Okay, let's see... it's only been a week since I last wrote something, but it feels like that was forever ago! It was strange because every day this week felt like a Friday making it take forever to actually get to the weekend! Now it's here and it will be over before we know it. I forgot how exhausting it is to be busy every day of the week. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I work at the Field Museum 8:30-4:30 and on Wednesday I have class from 8:30-2:30 and Bible study from 7-8:30. All I have to say is that I am not fan of waking up at 6:45 every day!
But apart from the early mornings, this week has been fairly enjoyable. I think I'm finally getting into a routine at the Museum, even though I get lost every day. That place is HUGE! But it is going to be an amazing experience.
Right now I'm still getting eased in to projects and tasks but soon I will get to be very involved with the new Diamonds/Gems exhibition opening in October. This week has been mostly observing - getting a better feeling for how the project managers work. Monday was orientation, Tuesday I was given a few projects, Thursday I got to go on a "field trip" which was a part of the research for a new exhibition that's in the beginning stages of planning, and Friday was meetings and a few more projects. So far my favorite part of working at the museum is the fact that whenever there is a lull in the work I have to do, I can go exploring. So far I've gone through the Water, Evolving Earth, Animals, and the Pirates Exhibitions.
On Thursday we also went to our first "Arts in the City" event - a play called Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. We had to meet at a library at 6 to catch a school bus to the theater however, at 6pm I was still on the train coming back from our "field trip" way up north. Thankfully my roommate was on the bus so I could call her and have her tell our teacher that I was stuck on the subway. I managed to get to the red line stop at 6:15 and proceeded to sprint 5 blocks south to where the bus was. I made it, but the entire group had been waiting for me. I felt awful, but there really wasn't anything I could do about it. I had told my supervisor at the museum that I needed to be back at my apartment by 5:30 and she said it wouldn't be a problem. However, we underestimated the amount of time we would be stuck in traffic when driving from the suburbs up north, back in to the city.
Friday was an interesting day at the museum - I got a chance to talk with one of my supervisors and found out a lot more about my involvement and the kinds of projects I will be working on. I'm really excited about how involved I get to be in the Gems/Diamonds Exhibitions that are opening in October!!! I'm going to be an expert on precious stones in no time :) I also got to walk through the Pirates exhibit which is the most popular exhibit at the museum right now. It was fascinating following the story of a former slave ship that was taken by pirates and then after being a pirate ship for a while, sank just off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717 (plus I got to touch a piece of real pirate treasure hehe - it made me feel like a little kid)!
Saturday was a wonderfully lazy day with a little bit of homework and baking of brownies thrown in - the night before Renae and I got ice cream and watched a movie, but I ended up going to bed ridiculously early - and in the evening we had a girls night out with Jeanne and two other girls from the program.
Sunday I went to Willow Creek Community Church with a handful of others from the program and filled the afternoon with more homework. There was a group that went to the zoo, and I thought about going, but it was a chilly, rainy day. We ended our day with a ridiculously long game of SceneIt.
And today was just another day at the museum - working on a handful of different projects. I also made a Target run... which is always dangerous for me :) but it's so hard to resist since it's just around the corner from where I catch the train to go home.
Sorry I don't have pictures to add to this post but soon I'll add some of our apartment now that it is starting to look a little more like home. And hopefully I'll keep up on writing more often so I don't have these uber long ones :) - I have to keep a journal for one of my classes so I'm thinking I might alter my writing a little bit to fill that requirement.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
september 10th-12th
Thursday was a fairly relaxing day since I didn't have my internship. I enjoyed taking my time when I woke up in the morning, but I also made sure that I had a productive day. In the morning I cleaned and reorganized a lot of stuff in our apartment, I went for a walk, and ran a few errands. Around 2pm I ventured out to find Moody and meet up with Elizabeth. I had a blast hanging out with her - she showed me her dorm and I met her roommate. Then we went for a nice, long walk to Borders for tea/coffee. It was great catching up with her and we now have plans to go to an Owl City concert together in two weeks! :)
Friday was my non-productive day. I did a little homework but otherwise I just took advantage of having the apartment to myself and watched a movie, played my guitar, etc... all in all just enjoyed being by myself since that doesn't happen very often. The evening was also pretty relaxed with a very successful trip to Target (you all must know how happy it makes me that I can get to a Target easily here!) and a round of TV SceneIt.
Saturday - Renae and I started today with a trip to the farmers market that's on our block every Saturday. Before we left I sat at our table eating breakfast and people watching (from that seat you have a perfect view of the NE corner of the intersection) and couldn't believe how many people were walking around with flowers so it shouldn't have surprised me that when we turned the corner from our building we were faced with a sea of petals. The flowers were gorgeous! We had to buy some for our room :) I also bought a bag of the most DELICIOUS apples I have ever tasted for just $5. Renae bought some fresh vegetables as well as a purple pepper.
In the afternoon Renae and I headed down to the loop for a couple of hours. Elizabeth had told me that there was a game of "Where's Waldo in the Windy City?" this afternoon so we went, determined to find him. There were boundaries set which made up an area of about 20 blocks where Waldo, Wanda, Wizard Whitebeard, Woof, and Odlaw would be hiding. We had two hours to find them and it was quite an adventure! For all of you skeptics, it was a lot more fun that you would think - wandering around the city searching for a man in a red and white shirt/hat - and then the excitement when you finally find one of them!
(just a few photos to break up the writing -- this is one of my favorite buildings in Chicago)
Friday was my non-productive day. I did a little homework but otherwise I just took advantage of having the apartment to myself and watched a movie, played my guitar, etc... all in all just enjoyed being by myself since that doesn't happen very often. The evening was also pretty relaxed with a very successful trip to Target (you all must know how happy it makes me that I can get to a Target easily here!) and a round of TV SceneIt.
Saturday - Renae and I started today with a trip to the farmers market that's on our block every Saturday. Before we left I sat at our table eating breakfast and people watching (from that seat you have a perfect view of the NE corner of the intersection) and couldn't believe how many people were walking around with flowers so it shouldn't have surprised me that when we turned the corner from our building we were faced with a sea of petals. The flowers were gorgeous! We had to buy some for our room :) I also bought a bag of the most DELICIOUS apples I have ever tasted for just $5. Renae bought some fresh vegetables as well as a purple pepper.
In the afternoon Renae and I headed down to the loop for a couple of hours. Elizabeth had told me that there was a game of "Where's Waldo in the Windy City?" this afternoon so we went, determined to find him. There were boundaries set which made up an area of about 20 blocks where Waldo, Wanda, Wizard Whitebeard, Woof, and Odlaw would be hiding. We had two hours to find them and it was quite an adventure! For all of you skeptics, it was a lot more fun that you would think - wandering around the city searching for a man in a red and white shirt/hat - and then the excitement when you finally find one of them!
A little acknowledgment that we were at least in the right area :)
We found Wanda first with a lucky left turn
You could also search for Whitebeard's 12 Scrolls around the city - we found this one, but we also passed one while it was being drawn before we knew what the scrolls looked like. We were really hoping they were actual paper scrolls...
But then there was a sighting in Millennium Park. Can you find him?
Waldo was on the move and we ended up following him in a circle around the park
Thankfully some kids stopped him and asked him what he was doing, otherwise I'm not sure we would have caught him.
And be sure to enjoy this photo to it's full extent... not only am I in a picture with Waldo himself, please notice the man behind me and the bride and groom behind Waldo. It was amazing how many different bridal parties there were around the loop today!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
september 5th - 9th
Sorry it's been a while... After we moved out of the hotel and in to our apartment on Saturday, we were without internet for a bit. I'll attempt to sum up the last couple of days for ya:
Saturday - like I said, we moved in to our apartment... My parents arrived around 12:30 and I think left around 3-ish. Nothing too exciting happened in the afternoon except worked on unpacking and getting everything settled. But I did discover that I strongly dislike grocery shopping for myself. Trying to figure out what I would eat for a week at a time is almost impossible since I don't really know how to cook anything :)
Saturday night I went on an adventure with one of my roommates, Jeanne, out to Navy Pier... if you want to know about it, feel free to ask but otherwise I won't bore you with the details right now
Sunday I went to church at the down-town branch of Willow Creek. Willow Creek Chicago meets in this amazingly gorgeous theater and so far I really like it. I went with two other people and we decided to sit in the balcony which I think is on the 5th floor. Worship was amazing - I love worshiping with such a diverse group of people! The sermon was good as well - definitely got me thinking - but it was a little different for me because it was a video feed from one of the other branches in the Chicago area. I think I'll still go again next week because they are starting a series (where I think the speaker is actually in the room haha) about being aware of how you spend your time and not letting yourself get too busy.
After church we did a little exploring while looking for the Jazz festival - and even though we never found it, we did find the Buckingham fountain:
This dad and his little boy were absolutely adorable! :) They were running around, playing games, and here the dad is trying to teach the boy how to do push-ups.
In the afternoon a few of us went to the beach which is just a few blocks east of our apartment building. It was gorgeous - a wonderful day to walk with your feet in the water... or to build a sand castle:
Tuesday was pretty basic - I had more orientation meetings for the most of the day - just an introduction to the classes I will be taking.
And finally, today. Also pretty basic. This morning we had an intro to our practicum groups that we will be meeting with all semester. I took an unintentional nap while trying to get a head start on my homework :\ but it was needed. It's taking me a while to get used to the sounds of Division Street (major tourist bar-hopping street if you didn't know) right outside our window which we have to leave open in order to not suffocate from the heat. Now I'm going to once again attempt to get started on homework until leaving for a Bible study a guy in the program is hosting tonight at 7pm.
Thanks for reading! I hope you are all doing well and that you know how much I miss all of you!
Oh, and to just give you an idea of how much walking I've done this weekend here's a map of some of the different places I walk between:
There are many other places I've gone and paths I've walked over and over again, so this is just a glimpse :) I really enjoy being able to walk everywhere or taking public transportation, but I know after a while I'll probably miss driving my car.
Saturday - like I said, we moved in to our apartment... My parents arrived around 12:30 and I think left around 3-ish. Nothing too exciting happened in the afternoon except worked on unpacking and getting everything settled. But I did discover that I strongly dislike grocery shopping for myself. Trying to figure out what I would eat for a week at a time is almost impossible since I don't really know how to cook anything :)
Saturday night I went on an adventure with one of my roommates, Jeanne, out to Navy Pier... if you want to know about it, feel free to ask but otherwise I won't bore you with the details right now
Sunday I went to church at the down-town branch of Willow Creek. Willow Creek Chicago meets in this amazingly gorgeous theater and so far I really like it. I went with two other people and we decided to sit in the balcony which I think is on the 5th floor. Worship was amazing - I love worshiping with such a diverse group of people! The sermon was good as well - definitely got me thinking - but it was a little different for me because it was a video feed from one of the other branches in the Chicago area. I think I'll still go again next week because they are starting a series (where I think the speaker is actually in the room haha) about being aware of how you spend your time and not letting yourself get too busy.
After church we did a little exploring while looking for the Jazz festival - and even though we never found it, we did find the Buckingham fountain:
In the afternoon a few of us went to the beach which is just a few blocks east of our apartment building. It was gorgeous - a wonderful day to walk with your feet in the water... or to build a sand castle:
(more pics on facebook)
On Monday my roommate, Renae, and I went on an adventure to go thrift-store shopping with the hopes of finding some things to decorate our apartment, but... we forgot it was Labor Day and all of the stores were closed. We ended up relaxing for the most of the day at the apartment and then met up with one of Renae's friends from high school who has lived in Chicago for three years now. We went out for frozen yogurt at
and then walked all over the city and ended up hanging out at his dorm for a while. But I just want to say... if any of you come to visit, we are definitely going out for some frozen yogurt! :)
Tuesday was pretty basic - I had more orientation meetings for the most of the day - just an introduction to the classes I will be taking.
And finally, today. Also pretty basic. This morning we had an intro to our practicum groups that we will be meeting with all semester. I took an unintentional nap while trying to get a head start on my homework :\ but it was needed. It's taking me a while to get used to the sounds of Division Street (major tourist bar-hopping street if you didn't know) right outside our window which we have to leave open in order to not suffocate from the heat. Now I'm going to once again attempt to get started on homework until leaving for a Bible study a guy in the program is hosting tonight at 7pm.
Thanks for reading! I hope you are all doing well and that you know how much I miss all of you!
Oh, and to just give you an idea of how much walking I've done this weekend here's a map of some of the different places I walk between:
There are many other places I've gone and paths I've walked over and over again, so this is just a glimpse :) I really enjoy being able to walk everywhere or taking public transportation, but I know after a while I'll probably miss driving my car.
Friday, September 4, 2009
september 4th
Sorry, no pictures this post, today was a wonderfully lazy day :) I was able to sleep in until 9:30am and not have to worry about being anywhere until 12:20pm. My hotel roommate and I pretty much hung out in our room the entire day except for going out to lunch. The one productive thing I did was decide which internship I would accept. I spent all last night and this morning debating between Café Media and the Field Museum... but as of 3:15 it is official: I will be working at the Field Museum of Natural History! :) It will be great! I will be working in the Exhibitions Project Management department and will have the opportunity to do all sorts of tasks as well as shadow other departments. Also, I don't have to start work until next Monday, so not only do we have a three day weekend starting tomorrow, I will essentially have a four-day weekend next week :)
This evening was the wrap-up at the hotel where we all stood up and shared our name, school, and new internship location. We then found out our practicum groups that we will meet with each week and went out to dinner. We were going to a comedy club out in Wrigleyville as a large group so my PG hopped on the Red Line and found a bar and grill. It was interesting because they ONLY took cash.
After dinner we met up with the rest of our group at the IO Theater to see the "Shakespeare Improv Company." It was really funny and quite impressive. They asked for the title of one of Shakespears unwritten plays. The suggestion was "Queen Sarah of Kent" from which they created a two-act play. It was great and I was tempted to stay for their second show just to see what they would come up with since every performance is different.
But now I'm back at the hotel just hanging out and getting ready to move in to my apartment tomorrow so I better get back to packing :)
This evening was the wrap-up at the hotel where we all stood up and shared our name, school, and new internship location. We then found out our practicum groups that we will meet with each week and went out to dinner. We were going to a comedy club out in Wrigleyville as a large group so my PG hopped on the Red Line and found a bar and grill. It was interesting because they ONLY took cash.
After dinner we met up with the rest of our group at the IO Theater to see the "Shakespeare Improv Company." It was really funny and quite impressive. They asked for the title of one of Shakespears unwritten plays. The suggestion was "Queen Sarah of Kent" from which they created a two-act play. It was great and I was tempted to stay for their second show just to see what they would come up with since every performance is different.
But now I'm back at the hotel just hanging out and getting ready to move in to my apartment tomorrow so I better get back to packing :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
september 3rd
Today almost matched yesterday in terms of busy-ness...
For my first interview I had a 80-90min commute which should have only been about an hour but I missed the train and the next one took some time to get there. Plus along the way, just three stops away from where I needed to get off, the conductor announced that the train was now an express train to the end of the Red Line. I had to jump off the train before the doors closed and wait another 7 or 8 minutes for the next train. But I made it to Teller Madsen just in time. We had a nice long interview where Mr. Madsen told me all about his company and the most exciting elements of their job (like how they are working on an exhibit with a library which include artifacts such as Lincoln's Bible (also the Bible used for Obama's inauguration) and the actually things that were in Lincoln's pockets when he was assassinated).
I had to go directly to my second interview at the YWCA because of the long commute. I ended up taking two buses and didn't even get lost! :) I think I might be getting the hang of this... but I did have to wait 20-30 minutes for the first bus to get there.
Anyways, both interviews went really well and I finally had a break this afternoon! I can't even explain how happy I was to be able to just sit (which eventually led to lying down and taking a nap)! They warned us that we'd be doing a lot of walking, and I thought I was prepared... but I still have blisters galore and have been getting charlie horses in the middle of the night from so much walking and not drinking enough water. :\
Tonight we had a catered dinner and a meeting for prayer and reflection as well as a wrap up of what is expected of us for tomorrow with deciding our internships. But none of that is terribly interesting so I'll just show you a few things and wrap this up hehe.
This is a photo of what I've needed at all times this week. If I were to lose any of these items (Schedule, Orientation folder, Graphic Design portfolio, resumes, notepad, CTA map, key card, and most importantly my U-Pass) I don't know what I would do:
Another thing I couldn't live without this week was the hotel notepad I snagged from our conference room. I used it to write the directions to EVERYWHERE I've gone this week! This morning I used the last sheet, and this is what I found:
I can't make out too much, but I believe the last point says something a long the lines of "screening genes that are susceptible to this/a drug treatment"
And lastly, a quick look at the start of my business card collection so far this semester :)
For my first interview I had a 80-90min commute which should have only been about an hour but I missed the train and the next one took some time to get there. Plus along the way, just three stops away from where I needed to get off, the conductor announced that the train was now an express train to the end of the Red Line. I had to jump off the train before the doors closed and wait another 7 or 8 minutes for the next train. But I made it to Teller Madsen just in time. We had a nice long interview where Mr. Madsen told me all about his company and the most exciting elements of their job (like how they are working on an exhibit with a library which include artifacts such as Lincoln's Bible (also the Bible used for Obama's inauguration) and the actually things that were in Lincoln's pockets when he was assassinated).
I had to go directly to my second interview at the YWCA because of the long commute. I ended up taking two buses and didn't even get lost! :) I think I might be getting the hang of this... but I did have to wait 20-30 minutes for the first bus to get there.
Anyways, both interviews went really well and I finally had a break this afternoon! I can't even explain how happy I was to be able to just sit (which eventually led to lying down and taking a nap)! They warned us that we'd be doing a lot of walking, and I thought I was prepared... but I still have blisters galore and have been getting charlie horses in the middle of the night from so much walking and not drinking enough water. :\
Tonight we had a catered dinner and a meeting for prayer and reflection as well as a wrap up of what is expected of us for tomorrow with deciding our internships. But none of that is terribly interesting so I'll just show you a few things and wrap this up hehe.
This is a photo of what I've needed at all times this week. If I were to lose any of these items (Schedule, Orientation folder, Graphic Design portfolio, resumes, notepad, CTA map, key card, and most importantly my U-Pass) I don't know what I would do:
Another thing I couldn't live without this week was the hotel notepad I snagged from our conference room. I used it to write the directions to EVERYWHERE I've gone this week! This morning I used the last sheet, and this is what I found:
I can't make out too much, but I believe the last point says something a long the lines of "screening genes that are susceptible to this/a drug treatment"
And lastly, a quick look at the start of my business card collection so far this semester :)
september 2nd
Tuesday was a busy day to be sure. I can't remember the last time I woke up at 6:30, but I managed. To start of the day I had an interview at the Field Museum of Natural History, for which I actually arrived 45 minutes early (even before the two people I was interviewing with got there). But once we got started it went really well and I even got a tour from a girl on staff who was a part of the Chicago Semester last spring.
I left that interview, ran back to the hotel to catch my breath and then left with another girl to head to our interviews at Café Media. We ended up getting a little lost because we couldn't seem to find the Blue Line and once we got to the right part of town, we reached an incredibly confusing intersection. I ended up being ten minutes late to my interview but I called on the way, and they were really understanding.
With both interviews going so well I have a feeling I will be debating for quite some time which of the four places I will work at during the semester... this is when I really hate how indecisive I am! :)
Right after I got back from the hotel from Café Media, I met up with my roommates to go pick an apartment. It's really nice because the building is just two short blocks from a station which will make getting places quite easy :) We chose a 1-bedroom on the 7th floor, signed the lease, and paid the first months rent. I now live in Chicago! It is such a weird feeling! And I'm sure it will be even crazier once we move in on Saturday.
In the evening we went to the CS offices where we will be having our classes for an authentic Chicago Pizza party. It was my first time having Chicago-style pizza, and I'll admit. . . . it's as good as everyone says! And this is coming from someone who doesn't even like pizza all that much. Pizza was followed by a walk down Michigan to a river boat tour which was a lot of fun. Instead of boring you with a wordy-explanation, I'll just post a few pictures:
I left that interview, ran back to the hotel to catch my breath and then left with another girl to head to our interviews at Café Media. We ended up getting a little lost because we couldn't seem to find the Blue Line and once we got to the right part of town, we reached an incredibly confusing intersection. I ended up being ten minutes late to my interview but I called on the way, and they were really understanding.
With both interviews going so well I have a feeling I will be debating for quite some time which of the four places I will work at during the semester... this is when I really hate how indecisive I am! :)
Right after I got back from the hotel from Café Media, I met up with my roommates to go pick an apartment. It's really nice because the building is just two short blocks from a station which will make getting places quite easy :) We chose a 1-bedroom on the 7th floor, signed the lease, and paid the first months rent. I now live in Chicago! It is such a weird feeling! And I'm sure it will be even crazier once we move in on Saturday.
In the evening we went to the CS offices where we will be having our classes for an authentic Chicago Pizza party. It was my first time having Chicago-style pizza, and I'll admit. . . . it's as good as everyone says! And this is coming from someone who doesn't even like pizza all that much. Pizza was followed by a walk down Michigan to a river boat tour which was a lot of fun. Instead of boring you with a wordy-explanation, I'll just post a few pictures:
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
september 1st
My brain is toast... burnt to an absolute crisp! I think I was in denial of just how crazy this week was going to be. But today accomplished a lot! It feels pretty good, actually, because I finally have some answers :)
First of all, I have two roommates, Renae and Jeanne, and we will be living in a one-bedroom apartment on State Street. Tomorrow afternoon we will be venturing out that way to check out the apartment, sign the lease and pay the first months rent.
Tomorrow I also have two of my four interviews - one at the Field Museum of Natural History and one at Café Media. My other two interviews are at Teller Madsen and the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
We just got back from small group-dinners where it was meant to be like a mini "Taste of Chicago" and my group was supposed to go for Lebanese. But when we got there, we found out that the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays so we ended up walking to a place called the Basil Leaf for some Italian. It was a fun time but the conversation lagged a little as we were all exhausted from a day of getting our U-Passes, housing lottery, class confirmation, internship assignments, meetings, practice interviews, and lessons on public transportation.
That public transportation thing might be a problem, I have a feeling I will be getting lost quite frequently. But hopefully not over the next two days while I have interviews. Tomorrow I start by heading out at 7:30 am in order to get to a 9 am interview :P I have to make sure to get to the site by 8:30 to go through security and I've been told it takes at least 10 minutes just to walk the length of this building. Then I will have a little break and I'm off to another interview at noon.
I'm just anxiously awaiting Thursday night/Friday/Saturday when interviews are over, I'll have decided where I will be working for the semester, and moved in to an apartment. Just the fact that I won't be living out of a suitcase any more will be more than enough!
Hopefully I'll have pictures of the apartment soon, but I might wait until we are moved in and settled :) and then I can finally go exploring and meet up with everyone I know living in the city!
First of all, I have two roommates, Renae and Jeanne, and we will be living in a one-bedroom apartment on State Street. Tomorrow afternoon we will be venturing out that way to check out the apartment, sign the lease and pay the first months rent.
Tomorrow I also have two of my four interviews - one at the Field Museum of Natural History and one at Café Media. My other two interviews are at Teller Madsen and the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago.
We just got back from small group-dinners where it was meant to be like a mini "Taste of Chicago" and my group was supposed to go for Lebanese. But when we got there, we found out that the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays so we ended up walking to a place called the Basil Leaf for some Italian. It was a fun time but the conversation lagged a little as we were all exhausted from a day of getting our U-Passes, housing lottery, class confirmation, internship assignments, meetings, practice interviews, and lessons on public transportation.
That public transportation thing might be a problem, I have a feeling I will be getting lost quite frequently. But hopefully not over the next two days while I have interviews. Tomorrow I start by heading out at 7:30 am in order to get to a 9 am interview :P I have to make sure to get to the site by 8:30 to go through security and I've been told it takes at least 10 minutes just to walk the length of this building. Then I will have a little break and I'm off to another interview at noon.
I'm just anxiously awaiting Thursday night/Friday/Saturday when interviews are over, I'll have decided where I will be working for the semester, and moved in to an apartment. Just the fact that I won't be living out of a suitcase any more will be more than enough!
Hopefully I'll have pictures of the apartment soon, but I might wait until we are moved in and settled :) and then I can finally go exploring and meet up with everyone I know living in the city!
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