Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Somewhere Between "C'est la vie" and "La vita è bella": 30 Days of Blogging, Day 7

So today I'm leaving Chicago for a trip out west including 6 days in Denver, 5 days Vegas, and 4 days in LA. From there, it's on across the Pacific to Hong Kong, and ultimately Shenzhen. At this point, there's a good deal of ambiguity in how long I'll be gone, I've more or less told my family that I'll be going to China and staying until I either run of out money (I currently have enough funds to pretty easily get me to like Feb '12) or find a proper job, in which case I'd be there for quite awhile, as the proper job would potentially lead to a career. Certainly an odd feeling leaving the city I've lived in on-and-off for 23 years and not having any idea when I'll return. Consequently, I've decided to devote this post to the things I'll miss most about life in Chicago, or even life in the United States (it should be noted that I'm excluding obvious things like family/friends. I'll miss you all, clearly. That's now established).

Baseball
Few things are nearly as entertaining as baseball's playoffs. I've enjoyed them immensely over the past few weeks, and am very pleased that I'll be in the States until the World Series is nearly over. That said, I'll really miss my Chicago Cubs (presumably) losing next season, given that they've not won a title since 1908. I suppose MLB.com should provide some good gamecasts, and it'll be easy enough to follow them, but it won't be the same (it certainly wasn't when I was trying to follow baseball during the 2010 season abroad).

I'm very well-aware that the quality of Indian food in Chungking Mansions Hong Kong is better than anything I'll find here in the US, but I'll definitely miss going to the local Indian place and chatting with the owners about cricket, int'l politics, or whatever else we felt like talking about. Also didn't mind always having cricket on one TV, and Bollywood on the other. Really going to miss this place.

Metra Train Ride to Chicago
So I live like 30-35 minutes outside of Chicago by car, but I really hate driving, and really enjoy public transportation, so I take the Metra commuter train to Chicago, which takes about an hour. I've made this trip like 6-7 times since I've been home in August, and it's just remarkably good thinking time just sitting on the train watching the suburbs fly by as you're humming along towards the city.

My wonderful friend Rachael (who is, by the way, a professional tour guide now) told me the other day that the Sears Tower was designed to mimic a package of cigarettes which, when tipped over, would lead to a handful of cigarettes sticking out of the top at various heights. Suppose I could see it. Anyway, Sears Tower is not only the tallest building in Chicago (tallest in the world until 1998 when the Petronas Towers in KL took over), but my favorite on the fantastic Chicago skyline.
Having a Cheeky Fews (10) Bevvies at Lamps
Local bar. About enough said.

Anyway. These (among many, many others) are the little things that I'll be missing about life here in the US of A. That said, it's now time for arguably the greatest adventure of my young life. I've taken a line from the masterful JVN, and will have this post automatically post on this blog as my flight is (scheduled to be) taking off. See you on the other side.

Time to go west to return to the East.

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