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Published: November 29th 2007
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Chicago skyline
from the ferris wheel on Navy Pier Hey guys apologies for the delay but I've been flat out.
At Penn State there is a week's break for Thanksgiving, where all the students go home to their families and eat, drink and sleep way too much. They kick you out of the dorms so us international students took the opportunity to take a sightseeing trip. There were about five of the PSU international kids in Chicago. Most of us stayed at Hostellers International in the Loop in downtown Chicago. It's a good hostel, very reasonably priced and an excellent location. The Greyhound (I hate Greyhound possibly slightly more even than Walmart) bus trip took just under 20 hours (expected time was 17:30) with several layovers and delays and frustrating overbookings and rescheduling. The trip was overnight so it at least saved us a night's accommodation. We got to Chicago at about 11:30am on Saturday and walked about 15 minutes to the hostel. The walk to the hostel was through the rundown and industrial part of Chicago and our initial impression wasn't very good. After checking in to the hostel and wandering into the main part of town, near the Chicago River and the Magnificent Mile our impression promptly
Cloud Gate
The giant reflective Kidney Bean changed. There is definitely an ugly side to Chicago but if you're in the right place it is very impressive. Our first meal was a sample of Chicago's famous hot dog, which is a sausage in a bun with pickles, chilis, sliced tomatoes and green relish. It wasn't good. I wouldn't recommend it.
Our first major "tourist thing" in Chicago was to take a gangster themed bus tour around the city. It took us to all the famous bars and spots where well known mob figures were murdered. It was very entertaining and also was a good overview of the city. Like I said before, Chicago definitely has an ugly side, and there were definitely parts of the tour that you wouldn't want to get off the bus. I won first prize in a raffle on the bus and won a DVD of some guy walking around cemeteries in Chicago pointing out the graves of infamous mob figures like Al Capone. It was almost certainly the most boring thing I have ever seen. It worked well as a substitute for sleeping pills though. I graciously donated my prize to the hostel for their hospitality.
One thing I really
wanted to do in Chicago was see some jazz, but couldn't because I'm not 21. There is one place that is a bar/restaurant that told us that we could go in on a weekday night if we ordered food and were out by 9pm. We asked three times, and were told the same thing on three separate occasions, but after Hazel and I dressed up and walked all the way there in the cold, the person at the door wouldn't let us in, despite our protests. Which was a little disappointing.
I'm not going to bore you with all the details of the trip, we spent seven days in Chicago and did a lot of things. We went up the John Hancock Tower, one of the largest towers in Chicago at night, we went to Navy Pier and the lake shore (Lake Michigan), we went to several museums and restaurants (Chicago deep dish pizza was really good), we went ice skating on the outdoor rink in the middle of the city, we visited "Cloud Gate" - a giant reflective kidney bean, we went to a German Christmas Market, a Thanksgiving Day Parade and we went on an Architecture cruise
down the Chicago River. We also took a trip (accidentally) on the train to a very rundown area of Chicago, where we managed to see the other side of Chicago.
For Thanksgiving on Thursday night we went south to an inner city suburb (to the Residence Halls at the University of Chicago) and had dinner with a friend from PSU and his hosts, who he met in Australia last year. She is an excellent cook and we definitely got an authentic and beautifully prepared Thanksgiving meal.
There are sooo many homeless people on the streets in Chicago (and any other major US city) and it's horrible to see people freezing on the streets because of the US system's lack of social conscience. The contrast between the living standards of the haves and the have-nots is painfully obvious in Chicago.
On the way back from Chicago, Hazel and I stayed a night in Cleveland Ohio to break up the trip and also to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which was really really good. The bus trip from Chicago to Cleveland was 11pm-7am and I slept for almost the whole thing, which made it a lot more bearable. Also on the trip back we lucked out and got on an express bus from Pittsburgh to State College so the trip home was considerably less painful than the trip there.
Mum called on Saturday while I was in the Rock & Roll hall of fame to tell me about Kevin Rudd and Labor's victory in the federal election so I'm very pleased with that result.
Chicago was quite cold and windy and we had a little bit of rain, but State College has been quite nice since we got back. It's been 5-10 degrees (which actually seems quite warm to me now) and sunny for the last few days. Apparently it snowed and stuck the day after we left State College for thanksgiving but it's all cleared up now so I still haven't seen proper layered snow on this trip. Hopefully I get some before I leave.
University College London applications are in progress and I'm getting organised for that. Exams at PSU are in less than three weeks and I can't believe I'm leaving so soon. The time has gone so fast.
I couldn't get a flight to London between December 28 and January 9, and I need to be on campus in London by the 3rd of January so I'm flying out of New York on the 28th of December instead of after New Years. Unfortunately I won't get New Years in Times Square as planned, but on the upside, I'll be able to enjoy a drink or two to celebrate the New Year in London, which I wouldn't be able to do (legally) in the US. I finish exams on the 17th, will leave for Boston on the 18th, then to New York on the 22nd where I'll spend Christmas before leaving on the 28th.
Hope all is well back home! Mum, I'll call you on the weekend. I promise. Also happy 18th Campbell, I hope it's a good one.
Lots of Love,
Renan.
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