Chi town

One of the large cities that I really like spending time in. Sure, New York is nice for vacation and stuff, but I don’t think I could ever live there for an extended length of time. I would like to live there for maybe a year, to really take advantage of everything the city has to offer, but that’s it, the city is just a bit much for me. Boston is too New England. And LA, will always have a place in my heart and I’ll probably find myself there often. But Chicago has that nice Midwest feel, a combination of the sprawl of LA and the compactness of New York, with all the diversity I’ve grown to not be able to live without.

This is my third trip here, though the second one didn’t really count because I arrived in the afternoon and left the following morning. I haven’t really done the tourist thing and thanks to some awesome connections I haven’t had to spend that much money here, yet I’ve been able to do amazing things. I’ve been to the Art Institute of Chicago twice, the Field Museum of Natural History and tomorrow I’ll be at the Museum of Science and Industry, all for free. Beyond awesome museums, the Cubs are here, plus some fantastic summer music festivals, and obviously some of my favorite people. AKA thanks to Tuyet for inviting me and being a great host to me each and every time.

On another sweet note, I’ve noticed in the time I’ve spent walking around that Chicago is fairly bike friendly, more so than LA and New York I would say. There are a lot of bike lanes and sharrows along with the path on Lake Shore Dr. and the one through the sculpture garden, plus others I probs haven’t seen. It’s a really comforting thought considering I’ll be spending a lot of time on a bike in cities this summer and that I really want to spend less time driving altogether by biking and taking public transportation. The tap water is good, the Target has plants on the roof and low flow toilets, and I’ve seen recycling containers in the parks.

On the whole, it’s a great city and I would love to eventually spend part of my life here, though not quite yet, I need a break from the snow still.

College graduate?

I wrote this on June 5th, but only now do I really have internet access. On a happy note, someone returned my wallet!

It’s been a while since I’ve last blogged and a lot has happened in that time. Most importantly I’ve graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Religion.

It hasn’t really set in yet that I’m a college graduate. I was recently speaking with someone and realized I had to say I went to Oberlin, in the past tense, because I in fact no longer go there. It has been the best experience of my life so far and I can’t believe it’s already over, but I guess I’m off to bigger and better things now that I’m a college grad?

I write this sitting on my computer in Tuyet’s living room, where I’ll be staying until the 12^th, just chilling in Chicago. This would have been a lot easier if I hadn’t lost my wallet yesterday. Why of all times for me to lose my wallet for the first time, is it on a sort of vacation. Thankfully I have my passport with me and can still legally get on a plane. Then I’ll be home, doing nothing exciting other than unpacking all of my crap and writing a million letters. I’ll be leaving soCal on July 5 for our epic bike trip through Canada, ending in Montreal at the end of August/beginning of September which I’m super excited for, and also terrified, and also why I’m not applying for jobs right now. After that it’s back to LA to hopefully be living with my sibling, in a place that has space for me to grow plants. I plan on taking the CBEST so I can substitute teach as well as research grad schools and take the GRE. Beyond that, temporary jobs could include community food work or admissions or whatever pays me really.

As I finish this, I listen to the sounds of the rain falling to the ground 12 floors below and the cars driving on wet pavement, awaiting my turn to venture outside, but until then, I’ll be writing a cover letter and listening to Adele.

Holy crap I’m a college grad.