Arrival in China

I would have posted last night, however I was unable to access the blog site.  Today was a long very long day of training.  After a 13 hour flight and a quick dinner, I relaxed in the hotel and took it easy.  I was attempting to get myself back onto a normal schedule by staying up a little later and then adjusting my body to the new time zone over time.  It seemed to have worked until I realized during our training today that it was 4 o'clock Beijing time meaning it was 3 am in Chicago.  Upon this realization my body took a turn for the worse and I literally went into Zombie mode.  I have already met several very fun people and tonight I will be joining a group for dinner.  We travelled mostly by cab today and the traffic was fairly backed up along the main route.   One of the things that the government and the organizing committees have instituted are driving restrictions which should ease some of the congestion.  According to your license plate there are even and odd numbered days.  If your license plate ends in an even number you can only drive on certain days and the odd numbered plates drive only on the alternating days.  There is also an Olympic lane for Olympic traffic only, and you must have a sticker in order to drive in this lane.  The language barrier has definitely been an issue.  When we are taking taxi's or asking for directions we have to have the Chinese symbols in order for the locals to direct us.  Also, tipping is not standard, a lesson I learned quickly when I was flatly refused when offering a tip.  

Final Hours

It is down to crunch time right now. I am finishing up my packing and preparing for Beijing. It is a tough trip to pack for, luckily my mother is an experienced traveler with lots of wonderful suggestions. I am finding that I am an extreme overpacker, then again I am just not used to packing for trips such as this one. I think I am managing fairly well. Today was the final shopping/spending spree. I had to run around to the bank, to pick up a few items for some frineds in Beijing, to get a gift card for my dog's care while I am gone, and many other little odds and ends. For anyone who has not had to go through this, it is tough trying to remember every little last detail. I just have to stay even keel and remember that if something comes up , I can take care of it as needed. I typically pretty good at dealing wtih things on the fly.


Tonight we had a family dinner at my dads house because it was my brothers birthday, and also because after tonight we are both leaving town, so it was also a going away party. My brother after an intense summer of training with Teach for America, will be moving to Memphis, TN. to serve his two year contract. The party was probably the last American meal I will have for a long while. Our family always does things in style.....we had grilled burgers, homemade mac and cheese, home-made guacamole, chips and salsa, cheese dip, cake and ice cream.....And I defintely had my share. I would say my family sent me off in a big way. Maybe they were trying to get rid of me...=)


Tonight I also had to say goodbye to my puppy dog, Gatsby whom I have raised since he was 8 weeks old. I did not make a big deal about it so as not to worry him. I took him out on one last walk and made sure he got his share of ice cream and hamburger....I know, probably not great for him but he sure did enjoy it.

I am very excited right now, my packing is almost completed and I am just sort of biding my time at the moment. I have to be at the airport in four and a half hours and then it is off to Chicago and then Beijing. I can not wait to fill you all in on the exciting adventures....so stay tuned.

Going Away Weekend

Sorry to be a bit behind on posts, but lately I have been a bit preoccupied with moving, and saying my goodbyes. I am currently in St. Louis visiting family and friends before I head off to China on Sunday. My goodbyes in Chicago were pretty tough. I finally felt like I had developed a nice solid group of people to spend time with, and then I had to say goodbye for a few months. I definitly look at it more as a "see you later" than a goodbye. I love the city of Chicago and look forward to returning.

This week is all about relaxation for me. I have a lot of down time and am just enjoying not working and having very few commitments. The time leading up to this week was just pure insanity. Over the weekend I had to move some things to storage, have a going away night, two softball games, move to a friends, and also have my last day at work. It was hectic but everything seemed to run very smoothly.

Friday night was spent packing and then partaking in game night at Toms. We played Scene IT! and Cherades and Scattegories. I then had to awake the next morning for moving and then the going away party.

The night began at Wokomona Sushi on Broadway. There were 14 of us in attendance and I think just about everyone brought wine, so needless to say things were entertaining. After Wokomona we headed to Halsteds for a round of drinks in the Beer Garden. We then continued on to Cocktail, the girls wanted to see the male dancers. I think Morgan enjoyed them the most....

After Cocktail some of the others headed home and we soldiered on to Sidetracks. I don't think we intended for it to become a Boystown night but it did, due to sheer convenience.

The next day I awoke and headed to my final two softball games for the season. It was an absolutely breathtaking day spent amongst a wonderful group of guys. We won our second game and lost our first, and I leave the team with a 9-5 record. Hopefully these guys can keep the team in contention, we have really gelled well as a unit.

My final day was absolutly how I would have pictured it. Cole and I went to Walker Brothers Pancake house and indulged ourselves on a huge breakfast. Then we went up to Glencoe, to the Botanical Gardens. The drive up the North Shore on Sheridan, for those of you who have never made it, is insane. Every house seems to get bigger and bigger. I even picked out my future home....=).

Hotel Update

So, I know I posted earlier that I would be staying at the JW Mariott in Beijing.  However, my arrangements have changed. My new contact info for China will be as follows....

July 21-31

The Ritz Carlton Financial:

Address: 1 Jin Cheng Fang Street East, Financial Street, Beijing 100032 China

·       Phone:  (86 10) 6601 6666

 http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/BeijingFinancialStreet/Information/Default.htm

J   July 31-Aug 28 

 The Beijing International Hotel

 Address: 9 Jianguomennei  DaJie Beijing, China 100005

Phone: （ 86-10 ） 65126688

 http://www.bih.com.cn/enviews/

2 Years at Kellogg School of Management

Two years ago, I began working for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Today, is my last day of work before heading off to St. Louis and then to Beijing to work with Jet Set Sports. When i started here, I had no prior knowledge of Kellogg, and no experience working in higher education. I knew there were good benefits to working at the university, such as a discount on classes. I also figured that I would meet a lot of Chicagoans closer to my age. It is a bit odd, knowing that I am sitting at my desk for the last time, and that soon someone else will take my place as the Department Assistant 2 for the Career Management Center. I have to say that some of the skill sets that I learned while working in Career Management will follow me throughout the rest of my employed life. These skill sets include cover letter writing, resume writing, networking, among many others. All of which will be essential in identifying my next opportunity.

I can't thank the people at Kellogg enough for everything they have done for me. Whether it has been just a friendly hello, an ear to listen about life, or career, or even the gentle motherly advice that you get from all of the mothers in the office, it was always welcomed. The personalities in this office are completely different from one another yet we always seem to mesh together to make a dynamic team.

Yesterday, around 2 pm my assistant Magy came and informed that the secretary, Evelyn had a surprise for me. In my honor she made homemade eggrolls, Pork, Chicken and Veggie, as a send off. It is that kind of team atmosphere that makes this place run. I will miss coming to work everyday to a familiar desk, and familiar friendly faces. It is amazing when you stop and think that these people see you for 8-10 hours everyday M-F and they really become a part of an extended family.

To those Kelloggians reading this. I say thank you for all of the experiences we shared, and for cultivating an enviornment of acceptance, education, and also a little bit of fun. Everyone knows Kellogg is where the party is at!!!! You can never go a day without some kind of free food. Just do not try to diet if you work here, it is so irresistable.

Fourth of July Celebrations

Another weekend and another trip to St. Louis. My driving total is now up to 1400 miles in two weeks. Thank goodness I have been driving a rented Prius, which is amazing on gas mileage. This weekend I got in on Thursday and saw my nieces and sister and brother in law. Also, Gatsby had a play buddy, my sisters golden retriever Rigby! That evening I was Cole's date to a wedding in O'fallon, Missouri. Lucky for me I only had to attend the reception.

On Friday, the fourth I had a family party which was both a birthday celebration for me as well as a fourth of july bar-b-que. Following the bar-b-que we went to Kirkwood Park for fireworks. It was actually really nice to be celebrating the holiday in small town style. It was a community celebration, much smaller and very relaxing.

Saturday, I spent the day taking the dog to the sculpture park and laying by the pool. We had another family dinner on Saturday night and then I went to see Indiana Jones. I must admit, back in the day I had a thing for Indiana Jones. He was such a guys, guy. I even honored him two Halloweens ago by dressing as him. But, this edition of Indiana Jones does not come close to the others. In fact Indi is no longer a heroic figure, but simply a sixty year old man posing as a former hero. Shia Lebouf's character was also a little bit annoying and overall I found the movie to be far fetched and out there. At least with the earlier editions there was some sort of believability.

Sunday was spent around the house and then driving back to Chicago for my final week. Seven days and counting until my three year stint in Chicago comes to a close. Lots to do and lots of people to see before I go!!!! Stay tuned!

Cityscape Bar

Last night, I spent an evening with a great group of people. One was a former roommate (Kellie), one was a sushi partner (Kristie) and another my commute buddy and Northwestern grad student (Mike). In addition to these three were Krista and Sharon, who is also commonly referred to as the wine lady. Friends come and go throughout ones lifetime, and with every new day comes the possibility of making a new acquaintance with whom you can share life and laughter. This group began as Kellie started meeting more and more girlfriends. At some point in time she decided that it would be a great idea to get a group together to try and go out to eat once a month together at new places around the city. We have done Greektown, Sushi, a wine bar, Little Italy, and a steakhouse among many others. Last night, we chose to try Cityscape, a bar located in the Merchandise Mart Holiday Inn. It was heralded as the bar with the best views of the city and it did not disappoint. They had summer Martini specials, and I tried the Mandarin Martini, Absolute Mandarin, and then had a fantastic Cosmo. I know, very Sex and the City of me! The girls mostly had wine. We ordered appetizers, and as always had some very interesting conversations. Unfortunately, we knew the end was drawing near, and that this would be the last group get together I would be able to partake in for a while. Even with this change, I know there will be more memories with this group. I look forward to reuniting with them upon my return.