along here soon.

Hee hee, well, there are two Mt. Doom's in Washington.
So, you might want to avoid the whole northwestern corner of the lower 48.

Any other Downers out there who have a volcano(s) in their state/province/country/general area?

I'm just curious of course. :p (Yes, I know Alaska and Hawaii have a few).

It's another reason why people in Washington try registering for licenses with an Oregonian address, you can avoid the ridiculous Washington sales tax. ;)

~ Curious Volcanic Ka

After the 16 inches of snow we had on Good Friday (followed by the 3 last night), I might be inclined to agree that it might be a bad thing, but then, it's winters like this that keep down the population of things like cockroaches, termites, and other bugs that I'd much rather live without (and being allergic to all insects, this is rather an important matter to me :) ).

I might also add that in Wisconsin's favor, we aren't near any active volcanoes, fault lines, or other such natural wonders that might turn into a natural disaster without much warning. ;) And there are the Great Lakes, as well as a lot of truly beautiful countryside. Even the occasional rotten winter, like the one trying to come to an end, has its own beauties (the 16 inches of snow was quite spectacular when the sun came out the next day, with the very happy promise that it would melt the stuff before the week was out, which it pretty much did). I've lived here all my life, and though I have visited other places that were quite lovely and interesting... well, there's no place like home, I guess. ;)

I can't get over how nice people in Oregon are. At least Portland. Especially if you pronounce 'Oregon' correctly.

And now is it just me or are only attractive young people hired to work in Starbucks and Coffee People?

And NY... Rikae, I'm about an hour from you either at my parents' house or at school, and I suspect you had the SNOW we had yesterday. SNOW is irritating. It's spring. That means we shouldn't have any more snow. Yet we had snow. I'd say that means NY stopped counting.

Unless of course you're talking about CNY autumn which smells of decaying apples and fallen leaves and cinnamon, and involves cider and spontaneous thunder storms and wind that does miraculous things to long black coats...

Oh, that's boring...
I have GIANT earthquakes, active volcanoes near out city (Ka, I live in Alaska, right across the inlet from... four(I think) active volcanoes), blizzards, AND a tsunami threat (but not to my city because of where we are positioned, but other towns not far from us are at risk of being completely recked by one)

And, I LOVE it here!!!!!!

Oh yes, and an argument for NOT living in Oregon...
My science teacher says that the areas around Oregon and Washington (But not Alaska, thank the LORD) are going to be hit with a MASSIVE tsunami in the future like soon... so my advice is-
Don't be in Oregon when that tsunami strikes!

Oh, yes! We don't have a sales tax in my city! And Ka Alaska really is a nice place to live, but if you want to move here watch out for "Break Up".

Normally, but I'm considering this the snow that we were supposed to get in December and didn't, which makes it more reassuring than frustrating. (At least winter still happens, even if it's late).

In Tolkien's homeland
 

I live in London, England.

And no, we don't have any large Volcanoes or fault lines or hurricanes or tsunamis (although this year we did have a small earthquake and there was a gale, but that as far as it goes here).

I bet that your science teacher believes in that Global Warming stuff.
:p

John Hodgeman says, "In Oregon, Where the Shadows Lie." so I don't find it so mysterious a notion. :p

There's been a lot of actual effort in the area I live in to not only simulate (and out up on the news over and over, thanks a bunch Microsoft...), but create some sort of evacuation plan in case of such a thing. I believe Seaside, Oregon has been working on such things for awhile now.


Though, the tsunami threat is old news. It's been circulating for the past 30+ years and for some reason people keep emigrating to Washington. I'm thinking the backup plan of the state government is to create a buffer of their mutli-million oceanfront condos. It's only plausible.

Also, you have a much older threat of being in a lava flow mega-apocalypse, or even older than that, living on the quite active line where two tectonic plates meet (I have a bad habit of sleeping through earthquakes now... oh vey, not another one, *snooze* :rolleyes:).

So, really, if you're in need of multiple natural threats, or just bored, Oregon and Washington are not so bad.
It's like a live-action convention for geology and other earth sciences .

If worse comes to worse, I'll travel up via the Cascades, hop across some islands, and just find a lovely Alaskan family to adopt me. There's my evacuation plan.

~ Ka

I see that not too many downers live in Norway too bad... my school has an international exchange program and one of the places available is Lillestrom, Norway. they have some for Finland and UK too... if i i do end up going to one of those places who knows, downer meeting!

It's true. We really are.

I have stumbled across this thread after what seems like forever...
Psh, Wisconsin's dairy products are enough to make me keep returning to that state. It's Illinois's hat afterall (or maybe Illinois is Wisconsin's pants). Either way, where do you come from in Wisconsin?

Is Oregon difficult to pronounce then? I'm saying o (as in pot) - re (like the beginning of rent) - gon (like a softer version of gone). Is that wrong?

Try "Origun." It's almost like "origin," but with a hard "g."

Bah, I explained re wrong. Well apart from the ending I was pretty much there!

:)

If it helps, the east coast of the US thinks you were right. :)

Do they read Eragon in Oregon, and did oregano have its origin in Oregon, or was that in Aragon? Is there mineral depletion in Oregon, and if not, where has all the ore gone?

Sorry, too much coffee today.

I'm from Milwaukee, at uni in Madison, and have a tree farm in the middle of nowhere.

And there's a lot more we have to offer than dairy products. Hills, for instance (unlike some states to the south of us *coughIllinoiscough*).

I love Madison and Milwaukee isn't half bad.

And as for hills, psh. My parents (and I until college) lived half an hour from Chicago, we have no need for hills. Give me the rolling L-train and that immense Sears Tower. So keep your squeaky cheese and State Street...on second thought I'd like State Street.

Really? What areas? I spent my early childhood just north of Mitchell Field, moved out with my family to Greendale until I got married (after uni at UW-M), then lived in an assortment of apartments until we bought our condo in Muskego. One side of the family has dairy farms up in the Green Bay area, and I've seen most of the middle-of-nowheres the state has to offer (preferring them to more crowded regions). Just curious, mind you. I also appreciate what the state has to offer (though even Illinois and Iowa seem hilly to me after a trip through Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle :D).

*Old post alert!* Why was I so unpatriotic? :confused: :p

Have any Downers moved since they joined? I moved (to be with a certain other, more secretive, Downer) and am no longer in my earlier-specified "Where are you from?"-location.

It's made the connection with my homeland (Aberdeen, Scotland) even stronger. Though the love I bear for my second home (the Netherlands) is significant.

I can't recommend it highly enough: travel, see new places. :)

Random Titles hide in the shadows.
 

I'm from the half-way point between the North Pole and the Equator. :D I don't really want to get more specific then that, other than my area has Starbucks and Dutch Bros. coffee "houses" (here we use the term very liberally.)

To be difficult - actually, I've always known it as "Origun," and I'm from MD. :p Glad to have that verified. ;)

I don't really have any Maryland promoting tidbits...we're slowly becoming just one big DC suburb anyway. Oh, and even though we're on the smaller side for states, our population is greater than Finland's...but that's not necessarily a good thing, is it? :D

I applaud you.

It sounds drastically more like Oar-ih-gahn everywhere I've been, but I must admit I haven't been to Maryland. Serves me right for having generalized so broadly. :)

Here's a sound bite: ôr´i-gun

~*~ Pio :)

Being a Westerner myself who grew up only a couple hours away from the state, I can happily say I know how to pronounce Oregon properly. Another western state whose pronunciation gets botched horribly is Nevada. Westerners get irritated when you pronounce it wrong. Now what irritates me as a Westerner is when people from the East coast insist that I live in the mid-West. No, Idaho is not in the mid-West. :rolleyes:

Ooh, I'll definitely second that one. Traveling was the most enriching experience of my life and I miss it. I do hope to one day live in a foreign country for a longer period of time. And I can also agree that the Netherlands is a lovely place to live. For me, I loved living in a small town for a semester...I felt that I got a more authentic Dutch experience than if I had stayed in Amsterdam. And the people in Limburg are so friendly. :)

Being a student, I get to live in many places. I grew up in Boise, Idaho (and live there on breaks). My school is in Boston, which is where I am right now. Last semester I had the lovely experience of living in Well, the Netherlands. I hope to get an internship this summer, which could be in Boston or somewhere else like NYC, or even (though less likely) out of the country. I almost chose to do an abroad program in LA but decided against it because LA is so ugly and smoggy. Who knows where I'll live once I graduate. Oh, how I love to live in many places...apparently I'm more adventurous than most.

Hmm... people in Origon would dislike me than.:D I don't know what it is about the south but my drawl makes it almost impossible to pronounce any state correctly. I pronounce every State with an I: Michigin, Origin; Marylind. Even when people describe themselves as Texans they always say "I'm a Texin."

I'm so glad that we don't get mad about misspronounciations down here!:D

Nah, Origin works.

I reside in the post-apocalyptic urban wasteland of Detroit, Michigan.