My kind of summer
It has been almost 3 weeks since I got back to Chicago and I feel nothing has changed, that I started where I had left things at.
The major 2 news of my arrival are on-campus job I got for the rest of what's left of the summer and the rest of the fall semester, and the other is that I moved into a new place, a modest attic apartment just to myself, no more roommates to deal with.
My job is with a non-profit organization that works closely with the university to restore, maintain, revitalize and promote the historic architecture of the campus am a part of. My work basically comes down to 3 words: architectural tour guide. I started last week, having to mostly sit down waiting for visitors to show up but ending up sitting down not doing much. This weekend saw the first few individual tours I directed, summing up a total of 3 tours so far. The first one was with a polish couple visiting Chicago that were really interested in the work of Mies Van Der Rohe; the second was a white-trash family who was more interested in how the university worked than in the architecture itself; and lastly was a father and daughter couple from NYC who were also visiting the city and were interested to know a little more about the architecture of Chicago. The 3 experiences were pretty cool, all of the tours went pretty well and I'd much rather continue doing them than just sitting reading a magazine or a book.
My new apartment is located just a few blocks from campus in an ok area of the city, can't get much better in Chicago's south side. I live 2 stories above a friend in a house that has been rented entirely to students. The only sucky thing is that the only way to get to the attic apartment is through the back, going up 4 stories of wooden stairs. The place is a much nicer shape than the rest of the house since it was redone just a couple of years ago. For an attic, in this part of town, I think I got more than I was expecting and I already like the place very much.
As soon as I moved in, I had to receive one of my friends in the apartment since she needed a place to stay for a few days. She's the friend who'll go to Italy for the rest of the year, as a transfer student to later come back to the USA for her last year of schooling. The possibilities of me going with her are somewhat high, but it'll only be for the Spring Semester starting in March 2008. I'm not quite sure yet if I'd end up going since there are some pros and cons to this major decision, one I'm sure I'll write about in the near future, especially when the times comes to decide whether to just stay in Chicago or leave for a semester.
As for the rest....well....all is good, merry and happy with my boy, with my Craig. We're again inseparable, almost feels as if we were having a honeymoon. Tonight I get to sleep alone because I have to work tomorrow and it's more convenient for me to stay close to campus rather than going north and sleep in Craig's place. He has stayed here for a couple of nights already, but he has to take care of his cat who gets a little crazy when he's not around.
I've also managed to hang out with a bunch of my friends as we all take advantage of the time we have before the beginning of the semester. It's kinda of sad that some of my closest friends are leaving for Spain as part of the whole exchange program the university sponsors, some will leave for a semester, some for a year, the only sure thing is that the amount of good friends I got will not be around for a long period of time....oh well....they have to make the most of their opportunities.
So far so good...and my mom has been ok back home....so no major worries....and no major problems....and motivated about the coming semester !
Those who read....comment bitches....am back in the US and I haven't talked to you guys on the net for some time.
Niels "I charge 10$ for tours....and I also take tips!!"
The major 2 news of my arrival are on-campus job I got for the rest of what's left of the summer and the rest of the fall semester, and the other is that I moved into a new place, a modest attic apartment just to myself, no more roommates to deal with.
My job is with a non-profit organization that works closely with the university to restore, maintain, revitalize and promote the historic architecture of the campus am a part of. My work basically comes down to 3 words: architectural tour guide. I started last week, having to mostly sit down waiting for visitors to show up but ending up sitting down not doing much. This weekend saw the first few individual tours I directed, summing up a total of 3 tours so far. The first one was with a polish couple visiting Chicago that were really interested in the work of Mies Van Der Rohe; the second was a white-trash family who was more interested in how the university worked than in the architecture itself; and lastly was a father and daughter couple from NYC who were also visiting the city and were interested to know a little more about the architecture of Chicago. The 3 experiences were pretty cool, all of the tours went pretty well and I'd much rather continue doing them than just sitting reading a magazine or a book.
My new apartment is located just a few blocks from campus in an ok area of the city, can't get much better in Chicago's south side. I live 2 stories above a friend in a house that has been rented entirely to students. The only sucky thing is that the only way to get to the attic apartment is through the back, going up 4 stories of wooden stairs. The place is a much nicer shape than the rest of the house since it was redone just a couple of years ago. For an attic, in this part of town, I think I got more than I was expecting and I already like the place very much.
As soon as I moved in, I had to receive one of my friends in the apartment since she needed a place to stay for a few days. She's the friend who'll go to Italy for the rest of the year, as a transfer student to later come back to the USA for her last year of schooling. The possibilities of me going with her are somewhat high, but it'll only be for the Spring Semester starting in March 2008. I'm not quite sure yet if I'd end up going since there are some pros and cons to this major decision, one I'm sure I'll write about in the near future, especially when the times comes to decide whether to just stay in Chicago or leave for a semester.
As for the rest....well....all is good, merry and happy with my boy, with my Craig. We're again inseparable, almost feels as if we were having a honeymoon. Tonight I get to sleep alone because I have to work tomorrow and it's more convenient for me to stay close to campus rather than going north and sleep in Craig's place. He has stayed here for a couple of nights already, but he has to take care of his cat who gets a little crazy when he's not around.
I've also managed to hang out with a bunch of my friends as we all take advantage of the time we have before the beginning of the semester. It's kinda of sad that some of my closest friends are leaving for Spain as part of the whole exchange program the university sponsors, some will leave for a semester, some for a year, the only sure thing is that the amount of good friends I got will not be around for a long period of time....oh well....they have to make the most of their opportunities.
So far so good...and my mom has been ok back home....so no major worries....and no major problems....and motivated about the coming semester !
Those who read....comment bitches....am back in the US and I haven't talked to you guys on the net for some time.
Niels "I charge 10$ for tours....and I also take tips!!"