For my second food blog, I went to Tacovore, a taco restaurant on Blair Boulevard. Featuring both indoor and outdoor seating, the atmosphere is colorful, laid back, and trendy. My mother was visiting for the weekend and we found a spot at one of the picnic tables on the back patio. 

I ordered the black bean chili which is served with chips, and added cheddar and beef ($6.75), a mushroom taco (crispy marinated cremini mushrooms with ginger, lime, mint, cabbage & serrano chile, $3.50), and agua fresca ($3). This ended up being about $16 after tipping, which seems reasonable to me compared to how expensive other restaurants are. My mother also got the black bean chili, but with crema. Tacovore customers wait in line to order, and then receive a number and find their own seats. This can be nice when you have a preference about where in the restaurant you want to sit. 

I think the food here is pretty good. The black bean chili was delicious, and I enjoyed eating it with the chips. We did run into one small problem, which was that my mother ended up receiving the last bowl of chili in the soup container and it didn’t have enough beans in her opinion, so she asked the servers about this and they replaced it free of charge. The mushroom taco was crispy and tangy, which was a combination that worked well together in my opinion. I would say that the agua fresca was not the best one I’ve ever had (it should have been more blended I think), but it wasn’t bad. I’ll note that Tacovore is known for having great margaritas, but I did not have one on this day. 

Although not walkable from campus, if you can find someone that has a car, Tacovore is a fun place to go with a variety of good things to eat. 

I decided to go to Hey Neighbor for my food blog. Located at 19th & Agate, it’s a great place to visit in the spring when the weather is warm, because there is only outdoor seating. I took some of my friends with me for lunch on the weekend, and we sat at one of the big picnic tables under a colorful umbrella and string lights.

I split the funghi pizza ($17), which includes mozzarella, garlic, roasted mushrooms, parmigiano-reggiano, and fresh thyme, and the arugula, prosciutto, & parmesan salad ($13) which has arugula, proscuitto di parma, lemon vinaigrette, parmigiano- reggiano, and cracked pepper with one of my friends. I also got a root beer ($2.50) because despite having cocktails that look delicious, it was 1pm and I had things to do afterwards. This was a good deal in my opinion, because we each only paid a little over $15. Hey Neighbor uses a system where you pick where you want to sit and then scan the QR code on the table to pay, so customers never have to wait in any kind of line, which is definitely appealing to college students who would prefer to sit and talk to friends while waiting for food. Additionally, the service is good and the people who work there are friendly.

I really enjoyed my selections. The mushrooms atop the wood-fired pizza were warm and earthy, and the meltiness of the cheese contrasted the crispiness of the crust in a truly satisfying way. As for the salad, the sharpness of the arugula paired well with the savory flavors from the prosciutto and the parmesan. Truly top tier root beers are ones where the restaurant brews their own which is not the case here, but this one was still decently good in my opinion. Although typical in many pizza establishments, I appreciated the jugs of water on the table and the extra parmesan shakers, because this means that no one has to get up from the table and miss part of the conversation.

One additional thing I enjoy about Hey Neighbor is its proximity to both Prince Puckler’s Ice Cream and Washburne Park, which makes it easy to spend an enjoyable few hours in the Hendricks park neighborhood.

The guest lectures about what to include on a resume taught me how to give a good impression of my skills and experiences on paper. For example, it is important to include experiences relevant to the job or internship you are applying to, and tailor to each position. Adding leadership roles can be helpful. You should also make sure to have education, experience, and ways to contact you such as your phone number and email. Furthermore, action verbs can make skills sound more professional, and acronyms should be spelled out. A resume should be concise and easy for the person reading it to understand. It is important to have a good resume because resumes are needed for internships and jobs, and can make a big difference whether you are selected for a position or not. 

Professor Craig Parsons’ guest lecture taught me a lot about Brexit and the European Union. I learned that people who live in an EU country can travel freely to other EU countries without having to stop at borders. The EU also has mutual recognition of countries’ regulations. Furthermore, licensing for jobs is transferable in EU countries, which is different from US states. For example, if someone living in Germany moved to France, they would still be able to do their job without obtaining new certification. However, if someone living in Oregon wanted to work in California, they would not be able to without getting a California license for their job. In addition to easier travel for citizens of EU countries, the EU gives European countries more power than they would have on their own, because many of them are fairly small countries.

I found the guest lecture by Dr. Aris Hall very interesting. I was aware of Oregon’s racist history, and the fact that black people weren’t allowed to live in this state for a long time. I was very surprised, however, to learn how small the population of black students at University of Oregon is even to this day. I didn’t know that only about 800 students that attend this school are black, or that the black cultural center was only founded last year. I think it is important to learn about these things so that we can be better educated and more inclusive in our everyday lives. 

I think one way that we can advocate for equity in a sustainable way is by listening to and amplifying black voices. It is very important to teach others about how they can advocate for the black community, but we must make sure that we are not speaking over black people. I think we can connect with and support each other by being open minded and inclusive, and trying to be understanding. We should also stand up for each other if we notice something negative happening in the community. 

My group’s project is called The Role of Immigrants and Foreigners in Japanese Society and How they are Perceived. We will research attitudes towards immigration in Japan and explore why many Japanese people have a negative view of immigrants, even though immigrants coming to Japan would benefit the country. We will analyze the factors that surround immigration to Japan, such as Japan’s low birth rate, aging population, competitive workforce, and history of rejecting outside influence. We will also study the challenges of foreigners assimilating into Japanese society, from its complex language and writing system to its complicated societal rules, as well as racism experienced by foreigners. We will look at the kinds of jobs that foreigners are taking in Japan, and where they are immigrating from. Our project is important because Japan is one of the world’s biggest economies, and with increased globalization Japan’s current immigration policies will limit their involvement in the global economy. Furthermore, we are also interested in learning about how negative attitudes towards foreigners and immigrants in Japan affect people living there who are not Japanese. For example, the homogenous nature of people who live in Japan and the importance of collectivist culture has resulted in an emphasis on everyone looking and acting the same way. This can make living in Japan as a foreigner difficult because it is impossible to conform to certain standards. We hope to find information about how immigrants and foreigners are perceived in Japan and the role of immigrants in Japanese society.

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