Thursday, December 13, 2012

December 13, Chicago is AWESOME!

Health is better in some ways, worse in others. If you're interested in more details, contact me privately, since I feel weird explaining my health in detail on a public blog.

What I feel less weird about is sharing my adventures! Yesterday I went down to Boston and met up with Sofie and Caitlin. (All the fancy American technology/nice buses/public transportation marvels are still boggling my mind a little bit. I never appreciate Conchord Trailways until I went to TZ!) Sofie & I went to get coffee/tea at this cute little place in the North End, which is where Caitlin lives. We had an interesting encounter with three middle-aged men that was funny but very weird. They came in, sat at the table next to us, and one of them promptly asked me point-blank, "What are you talking about?" They introduced themselves and made some small talk, which was a bit odd but nothing weird enough for me to remember. Anyway, one of them ended up offering me $100 to slap his friend in the face. He told me I needed to slap him as hard as possible--so hard spit would come flying out of his mouth. And he wanted to video tape me doing it so they could circulate the video to all of their office cronies. As the guy predicted, I didn't have it in me to just slap a random man in the face, though $100 was hard to pass up. I just really didn't' need an assault charge being levied on me. Plus, I doubt I could really hit someone that hard in the face for no good reason. My morals just don't jibe that way.

Anyway, today I flew into Chicago. I really like it here--I definitely would gladly relocate to the windy city based on what I've seen so far! It's exciting!

Interesting observations & nice things from my day:

1. I saw the most adorable father in the airport. He was like the poster-child of fathers. (Oxymoron? Poster-father?) Anyway, watching him play this crocodile game with his toddler kind of made my morning. Normally I'm annoyed by the poor parenting I see in  public transportation situations, so I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't letting his child run screaming and flailing around the terminal. Also, unlike another family there, he didn't let the little guy tote my winter boots around as I was getting my jacket off for the security check. Apparently this kid really "liked them".

2. The buildings in Chicago are tall, pretty, and super shiny. I feel pumped up just from being here! I love city life, it's just so invigorating. And this city seems very handsome, at least in the downtown area.

3. I really like the old-school feel here--there's a nice vibe in Chicago. Old meets new. Classic and cultured meets modernity. I like the feeling I get here, and I'm excited to tourist around tomorrow.

4. I had some delicious spicy sweet potatoes from Whole Foods. I'm definitely making those once I get home!

5. Most people in Chicago that I've walked past have been very fit. I'm not sure if that's true city-wide, but I was impressed by how many people were in shape as I wandered around this afternoon.

6. Okay, back to Whole Foods. There is an amazing selection of new, yummy, allergy-friendly foods that I could normally have, but can't at the present time. Once I'm off my restrictive diet, I'm excited to try these new items! I LOVE YOU ALLERGY FRIENDLY GRANOLA BARS!

7. I got an interview with the DC Fellows program, too! So far I've gotten final interviews for every position I've applied for! (Saturday is my attempt at nailing down an offer!) The position in DC is for ESL, which is perfect. :) I hope I get one position at least!

8. I had 3 cups of peppermint tea today. It was great.

9. I came up with some really inspired thoughts for the children's book I want to write--these ideas are semi-related to my Plan B: Allergy-Friendly Bakery & Nutritional Consultant Studio idea, incidentally...

10. The O'Hare airport features toilets that have automatic re-changing seat covers. You just wave at the toilet, and it spins on some new plastic for your tush. Wonders never cease.

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