This entry was posted on 4/1/2007 9:10 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Ah, Portland - the final stop in our Magical Mystery Tour...
Michelle and I had never been to Portland before. We pictured
rain...and more rain. Well, it was pretty drizzly in Portland,
but it was also a fabulous time:
Friday
8am: We breeze out of the hotel to get some breakfast and check out
Portland a bit. We end up at Mother's Bistro, an adorable
lace-curtained brunch place with amazing french toast. Mmm....
9:30am: Fortified by our delicious breakfast, we decide to do a little
shopping. We end up in a cute little neighborhood with all these
adorable little boutiques. Not only do we find a treasure trove of
reasonably-priced, hip and fashionable outfits, but we discover that
there's no sales tax in Portland! Score!
12pm: We arrive at the Chinese Gardens for our first event. For those
who have never been to Portland, this is a must-destination if you ever
go there. Hidden inside four unassuming walls is a breathtaking oasis
with a bridged lake, winding walkways, and Chinese pavilions - all made
of genuine materials brought from China to create this garden. Michelle
and I are blown away - and that's not even including the great reading
we had there!
3pm: Michelle and I race around town to do our two radio station
interviews. As we sit in the broadcast room at the KINK radio
station, Michelle and I do our best seductive radio voices...
7pm: We arrive at Powell's for our last reading of the book tour. Now,
Michelle and I had heard a lot about Powell's before, but it really is
something you have to see to believe. For those of you who don't know,
Powell's is the biggest bookstore in the entire country and it is a
sight to see - floor after floor after floor of books. Every book you
could possibly want - and maybe some you didn't know you wanted - can
be found here. Without the handy color-coded floor map, we would have
gotten completely lost.
The reading went great, although the reading will certainly be notable
for one "special" attendee. After reading an excerpt from the novel
where the Alex character is told that "orientals" eat rice and
discussing with the audience how Michelle and I were motivated to write
this novel to eradicate stereotypes about Asian women, an older
Caucasian man raised his hand and said: "You know what I love about
Oriental women? How they respect men."
Deafening silence. The rest of the audience winced. Deciding that we
would try to tactfully change the subject, we started talking about how
Asian culture places a great emphasis on respect for family and elders
- at which point, the man interrupted us and said: "You don't
understand - I'm not talking about respect for family or elders. I'm
talking about how oriental women defer to men and listen to men and do
what men tell them to do. I wish more American women would learn to do
the same."
Yeahhh. It's things like these which illustrate our point about stereotypes out there better than anything we can say.
Next: Portland, Part II.
