シカゴに行きました
It’s been a little while since I last wrote to my blog but not much has been going on in my life recently. It has been the same old classes, homework, and college life. However, as most of you know, this last weekend was Halloween! Obviously, I had to do something interesting this weekend. I’m a big boy now, so no trick-or-treating for me. My roommates went to a party dressed up in Star Trek gear. One was Captain Jean Luc Picard and the other was just a random yellow-uniform officer. The costumes were pretty good, and from what I hear some of the girls at the party wore some revealing (to say the least) costumes. I would have to be crazy not to go to a party like that. I’m not that much of a square, right?
Well, it turns out I had an even better weekend than them, oh yes. At least, I think so. One of my good friends that I have gone to school with since first grade invited me and another bud of mine to visit him at Loyola University. In case you didn’t know, Loyola University is located in the great city of Chicago. I had been once before to see him, but we didn’t do much since we stayed only one night and we were basically taking him back home to Indy. Anyways, we left Friday night at around 10:00pm from Purdue and got to his apartment around 11:30pm Chicago time (it’s an hour behind Purdue time). It was a big hassle trying to find parking and we spent 10 minutes just doing that. We miraculously found a parking spot right in front of his apartment. My friend drives an SUV and it was a pain to parallel park it. Luckily, a random guy who was walking down the street decided to take it upon himself to help us out. I honestly don’t know if we could have parked that thing if he didn’t help us.
We went up to my friend’s room and he introduced us to his roommates and their buds. They were pretty cool guys and I enjoyed hanging out with them. This girl that my friend is interested in was there and needless to say, she is pretty friendly. I couldn’t tell if it was just the booze, but they told me she is always like that. She is not shy at all and will talk to you like you have known her for years, which is surprisingly refreshing for a shy person like me. I won’t go into too much detail, but we had fun until about 4:30am and finally collapsed.
The next morning I was set on seeing the city. I didn’t get a chance to do that last time so I really wanted to. We woke up at around 10:30am (surprisingly) and chilled until about 1:00pm when we decided to head out. We took the metro to downtown Chicago which was about a 40-minute ride. It was kind of nostalgic being on that train. It reminded me somewhat of the trains in Japan. First thing after we got off the train I mentioned we should go to the top of the Sear’s Tower, which is now known as the Willis Tower. I didn’t know you could actually do that and was a little surprised when my friend agreed and said we should. On our way there we met some interesting people on the street. A random old guy in a kilt saluted us on the street corner. Another guy in a wheelchair, who was obviously inebriated, kept telling us Happy Halloween. I could spend an entire day wandering the streets of Chicago watching people and never get bored. It might sound wrong, but it is entertaining to say the least. Anyways, we finally made it to the Tower and man was it tall. I had to look straight up and bend backwards to see the top of it. I have never seen a building that tall before and we were going to the top of it!
We took an elevator to the basement where you wait in line and they bombard you with random trivia and videos about the tower. Did you know the Tower has 990 toilets? I didn’t, but now I do. We waited in line for what seemed like forever and had to pass an airport security type area. After that, they forced you to get your picture taken in the hopes that you would buy it later. Then, we waited in another line to actually buy the tickets. Then we waited in another line to get on the elevators to take you to the top. There they had more random trivia and compared the Willis Tower to other various tall buildings in the world with scale models. Did you know the Willis Tower is 313 Oprah Winfreys tall? So after about another half hour of waiting, we finally made it to the elevators. I think their goal was to beat Japanese trains during rush hour. They packed us in there like sardines and it was a little uncomfortable being up against a stranger like that. Luckily, the elevator limit is 300 persons. We probably fit 299 in there. During the 90-second elevator trip, they again bombarded you with more random trivia from a TV conveniently installed on the elevator. Going up to the 103rd floor my ears popped several times.
After we made it up we all piled out of the elevator and made our way around the 103rd floor looking out at all the windows. The view was absolutely amazing and it felt like being on a plane. It was pretty scary looking down. Lucky for us, they had just installed these glass boxes that extend about 4 to 5 feet over the side of the building. The floor was glass too, by the way. Stepping out onto that was probably one of the most intense things I have ever done. If you’re afraid of heights then I guess you’re in luck because I took pictures so you don’t have to. The long wait meant it was close to sunset and we got an awesome picture of Chicago at night.
After we had our fill it was another long wait to get packed into an elevator again and go back down to the ground level where you were forced through the souvenir shop. It was kind of random but I found a package that had けしごむ written on it. Luckily we learned that word in Japanese and I was able to impress my friends. Anyways, after that, we decided to head back to the apartment and prepare for the Halloween party that night. Hardly anyone showed up and I ended up passing out on the couch because I was so tired from the night before and the day we just had. My friends had a good time, though, and I could tell when I woke up to them being really loud and laughing.
The next day we woke up again at around 10:30am and went to this sports bar to watch the Colts game. It was a pretty frustrating game but my Colts were able to pull out the win. After that my friend and I packed up and headed back to Purdue and got back around 8:00pm. And that was my Halloween weekend. Think you can beat it? Then let me know how your Halloween weekend was in the comments. To end, I’ll post the pictures from the Tower at the bottom. Hope you enjoy.
Yes, those are my feet.
Chicago at night. It looks like a giant airport runway with all those street lights.
It’s been a little while since I last wrote to my blog but not much has been going on in my life recently. It has been the same old classes, homework, and college life. However, as most of you know, this last weekend was Halloween! Obviously, I had to do something interesting this weekend. I’m a big boy now, so no trick-or-treating for me. My roommates went to a party dressed up in Star Trek gear. One was Captain Jean Luc Picard and the other was just a random yellow-uniform officer. The costumes were pretty good, and from what I hear some of the girls at the party wore some revealing (to say the least) costumes. I would have to be crazy not to go to a party like that. I’m not that much of a square, right?
Well, it turns out I had an even better weekend than them, oh yes. At least, I think so. One of my good friends that I have gone to school with since first grade invited me and another bud of mine to visit him at Loyola University. In case you didn’t know, Loyola University is located in the great city of Chicago. I had been once before to see him, but we didn’t do much since we stayed only one night and we were basically taking him back home to Indy. Anyways, we left Friday night at around 10:00pm from Purdue and got to his apartment around 11:30pm Chicago time (it’s an hour behind Purdue time). It was a big hassle trying to find parking and we spent 10 minutes just doing that. We miraculously found a parking spot right in front of his apartment. My friend drives an SUV and it was a pain to parallel park it. Luckily, a random guy who was walking down the street decided to take it upon himself to help us out. I honestly don’t know if we could have parked that thing if he didn’t help us.
We went up to my friend’s room and he introduced us to his roommates and their buds. They were pretty cool guys and I enjoyed hanging out with them. This girl that my friend is interested in was there and needless to say, she is pretty friendly. I couldn’t tell if it was just the booze, but they told me she is always like that. She is not shy at all and will talk to you like you have known her for years, which is surprisingly refreshing for a shy person like me. I won’t go into too much detail, but we had fun until about 4:30am and finally collapsed.
The next morning I was set on seeing the city. I didn’t get a chance to do that last time so I really wanted to. We woke up at around 10:30am (surprisingly) and chilled until about 1:00pm when we decided to head out. We took the metro to downtown Chicago which was about a 40-minute ride. It was kind of nostalgic being on that train. It reminded me somewhat of the trains in Japan. First thing after we got off the train I mentioned we should go to the top of the Sear’s Tower, which is now known as the Willis Tower. I didn’t know you could actually do that and was a little surprised when my friend agreed and said we should. On our way there we met some interesting people on the street. A random old guy in a kilt saluted us on the street corner. Another guy in a wheelchair, who was obviously inebriated, kept telling us Happy Halloween. I could spend an entire day wandering the streets of Chicago watching people and never get bored. It might sound wrong, but it is entertaining to say the least. Anyways, we finally made it to the Tower and man was it tall. I had to look straight up and bend backwards to see the top of it. I have never seen a building that tall before and we were going to the top of it!
We took an elevator to the basement where you wait in line and they bombard you with random trivia and videos about the tower. Did you know the Tower has 990 toilets? I didn’t, but now I do. We waited in line for what seemed like forever and had to pass an airport security type area. After that, they forced you to get your picture taken in the hopes that you would buy it later. Then, we waited in another line to actually buy the tickets. Then we waited in another line to get on the elevators to take you to the top. There they had more random trivia and compared the Willis Tower to other various tall buildings in the world with scale models. Did you know the Willis Tower is 313 Oprah Winfreys tall? So after about another half hour of waiting, we finally made it to the elevators. I think their goal was to beat Japanese trains during rush hour. They packed us in there like sardines and it was a little uncomfortable being up against a stranger like that. Luckily, the elevator limit is 300 persons. We probably fit 299 in there. During the 90-second elevator trip, they again bombarded you with more random trivia from a TV conveniently installed on the elevator. Going up to the 103rd floor my ears popped several times.
After we made it up we all piled out of the elevator and made our way around the 103rd floor looking out at all the windows. The view was absolutely amazing and it felt like being on a plane. It was pretty scary looking down. Lucky for us, they had just installed these glass boxes that extend about 4 to 5 feet over the side of the building. The floor was glass too, by the way. Stepping out onto that was probably one of the most intense things I have ever done. If you’re afraid of heights then I guess you’re in luck because I took pictures so you don’t have to. The long wait meant it was close to sunset and we got an awesome picture of Chicago at night.
After we had our fill it was another long wait to get packed into an elevator again and go back down to the ground level where you were forced through the souvenir shop. It was kind of random but I found a package that had けしごむ written on it. Luckily we learned that word in Japanese and I was able to impress my friends. Anyways, after that, we decided to head back to the apartment and prepare for the Halloween party that night. Hardly anyone showed up and I ended up passing out on the couch because I was so tired from the night before and the day we just had. My friends had a good time, though, and I could tell when I woke up to them being really loud and laughing.
The next day we woke up again at around 10:30am and went to this sports bar to watch the Colts game. It was a pretty frustrating game but my Colts were able to pull out the win. After that my friend and I packed up and headed back to Purdue and got back around 8:00pm. And that was my Halloween weekend. Think you can beat it? Then let me know how your Halloween weekend was in the comments. To end, I’ll post the pictures from the Tower at the bottom. Hope you enjoy.
Yes, those are my feet.
Chicago at night. It looks like a giant airport runway with all those street lights.
