so yeah. chicago. for most of you who know me, you'd already know that i thought it was frigging awesome. for those who need to know, nice clean streets, variety of food, and great cheesecakes. also, no homeless and criminals on the streets that i saw. plus the aquarium was welcome after such a long hiatus away from fish. and free zoos are always good. met up with karen, my lawr tutor, had a fun chat, and basically had a great time. of course, the bill was pretty painful too, 1.3k USD for a week in the windy city, but at that time, entirely justifiable. and in retrospect, i'd do it again if i could.


of course, the week leading up to it was rather messy, since i had to go to toronto and bum around and write essays. but at least i managed to get awesome autumnal shots. would have taken more but there was just this overwhelming lethargy to haul my ass down to the harbourside/lakefront especially considering the wind and cold and the fact that it was probably my fifth visit there.


also made a double pitstop to ann arbor and visited the umich guys, since a 10hr straight drive from toronto to chicago is usually considered mildly exhausting. their law school there is really pretty. and the guys were excellent hosts, even to the point of getting us drunk and concussed in their living room whilst playing bleach on wii.


so that sums up the last two weeks. and for once there aren't any food photos, although this week i've been experimenting on hot chocolate and cooking with garlic butter instead of olive oil, and will eventually move on to cooking lamb chops. more on this week, i've been holed up in the library doing essays, because i realise 4 essays do not just up and write themselves, and a pass/fail exchange mod still means that i kinda need to submit something to pass. and i must admit it sometimes scares me to look at the outline for a 25 page essay and actually see an end to it. like. oh, i just have to write this, and this and that, and argue maybe this, and hey, it's already 25 pages. or how 1hr presentations don't faze me anymore. or maybe it's just the absolute nonchalance that comes with knowing that i just need to pass and i can crap all i want about asia because the lecturers won't have much of a clue.

the nights are getting colder, although the way the temperatures work here baffle me. today's high (i.e. 6deg) can be tomorrow's low, and a -6deg night feels less cold than it does now in my room at 10deg. the world is a strange, strange place. but at least there's snow (or will be!) wind sucks though. big time.

so, till next time, i'll leave you with a picture, of my most prized purchase from the trip: