Pics, or It Didn't Happen

As promised, internet's finally here in my apartment, so pics are here from the first couple of days. But, before they go up, I'll go ahead and describe the past few days before I forget them even more. This week has been a lot of introductions and tours and exercises in Newberry's unique and frankly antiquated way of doing things. Perhaps the most interesting, and somewhat fun, I'll admit, is the call system in the library. They have an online catalog of everything, but in order to get hold of anything in the library, you have to fill out call slips. There are three types of call slips: yellow, orange, and blue. You fill out a yellow one regardless. Then, depending on whether the item in question is in general collections or special collections, you fill out the orange (general) or blue (special) slips. You then hand in those slips to one of the reference desk people,and you go back to your special walled off carrel and they bring your books to you, and you don't have to return them ever....they're yours until the end of the semester. One thing about the carrel room....it's FREAKING FREEZING. I don't get to feel my hands for hours at a time most days.

Other than that, we've started class (the seminar part of the Newberry Seminar). We've started off small...Frontier Thesis and the like, but things are picking up. It's been a lot of fun....like a history class at CC where everybody's done the reading each day, which is REALLY nice. The profs are fun...they're both from Beloit College...which is in Wisconsin (I think.....). Their dynamic is quite fun....they know each other and so they will occasionally just dump on one another in subtle ways in the middle of class.

A typical day for me is up at 8:30 (class starts at 9....SO wish it were 9:30 like the rest of my CC history classes...), shower, grab my things, head to Newberry, class, lunch, research at Newberry through 5 pm, and then (until today) off home to either read for the next day's stuff, or to Barnes and Noble for wi fi for an hour or two. Then dinner if I feel like it, and then more reading. That's weekdays so far.

Today was my first full weekend day in Chicago. Slept through most of the morning, to be honest....burned out from the week. Then went down to Lake Michigan and built sandcastles with a few of the seminar people...it looked like Big Thunder Mountain by the end of it...pretty impressive, if I do say. After that, I monkied with the internet in my apartment for an hour, failed miserably, and so went to B&N out of frustration and used internet and read books. Came back to my apartment and found that my roomie and his brother had fixed the wireless....and there was much rejoicing.

Before I could be overjoyed too much though, it was time to meet some folks to go to this hodgepodge of opera thing that was going on at Millennium Park. The park in question hosts a whole series of free things, and this opera thing was a sampling from each of the ones that they plan on hosting in the coming season. Twas interesting. I liked the orchestra much more than the singing....but that's more because I couldn't understand anything the singers were singing, because they didn't sing in English or Spanish. Tomorrow, a group of us are going to the Art Institute and going for deep dish (FINALLY)...should be fun.

Ok...pics from the flight and the trip to Chinatown (all I have for now):



This is the board at John Wayne...ye typical airplane stuff. Shot at an angle b/c I'm lazy, and that part of the airport was a bit sketchy...didn't feel like walking anymore than I needed to.



My ticket after getting through security.....it was real then. Chicago was inevitable at that point.



The baggage claim area at Chicago Midway. Took a while for the bags to come...but get there they did (thankfully).



Chinatown part one....it's one of the things on our list of things to find.







More Chinatown...all on the scavenger hunt.

That's all for now...will be taking my camera with me tomorrow to the Art Museum, so more city pics will be incoming soon!