User experiences traveling

I recently attended CHI2005 to hone my skills. It is always interesting to go abroad when you focus on user experience. A couple of observations:

1. On the plane over I sat next to large (not fat, just large) Norwegian woman. She was about my mothers age (65 going on 70). I observed her struggle with her headset and she never asked for any help (I volunteered at some point when she looked especially forlorn). During the 10 hour flight from Copenhagen to Seattle she never watched a film (we were at the emergency exit and thus did not have a screen in front of us but rather a fold-up version below the seat). Did she not want to watch a movie or was she too shy to ask for help? I'm still wondering because she sort of fell asleep and invaded my private space rather seriously (leaning her head against my shoulder) - that's not what shy people do is it? I don't have an answer - it just baffles me. Just like the next one
2. Did you ever really have to navigate a new airport when arriving? Or did you just follow the stream (like a lemming)? Who knows where to go? Interestingly enough the signage may have very poor usability without any significant consequences because it will almost always be someone familiar with the lay-out of the airport going first.
3. And finally: What's with Portland? Everything - and I mean everything - was in both English and Spanish. Is Portland some old Spanish bastion? Or do they get a lot of immigrants after they are kicked out of California? It's actually rather a good service - but also makes navigating and getting around a bit distracting (especially if you're not familiar with Spanish).