live from chicago
I have just a couple of observations to make.
I'm sitting at a Panera in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, having a muffin and a coffee, preparing for my drive home to St. Louis, and while checking my email I began to read the Times as I get headlines sent by email to me daily. I then became aware of two things. First how, ironic is not quite the right word here, but perhaps how much a sign of the times it is that I am sitting here reading the news on my computer and the lady across from is reading the news in paper form. I'm not entirely sure why this is significant enough for me to get back on livejournal to discuss it, but for some reason it is.
The second observation I have to make is about the fact that I really enjoy living in, not just America, but a country that I feel so comfortable in. I'm not sure that this is something that occurs to me often, but while Brittany, Austin, Evan and I were driving to Chicago yesterday, Evan, freshly back from his year abroad, commented continuously about how much he loved America. These comments were generally in response to common things in America, but things that you do miss while you are abroad. Mostly, silly things, like American McDonald's and the price of cigarrettes and alcohol, but other things like the diversity of people and cultures that, for the most part, are able to live freely. This also ties in with my love of chain stores. I realize that I as a liberal arts educated twenty something should probably hate chain stores and all that, but let's be real. I love them. I love that I can travel anywhere in the country and I can feel comfortable and at home in any Target, Starbucks, or where I am now, Panera/Bread Co. Maybe this is an overstatement, but it just makes the country feel a little bit more familiar, which can be nice when you are miles and miles away from home. Perhaps I am feeling nostalgic with my return to the midwest, but there really is no place like home, no matter what level that home may be; country, region, city, or house.
And with that I have finished my blueberry muffin (which tastes the same at any Panera in any city!) and I am ready to get back on the road to St. Louis!
I'm sitting at a Panera in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, having a muffin and a coffee, preparing for my drive home to St. Louis, and while checking my email I began to read the Times as I get headlines sent by email to me daily. I then became aware of two things. First how, ironic is not quite the right word here, but perhaps how much a sign of the times it is that I am sitting here reading the news on my computer and the lady across from is reading the news in paper form. I'm not entirely sure why this is significant enough for me to get back on livejournal to discuss it, but for some reason it is.
The second observation I have to make is about the fact that I really enjoy living in, not just America, but a country that I feel so comfortable in. I'm not sure that this is something that occurs to me often, but while Brittany, Austin, Evan and I were driving to Chicago yesterday, Evan, freshly back from his year abroad, commented continuously about how much he loved America. These comments were generally in response to common things in America, but things that you do miss while you are abroad. Mostly, silly things, like American McDonald's and the price of cigarrettes and alcohol, but other things like the diversity of people and cultures that, for the most part, are able to live freely. This also ties in with my love of chain stores. I realize that I as a liberal arts educated twenty something should probably hate chain stores and all that, but let's be real. I love them. I love that I can travel anywhere in the country and I can feel comfortable and at home in any Target, Starbucks, or where I am now, Panera/Bread Co. Maybe this is an overstatement, but it just makes the country feel a little bit more familiar, which can be nice when you are miles and miles away from home. Perhaps I am feeling nostalgic with my return to the midwest, but there really is no place like home, no matter what level that home may be; country, region, city, or house.
And with that I have finished my blueberry muffin (which tastes the same at any Panera in any city!) and I am ready to get back on the road to St. Louis!