on cities, home, missing

buses in sydney are, how would one put this lightly?, tempramental.

sometimes they're early, sometimes they're late, sometimes they don't come at all, but most of the time, they're on time. this does suck, however, when you find yourself waiting for the last bus of the night when the two previous buses didn't come. imagine standing at a stop for nearly an hour with full knowledge that not one but two buses should have come during that time, but didn't, and this next bus is your only chance to get where you need to go quickly--with no assurance that this last bus will show at all. this happened to a friend of mine. thankfully, i got on that last bus with him.

the only real comparison i have to offer is that of chicago. public transportation is much less complicated there, although i will say that the city has a few advantages in that way. it doesn't have a harbor with undulating coastline to deal with. it doesn't have its old non-grid street system to complicate the roadways. it is, geographically, quite a bit smaller than the area of sydney and suburbs.
that being said, buses don't have schedules, more or less. they come during times of the day (ie, my route ran from early morning to late evening), as often as they can. there is no opportunity for one to be late or early or not come, as it is wizardlike in appearance. it just comes when it comes. there'll be another one just like it in fifteen to twenty-five minutes.

i miss this about chicago. and now that i've reached my subject, i miss a great many things about chicago. i miss charlie, my bike, i miss the pocket map i have since sent to my roommate for on-the-go navigation, i miss the cab numbers programmed into my cell phone (which i never used but was so glad to have), i miss the general guidelines to stay out of the south side at night and the the lake is to the east. always to the east.

here, the buses come on "schedules," which they seem to shirk. i'm afraid to get a bike on the road because of the very real threat of riding into oncoming traffic (keep left, keep left, keep LEFT), any pocket-sized map would be as big as this continent itself, the harbor is to the north...wait, where are you again?, the dangerous spots as likely as the nice ones.

i don't know if this makes any sense. i'm tired and a little frustrated, so i'm calling this quits. goo night.

on australian currency

okay. when my family sat down and worked out the fine print of me coming to australia, you know, eletricity, health insurance et cetera, we decided that the best way for me to have access to money was travelers checks, acquired in the states and transferred to australian dollars at an obvious moneychanging facility. that way, one could avoid credit card financing charges (which your card may or may not have), and atm charges (which your bank may or may not have), or worries that one might run out of resources without realizing it.

now, don't get me wrong. this is a good plan, and for anyone travelling to australia, do consider it. however, it can be inconvenient at times. banks aren't always open (meaning hardly ever), plus i've experienced in both banks, currency exchanges (which are more common downtown, but also not always accessible) charge an $8 AUD. now, if you're changing $100, it's not a huge deal. $100 gets you somewhere around $110 AUD, so when they take away eight of them, it's like breaking almost even. prices in australia aren't too much higher, maybe only by a couple bucks--depending on where you go and what you buy. and stuff.

what i suggest, to any future ASCers, is to find a way to make use of ATMs. they're all over. there are two banks i've seen in almost every suburb i've been in thus far (okay, i'll give, it's only been about two weeks), are national australian bank and commonwealth bank. some banks in america (like, i've heard bank of america, but that's just hearsay) are affiliated with these two banks and you can find a way to access your funds fairly easily via atm, maybe without charge? check it out before you get here to see if your bank is afflilated with either of those two. or look into opening an account with one. or consider travelers checks. your call.

but be sure that whatever you get here and try to do anything electronic, you call your bank or credit card company and tell them you're going to be using their services overseas. apparently when your account, usually receiving charges from somewhere in the midwest (or other region, what have you) starts to get charges from the other side of the planet, it's high-profile fishy. your account provider can/will keep you from withdrawing more, or anything at all. and trust me, it's easier to make calls to your company while still in the states. so just do it.

nothing too much new today. i'm finding that my photography class might be more challenging than i thought. but at the end, i'll know how to take a picture of a penguin in front of a mountain while the sun is setting behind it. (this particular setup almost made my mind explode today. it was hilarious.)
thanks.

i'm here!

hallo! it's a beautiful early sunday afternoon in the suburbs.

our group got back from spiro camp on friday afternoon. basic schedule ran as thus: sing. eat. sing. listen to talk. eat. sing. free time. sing. eat. listen to talk... something like that. we learned the joys of morning and afternoon tea, which are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEALS from lunch, breakfast or dinner. it was slightly ridiculous, with a huge heap of awesome.
had some great conversations with people, got around well enough despite knee issues. (i complain. whatever.)

yesterday was a day of adventuring, thanks to sydney public transportation. i thought we were gettiing on a train to paramatta, but the train decided it didn't want to go the whole way. so they diverted us to a bus, which got us where we wanted to go. on our way home, we jumped on a bus we thought was going to a place where we could connect to a train to get home. after riding it for a half hour and discovering it did not indeed go where we thought, we transferred to another bus going into the city filled with loud young people. (i felt so old--i was so tired and wanted these kids to just sit down and be quiet...ahh.) but we made it to the city, wandered about, and made it home on the night bus. all in all, a full and wonderful day.

let me know how y'all are. (the aussies, by the way, crack up when i break into southern drawl. it's fantastic.)

a little vlog today.

like i mention in the video, i'll be gone at "spiro," or spiritual emphasis camp, tomorrow until friday night. my knee is still bum, which will make running around in merroo, by the mountains, real fun. but it will be good.



have a good couple of days, everyone.

classes begin

first off, let it be said that it is a huge encouragement to know people are reading. it's even cooler to have people actually interacting with each other via the comments--oh WOW. yes. let's have more of that.

first day of class today. well, it's school. it's odd to be going back in july. photography is going to be challenging but good--the entire class seems to be on a similar skill level and without pretension. our prof is young and looks like a grown up version of young goob from meet the robinsons.



i mean, without the black eye and a better sense of self-esteem.

it's late, i'm tired, and i've been having a really interesting conversation with people in the house about politics and culture. less charged than the other, you'll be happy to know, but still interesting.

and i had no idea that e.e. cummings had rules about his capitalization. good show. i'm aware that it's kind of post-counter-culture move, and it doesn't bother me. just a style i tend to like.

have a good night. hopefully there will be more to say tomorrow.

class schedule, scuba, and capitalization

two required programs:
monday:
8:45 am-12 pm: the view from australia/ indigenous history and culture
3-5:50 pm: photography II
tuesday:
6-8 pm: video production
wednesday:
1 pm; the gathering (chapel)
4-5:50 pm: arts and culture
thursday:
9-11 (am): multimedia II
3-4:30 pm: bellydancing*
friday:
all day**: the view from australia/ indigenous history and culture

*a friend of mine convinced me to take this with her. don't misunderstand me. i'm excited about it, but if it seems out of character, that's why.
**classes won't typically go all day. some fridays will be used to get a head start on weekend travelling, others will dismiss at half-day.

... ... ...

thoughts on scuba.
i have never gone scuba diving, so much of this will be speculation. but it works for the metaphor.
i feel like i'm culturally scuba diving. i've been plunged into a different world. everything is new and slightly surreal. the water is slightly foggy. the ways to go and options are still yet to be realized, and breathing normally is a challenge. but breathing normally is possible: the surroundings will become commonplace, the bus and train systems will be as familiar as the backroads at home, i will develop favorite shops and restaurants and church, and i will stop feeling like a sore thumb with my accent.
speaking of accents, i've visted two english-speaking countries with different accents in the past six months. both times, i feel that we, the travelers, brought more attention to ourselves by being self-conscious of our american accent than the accent itself. there is something about the way we think our nation is percieved that makes us (me) so aware and nervous to be that american: stupid, fat, loud, obnoxious. in reality, i only know a few americans actually like that, certainly not enough to stereotype the entire country. i/we would do well to just be ourselves, human, instead of worried of where we come from. (although i talked to an young lady today who spoke for all of australia: "we think bush is an idiot." to which all i could answer was, "yeah, a lot of people in the states think that too. but it's interesting how split the nation is--there are people who can't stand him, and people who stand behind him." personally (as if you asked), i'd say i don't know enough to say either way for sure. i do think that the nation has been ready--nay, looking--for a new president since 2005. there are other more educated reasons, i'm sure, to explain why the race has started so early, but that's my two cents.

sorry to get political.

... ... ...

a note on capitalization:
the pretentious explanation: capitalization gives respect. i like to give that respect to the God's Three Persons, and a few other case-sensitive (oh, forgive that pun) situations. that's about it.
the practical explanation: when i was first learning how to type, it was tough for me to coordinate several fingers to push two buttons at once. i got in the habit of typing without caps, and grew to like the way it looked. i do it now as a personal style, even though I Can Coordinate My Fingers Better Now. sorry if it's hard to read.

opera house! opera house! opera house!

this morning we finished orientation around the school, and in the afternoon took off for a scavenger hunt. we ran around the city taking photos of various imoportant buildings for two hours.







then, we went on a tourboat around the harbor and took this video. i have not played it back, and i know the quality isn't very good (i don't even know if you can hear me or anything on it, for goodness sakes), but it's the closest thing i can do to remember a sense of that moment. it was cold but amazing.



after the cruise, we had mongolian barbecue together. the sun sets around 5-6 pm (did i say that already?), so for those of us coming off daylight savings time, 8-9 pm feels about 11-12. we're all exhausted by 7:30.

oh! also: this photo goes out to wyomians:


and this is me and my roommate, becca. she's as genuine and friendly as the day is long, and i think we'll be good friends. (in case you need telling, this isn't a flattering picture of either of us. we're on the boat: it's windy, it's cold, i have a double chin and she thinks she looks bald.)


also, as long as we're uploading pictures: i wuv mah brudder. i'm bummed i couldn't see lindsay as well, but circumstances are circumstances. much love to you both!

the travelling story

(all times very approximate.)

12 pm CST: i leave my house for the airport
330 pm CST: plane leaves from XNA
630 pm CST/ 430 pm PST: plan arrives in LA
800 pm CST/ 600 pm PST: meet brian for dinner at panera
930 pm CST/ 730 pm PST: meet most of fellow ASC'ers at air new zealand check-in desk
(recieve tickets, go through security, arrive at gate, grab light sustenance wait)
1230 pm CST/ 1030 pm PST: plane leaves from LAX
1 pm CST/11 am PST/ 6 am ST (7/19/06): plane lands in auckland.
(cross international date line during 12.5 hour flight. confused yet? so were we.)

that's where it all goes to pieces in my head. we somehow ended up in sydney between 1000 and 1100 am on the 19th. in all, i had three flights to deal with:
XNA to LAX: 3 hours
LAX to AUCKLAND, NZ: 12.5 hours
AUCKLAND to SYDNEY: 3 hours.

i'll leave the mysteries of crossing the international date line to the physics masters. my brain explodes when i try to figure it out.
i'm finding i recover from jet lag quite well, as i am able to sleep almost anywhere and keep myself awake when i really should want to sleep. things get pretty funny when our group can't figure out how long we've been travelling.

thursday was a day of "keep the kids awake" with basic orientation, games, and food (um, TIM TAMS? where have you been all my life?). today was more intense orientation, covering classes, facilities, procedures, etc. after that, a handful of us decided to go downtown. nutshell: opera house, harbor bridge, beautiful, and tons of places to spend money, plus cool history i can't wait to see in the daylight.

upcoming posts!
-daily schedule (classes, etc)
-tour of housing
-opera house pictures
-service placement, etc
-straight-up stories!

OH! i forget this is about stories some times. i'm sorry about the length, but here's a quickie.
i live in student housing. it's neat, but not always the cleanest. some fellow ASC'ers from down the hall found a roach in their room and started flipping out. it was quickly killed. however, that made my roommate, becca, and i are squeamish to investigate our room, but investigate we must. while putting a suitcase inside an upper cupboard, we found one.
of course, our initial response was to flip. a few deep breaths and screwed up courage later, i climb on a chair with a shoe in hand to investigate further. the roach is still, and doesn't move when i blow on it. i squeak, thwack it with a shoe, and it bounces onto its back-- still no movement. blow again. nothing. becca hands me a pamphlet to scoop with and a grabs a trashcan for immediate disposal of said roach. i scoop, she holds, the vermin is away. we vanquished the (proabably already dead) roach! yippee for us!

all is well. leave some love!

the henry rollins story

first off, i look back over the pictures i just posted and miss chicago a little bit. if anyone from saatchi is reading this, would you just comment a "hey!" or something and let me know? it would make me quite glad.

secondly, my plane from arkansas to LAX takes off in a little under 24 hours. a good friend of mine commented on saturday that a week from then, i'll have everything figured out. it's so odd how true that is. by next saturday, i'll likely be unpacked, know at least three names (my roommates for sure--hiya katelyn, rebekah and carmen--yay facebook), know how to get to and from school, and all that crazy jazz. all in a week from now. a week ago i hadn't started packing.

but now! the story of henry rollins.

it's my first week at saatchi. i'm so jumpy and eager-to-please and do something good and right, i'm sure i'm annoying the office. andy, someone in the right rank to tell just about anybody in the office what to do, comes to me one afternoon and asks me to find a downloadable version of the theme song from the henry rollins show. simple enough, i say. i start searching, and realize this is going to be harder than i thought. i know then that rollins was a musical artist, spoken word artist/standup comedian, author, show host, etc., not to mention physically imposing enough to make me more than my fair share of nervous, but all around, a reasonable and cool fellow. what i didn't realize was how big his body of work is and how difficult it would be to just get the opening of this show--which i have never seen--isolated, considering anyone wanting to watch an online segment isn't interested in how it starts. i'm bouncing around from site to site, and i come across one that lists contact information to rollins himself. right. i think. this email address goes to henry rollins. just sitting here on my desktop. plain as day on this webpage. riiight..
but, i'm running out of options and it's getting late in the day. i keep the window open as a hypothetical last-ditch effort if nothing else pans out. i mean, even if the email goes to some crazy fan, the fan might be able to help me. as the time dwindles out, the email looks more and more viable. on my way out that evening, i shoot an email to him, briefly stating who i am and what i'm looking for. i log out and go home.
the next morning, i check my email first, almost forgetting the previous day. much to my surprise, there's an email waiting for me from the rollins address. exactly what was said will be lost to future generations--it slipped through the internet cracks when i switched email addresses. but he wrote me back, and the whole office was pretty convinced it was legit. i emailed him back how impressed i was that he actually answered my questions, and his response was pretty much that it shouldn't be. awesome.

and that is the story of how i emailed henry rollins.

chicago pictures: round two!

i'l try to keep this as light as possible.


one north state: it's odd-- this address lays just off madison street. madison is the street that goes most directly from the train station to millenium park, the street i would most commonly walk making trips into the city during the school year. i've passed by it almost every time i've been in chicago. i always wondered what was actually inside it, and now i know.


me and charlie hanging out in front of "the bean", a large, reflective sculpture in millenium park. more formally known as cloud gate.



this is charlie, my bike. it's a 1970 (or '71) schwinn collegiate. i bought it at a used bike shop called working bikes for fifty bucks. charlie's a little squeaky and the breaks could use some help, but it's in very good shape for its age. plus, a previous owner attached a wheel-generated light to the front--it still works. i can thank charlie for my newfound knowledge and confidence while navigating the city.
and just how did it get named charlie? well, just look at him. doesn't he look like a charlie to you?

and, just to gloat some more: the view from the apartment.

to the south:




to the north



fourth of the fireworks downtown (the red white and blue-topped building is the hancock tower. i can assure you that i could see the navy pier fireworks a thousand times better.)


still to come:
-expectations!
-the story of how i emailed henry rollins--and he responded back!
-a brief explanation of why i don't capitalize things!

now to return to packing.

mailng address- EDIT 7/21/07

mailing a letter:
(my name)
Wesley Institute--ASC
PO Box 534
Drummoyne NSW 1470
AUSTRALIA

mailing a package:
(my name)
Wesley Institute-ASC
5 Mary Street
Drummoyne NSW 2047
AUSTRALIA

"Australia ’s remoteness created an environment unlike any other on Earth. Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service helps protect it. Food, plant material and animal products from overseas could introduce some of the world’s most serious pests and diseases into Australia, devastating our valuable agriculture and tourism industries and unique environment."
-Australian government.

yay! i like letters!

expectations to come!

packing, among others

one. it helps that i've almost done this before. it must get easier every time, perhaps?

they tell us to expect temperatures as cold as thirty and as hot as one hundred (fahrenheit). at this i raised my eyebrows a bit--four months in northeastern illinois (known for four complete seasons) hardly sees that kind of range. about forty-five seconds worth of research concluded that averages range from mid-forties to mid-seventies, although i'm sure it can and does get colder and hotter. however, i'm really thinking that preparing for four months of those two extremes is highly different than preparing for the averages. any student who was at wheaton this spring could tell you that, as the mercury only rose above freezing in two days out of thirty-four from mid-january to mid-february. (that was a very special month--people just scuttling from one building to another. oh memories.)

anyway. the packing fun is underway. my first step was to do an inventory check--see how newer items settled in with old. i don't think i've done that in a very long time. i picked out everything i wouldn't mind wearing repeatedly for four months. there's quite a bit there. this says that one, of the clothes i have, i like many of them very much. two, i have a lot of clothes. (rabblerabblerabblematerialismrabblerabblerabble.) i'm going to have to cut the entire lot of it in half, at least a third for sure.

two. i've found myself listening to Christmas this evening. specifically, a series of albums titled "hark! songs for Christmas" by an artist named sufjan stevens. my dad makes fun of my fascination for this artist because of his funny name (pronounced "SOOF-yawn"), but i'm convinced at the very least that he has made the only Christmas music listenable all year long. it is not obnoxious or overly-Christmasey, in the way that perry como or the chimpmunks would be in july. it's soft-spoken yet lush and deep; the themes are treated in such a way that you understand at first listen that this man loves God. i hate it when modern artists will take a traditional song like silent night and rework it like a pop ballad, complete with vocal flourishes, climactic synth backup and an obligatory key change in the middle--it starts to sound almost in praise of itself instead of the Lord. that's where stevens nails it. the music itself is quiet, taking it back before the hype replaced "miracle" with "magic." the event was so small--just a baby born in a shed. so understated. so humble. stevens echoes that. and i love it.

anyway. i'm remembering one of my favorite parts about the language of the Christmas story. we always talk about Christ in a manger, an item i was always knew to be a feed trough but looked suspiciously like a rough wooden crib in depictions and lighted lawn ornaments. in french, manger means "to eat." it also has connections to "mangeoire," which is associated with agriculture. i'm sure any historian, etymologist, or christmas enthusiast will tell me how those words are actually unrelated nad how wrong i am to try to associate them to each other. but i like the idea that somewhere down the line of cultures and generations of friends and family telling the Christmas story, one particular culture left their fingerprints on it in one particular way. and well, i'm stubborn.

three. tomorrow's story is my list of expectations. tomorrow's? alright, i'll level. it's tough to have something to say every day, especially because i'm still at home. but it's still my plan to be one-a-day, and hopefully when i'm on the road it'll be more feasible.

setting expectations

"come to australia expecting the unexpected come opend to new ideas and attitudes (including those you do not agree with or even like). come expecting to be uncomfortable. come expecting to hear criticisms of your country's government (including the current president), and be willing to learn from these instead of being offended. come with an open heart and mind. the many challenges you will confront this semester provide incrdible opportunities for learning and growth. ... in getting ready for a program like this--one that you have been thinking about now for six months of more--you have naturally developed ideas about the program and how you will take advantage of your time in australia. ideally, you should forget everything you've imaged at this point, because the asc will be quite different from what you're expecting."
page 3, the basic information guide.

i've been through a handful of scenarios where everyone tells you to leave expectations behind. i've been to central mexico twice, visited london this spring, spent modest amounts of time in different places in the united states doing completely different things. i've started school in a new place far from home, i spent my first two weeks away from home at seven, first month at thirteen. now, i'm not saying i'm well traveled, and i know there is much of life still to see. i'd be hesitant, however, to consider myself completely new to potentially life-altering situations (or "plas" as i will call them).

that being said, i'm beginning to get a general distaste for being warned to "forget expectatitons" or encouraged to not set up any at all. for many of these plas, the only times i have had anything educated to say about the experience was how it exceeded, met, did not meet, or forced me to re-examine the expectations i had. when i had some sort of criterion to hold the experience up against, i was able to consider it more deeply than if i had none. i would have some kind of standard, some sort of goal that desired to be met or challenged.

unfortunately, i'm just recently figuring this out now. i wish i had set up some actual expectations for other plas in my life, and as a result have more to say about them. but oh! here is an opportunity to make right what i have done wrong in the past. i will start going against suggestion immediately and set up some expectations for my trip. have a wonderful day.

ps. go see ratatouille. good clean fun, and it's mostly over little kid's heads so you won't hear them squealing in the theater--if you're opposed to that kind of thing.

itinerary

i received the last package from asc yesterday. in it was a book, some bag tags and other travel paraphernalia, and an itinerary.

7/17: depart US
7/19: arrive australia*
7/19-21: orientation
7/26-27: spiritual emphasis camp
8/17-19: canberra trip
9/7-10: bush trip
9/28-10/1: labour day/public holiday
10/5-9: study vacations**
11/12-13 exam week
11/14-20: new zealand trip
11/20: depart for home

*because of travelling west over the international date line, i will never have a july 18. our plane will take off on july 17 and arrive on july 19. crazy, no?

**study vacation is not a break time. "this is a time for make up classes, drama, graphic design, dance and music practices shows and performances."

yeepah!

thunder rolls in

i'm home and the countdown begins. twelve days.

i've been considering the things i could say about australia, and i've decided to begin exposition with a little timeline. hold on to your hats (it's not that exciting).

end-of-summer 2006: i toy with the idea of a semester abroad. my mom will say that it was always in the plans, but i honestly can't remember. i find myself on the lookout for different programs.

somewhere in september/october: i get some kind of mailing in my campus mailbox advertising best semester programs with the cccu. i flipped through the booklet, mostly uninterested, until i reached the last page. australia studies centre. it featured studies of arts, culture, history, and service. um, hi there.

november: mom visits me in wheaton while on business. i make what i think of as "the pitch" to her. she's heard me talk about the program before, but always as a hypothetical. this time, it was for real, and she was on board.

november-february: conduct semi-casual research, including reading other asc student's blog and copious google mapping. seriously. my google bar got some real work.

january- (i know, out of sequence)- i go out to coffee with a friend, and tell her about my plans to be gone in the fall. she raises her eyebrows, asks for more information, and within the half hour, decides to apply too.

february- finally finish my essays and turn in my appliation. mom helped lots.

march- i find out that both myself and my friend have been accepted to the program via email--less than a day later i spend a week in london for spring break. let's just say that lead-up week was high-stress.

late march- re-apply for my passport, as my current one expires a few months too early. (apparently it needed to last at least for six months after the end of my trip. it was about three months shy.)

march-may: fill out manymanymany forms for both wheaton and the asc to make sure everyone knows where i'll be in the fall and what i intend to do when i get back. it's amazing how many signatures, sheets, and copies need to be made.

may- a whole slew of things fall into place. i recieve my new passport, a new set of instructions from the asc. i apply for a visa, register with the state department, and generally get more things underway.

june- after a month and a half of back and forth with visa complications, everything works out. i find out where i'm living, start reading the required book, in a sunburned country. recieve the basic information guide (aka, the "big"), and recieve word that some other information is coming--but it was sent to the wrong address. i'm still waiting for that. so yeah.

july-stilil waiting for last piece. but everything else is in place, and that's a very weird place to be. i've felt like any piece coudl fall through and not work out and oh, i wouldn't be going. but they're all here. i think i know what's in the last piece, and it's not a huge deal. all the big stuff is underway.

i have strange hopes that future asc students will be able to look at this blog and find answers to questions, the same way i wanted answers last fall. i realize that given the lack of depth in this post would have frustrated me as a prospective, and might just clutter the casual reader's page--so i'm not sure all this was really worth it. sorry.

to those who have stopped by and left love, thanks! it's reassuring to know that someone's reading. really. leave love.

photos round one!

alright, everyone, let's get down to brass tacks.
i love taking pictures. i do. what i suck royally at is actually doing something with them, like posting them to facebook, printing them, emailing them, anything useful. as a result, my enthusiasm for taking the pictures, coupled with my increased frustration with a piece of machinery we call a "digital camera" and its tendency to be less than helpful when compensating for light sources, leads me to take less pictures. HOWEVER. here are a few from around.


this is my apartment in lincoln park. i've been on the twentieth floor. suffice it to say, it's sweet.


the garden out in front of the building from the ground.


the view of a wedding party taking pictures in the garden. these happen every other weekend or so.


looking south from the balcony. off to the left is navy pier, where fireworks shoot off twice a week.


"my" desk--i technically borrowed it from a freelancer. but i made it a mess my own.


the creatives wing--less than a dozen people actually sit at all these desks.


michael works at the desk across from me. this board featured the word of the day. other favorites include "reinvent", "dang", and "energy".


the sitting area in front of the office. no one sits here, but they still change the flowers every week. coworkers tried to outwit the deliveryman and nick the old flowers before they were replaced, but were only occasionally sucessful.

i wish i had more people-pictures (don't you wish you were featured, saatchi friends?), but again, my picture-taking skills are questionable. more to come later, i hope. now to hit up the town with my bike and camera. seeya later, saatchi. it's been real.

limited exposition (more to follow!)

FAQ
where are you right now? what are you doing there?
i'm in chicago, doing an (unpaid) internship for an advertising agency. i arrived in late may, and will be here until the fourth of july.

what kind of internship?
i've been hanging out with the creative department, seeing the everyday life of folks working there. i've been asked to help with real projects (very flattering!), including searching online for images, taking photos of the inside of local stores and restaurants, writing and editing copy for various projects, participating in brainstorming sessions for different projects, and generally being a nuisance to the entire office with many, many stupid questions. it's great fun.

where have you been living?
i've been living in a simply amazing apartment in lincoln park. the view is sick and includes fireworks from navy pier on wednesday and saturday nights. my hostess is away on business during the weeks and comes back most weekends, but i generally have the place to myself.

how did you score all that?
my dad works at the agency's office in my hometown, and asked the creative director here in chicago if he might have a spot for me during the summer. as unlikely as it was, he did. so i came. i would have considered the office in my hometown, but its internship requirements are a little less casual than the chicago office. it was a unique opportunity i couldn't pass up.
the apartment connection is thanks to my mom. she is very active in her sorority still, so when she found that i would need a place to stay in chicago, she sent out an email to chicagoland sisterhood. they responded YES and viola, i have an apartment to stay in.

firsts and lasts

today was my last full day at my internship. over half the creative team was gone, and more will be absent at tomorrow's half-day. some are on vacation, others on business, and others on unfortunate family matters. the office was not the same. i can't quite place what i was missing, but it was something. some chemistry or excitement...something.

i rode my bike to work for the first time today. i think it took less time than taking the bus--why it didn't occur to me sooner that this might be true i do not know. i know now and will be taking it again tomorrow.
after work, i found myself putzing around the way one does with many options and as much time as the setting sun will allow. i stopped by the taste of chicago (a giant food festival downtown), found myself making one last trip to the library to check a quote i read while finishing my paper three weeks ago. before i knew it i was back on n clark just a block or two from the apartment, and i passed the sandwich shop where i ate my first chicagoan meal back in may. it was wet that day. i was travelling on foot, and making a poor job of wandering north. it was strange to travel the same block again, for the millionth time, knowing that i will soon be hundreds and then thousands of miles away.

i was briefly in wheaton this weekend, and caught a glimpse of the billy graham center. a similar feeling came over me. i went to that building nearly every other day for so many months, and now i'm going to go another six before seeing it again.

to miss: to regret the absence or loss of.

i'm going to miss chicago, that's for sure. i had a fleeting thought once, before i thought it could really happen, how cool it would be to spend a summer here, learning the place and taking it in when it's actually nice and not covered in snow. an then this opportunity just fell in my lap--i won't quickly forget it. chicago in the summer is amazing. i regret not doing more, but i'm so glad for all that i did. i saw lots of improv. i played in the lake at night. i discovered parts of the city i thought i had lost forever months ago, and i can now give you advice on how to get to general areas of the city, and am not afraid of the el, the buses, taxis, or biking on the street.

tomorrow is my last full day in the city. i'm in denial.