Woah, Left Y'all Hanging for Awhile

I didn't realize it's been so long since I last posted, but I guess I have been traveling that whole time though. I took lots of notes and lots of pics, so I will probably post pics eventually and hopefully I'll write up a little story of my trip, but considering how things are busy here, that may not actually happen :(
I am here in PDX (Portland). I got here on Friday and I am loving it more and more each day. It does help that I haven't yet seen any of PDX's fabled horrible weather, but I did buy a $180 coat to prepare for it. I have never bought a coat in my life, so that hurt a bit, but I knew that I needed a good waterproof one and I wasn't expecting that to fall in my lap anytime soon.
So here I am in beautiful weather and busier than hell. I have been doing all those things I need to do to start my life here, and as of yesterday, my classes have begun, so now there is homework too. I already went and got my license so that I might be able to register as instate next year. I also have a good lead on a house, but I have to go through a ridiculous amount of red tape for that. I thought NYC rentals were a hassle, but here you have to not only go through a credit check, but they also do a criminal background check. WTF? That sort of invasion of privacy would never stand in Madison. I wonder what the hell the felons do. And of course it is going to cost me $40. Then there is the bureaucracy that I have to deal with at the university. I don't even want to think about all the lines I've stood in and little bits of money that keep leaking out of my wallet. Not to mention the piles of useless information I've received and how many times have I been told to look at the website. I am so sick of being referred to the website constantly when I call businesses, offices, and other such things. I always look at the website first, but it is usually pretty useless and then to be told to look at the website like I'm an idiot when I do ask a question, that really burns me up.
So I am also looking for insurance, which is no fun joyride. And then I am also just taking in this wonderful city. The place is absolutely beautiful. It just has this quality about it that makes you smile when you walk down the streets. There are so many unique little homes and tons of trees. Also, people are really serious about where their food comes from and what's in it that they have gardens everywhere. People even plant gardens in the little strips b/w the sidewalk and the street. And I'm talking about pumpkins, sunflowers, the whole nine yards.
They also take coffee very seriously and there are coffee shops everywhere, which means I am in heaven, especially b/c they pretty much all have really good coffee. The only problem is that this is a pretty early city and lots of stuff closes preposterously early, including many of the coffee shops.
I have been biking my ass off here too. The streets are incredibly bike-friendly and you can get anywhere pretty easily along bike routes. They even have bike boulevards. Most of the residential streets are fairly low-volume, but there are stop signs at every other street to prevent cut-through traffic. Bike boulevards will take a side street and get rid of all the stop signs so that bikes can travel freely. Then to make sure cars don't use it, they put speed bumps all over and then at the main streets, they put medians in the middle of the main street. There are little cuts so that bikes can pass through, but cars have to turn right. Transit is also quite good, but I have been biking so much that I don't really use it.
I have found a lot of ultimate frisbee here, but I only played once because of the whole lack of insurance thing, but I will be playing in a beach tournament this weekend.