Saturday morning I drove to Chicago starting at around 8am. I avoided traffic and rush hour for the most part, only hitting the very tail end for about 15-20 minutes. I got there around 10am or so. My friend from out-of-town (SR-F) was staying downtown with a mutual friend (SN-F) who's an M2 at Northwestern's med school in downtown Chicago.
I arrive and was fortuitous enough to find street parking, as the parking structures were really expensive. Heck, the street parking was expensive at $2/hour! Because my GPS is stupid sometimes, I walked a block down looking for the apartment on the right side of the street. When I walked back to my car I found out that I literally parked in front of the front door to the apartment. *facepalms*
SN-F was on rounds with the dermatologists (she's gunning for dermatology) so we waited in her apartment for her to finish. Her apartment had 45 floors, I had never seen so many buttons in an elevator! SR-F took a picture of them because she hadn't seen so many either. SN-F was running behind schedule so she told us to go eat brunch without her. She recommended a great local place called West Egg that serves breakfast and lunch. It was really good! When we finished eating, SN-F still hadn't finished rounds. We waited for a few minutes before deciding to head back to her apartment. She had finished by the time we returned, so she was there to greet us.
We chatted for a bit, catching up, then SN-F took us on a quick 30-minute tour of the Northwestern med campus. All I have to say is, wow. All the hospitals looked and felt like fancy hotels. The lobbies were huge with receptionists and all! There were escalators up to second and third floors and it was all just so pretty - I couldn't believe this was a hospital system. Also, all the buildings are connected on the 2nd floor via glass skywalks. We didn't even see doctors in white coats or scrubs. SN-F responded that you'd only see them in the higher floors. It was a great campus situated in a nice downtown area.
SR-F and I left Chicago around 3pm and thankfully didn't hit much traffic on our way out of the city. When we returned to my place, I gave her a quick tour of my med school - the anatomy labs, the library, and the route we take to hospital cafeteria (because it goes through 2 hospitals). We then chilled at my apartment for maybe half an hour then walked to a local pub/restaurant for dinner. The rest of the night was rather uneventful, just catching up mostly.
The next morning we made pancakes. :-D Then with my roommate we went to see Where the Wild Things Are. I thought it was a great movie and a pretty psychological one, as the monsters (or whatever they are) paralleled Max's imagination and how the progression showed how Max's mind worked out some of the problems in his life and how it gave him a perspective other than his own. It was a surprisingly and refreshingly intellectual movie, if one chose to watch it as such. I think the critics who were talking smack about the movie were talking out of their asses.
After the movie my roommate left to go eat somewhere on his own while SR-F and I got a quick lunch before I drove her back. I drove her to a Metra train station that went directly to Union Station rather than driving all the way into downtown Chicago again. Good thing she made it to Union Station on time and that her MegaBus out of Chicago was also more or less on time.
All in all it was a pretty relaxed and fun weekend. LOTS of driving on my part, way more than I'd like. I rather dislike long-distance driving - it exhausts me. At least the weather was really nice for most of the weekend. But now it's all gray, cloudy, and rainy again. Ugh.
---TANGENT---
I was talking to my brother who just had his first (I think) med school interview on Friday back at my alma mater. He said it went pretty well, which is cool. I'd just like to share one thing.
He had 3 interviews with 3 physicians, 2 of them faculty physicians I think. One of them was a radiation oncologist. My brother mentioned in some form that he likes origami. The radiation oncologist asked him to make something for her. So my brother made an origami strawberry as he asked her why she decided to go into radiation oncology. By the time she finished he had also finished making the origami strawberry.
I wish I made origami during my med school interviews, lol.
---END TANGENT---
I arrive and was fortuitous enough to find street parking, as the parking structures were really expensive. Heck, the street parking was expensive at $2/hour! Because my GPS is stupid sometimes, I walked a block down looking for the apartment on the right side of the street. When I walked back to my car I found out that I literally parked in front of the front door to the apartment. *facepalms*
SN-F was on rounds with the dermatologists (she's gunning for dermatology) so we waited in her apartment for her to finish. Her apartment had 45 floors, I had never seen so many buttons in an elevator! SR-F took a picture of them because she hadn't seen so many either. SN-F was running behind schedule so she told us to go eat brunch without her. She recommended a great local place called West Egg that serves breakfast and lunch. It was really good! When we finished eating, SN-F still hadn't finished rounds. We waited for a few minutes before deciding to head back to her apartment. She had finished by the time we returned, so she was there to greet us.
We chatted for a bit, catching up, then SN-F took us on a quick 30-minute tour of the Northwestern med campus. All I have to say is, wow. All the hospitals looked and felt like fancy hotels. The lobbies were huge with receptionists and all! There were escalators up to second and third floors and it was all just so pretty - I couldn't believe this was a hospital system. Also, all the buildings are connected on the 2nd floor via glass skywalks. We didn't even see doctors in white coats or scrubs. SN-F responded that you'd only see them in the higher floors. It was a great campus situated in a nice downtown area.
SR-F and I left Chicago around 3pm and thankfully didn't hit much traffic on our way out of the city. When we returned to my place, I gave her a quick tour of my med school - the anatomy labs, the library, and the route we take to hospital cafeteria (because it goes through 2 hospitals). We then chilled at my apartment for maybe half an hour then walked to a local pub/restaurant for dinner. The rest of the night was rather uneventful, just catching up mostly.
The next morning we made pancakes. :-D Then with my roommate we went to see Where the Wild Things Are. I thought it was a great movie and a pretty psychological one, as the monsters (or whatever they are) paralleled Max's imagination and how the progression showed how Max's mind worked out some of the problems in his life and how it gave him a perspective other than his own. It was a surprisingly and refreshingly intellectual movie, if one chose to watch it as such. I think the critics who were talking smack about the movie were talking out of their asses.
After the movie my roommate left to go eat somewhere on his own while SR-F and I got a quick lunch before I drove her back. I drove her to a Metra train station that went directly to Union Station rather than driving all the way into downtown Chicago again. Good thing she made it to Union Station on time and that her MegaBus out of Chicago was also more or less on time.
All in all it was a pretty relaxed and fun weekend. LOTS of driving on my part, way more than I'd like. I rather dislike long-distance driving - it exhausts me. At least the weather was really nice for most of the weekend. But now it's all gray, cloudy, and rainy again. Ugh.
---TANGENT---
I was talking to my brother who just had his first (I think) med school interview on Friday back at my alma mater. He said it went pretty well, which is cool. I'd just like to share one thing.
He had 3 interviews with 3 physicians, 2 of them faculty physicians I think. One of them was a radiation oncologist. My brother mentioned in some form that he likes origami. The radiation oncologist asked him to make something for her. So my brother made an origami strawberry as he asked her why she decided to go into radiation oncology. By the time she finished he had also finished making the origami strawberry.
I wish I made origami during my med school interviews, lol.
---END TANGENT---
9 comments:
I love rainy days and cloudy days and dreary days, but mostly when I have someone to enjoy them with. lol Cuddling up with oneself is rather pointless.
Is West Egg the name of a place in "The Great Gatsby"?
I also find it exhausting to have to drive for hours.
pancakes, and oragami FTW
:P
I totally loved Wild Things ... it's so great on just about every level you want to watch it - I can't wait to go see it again ... you should pick up the Dave Eggers novel based on the screenplay - it's really great (so far)
also - I have been teaching myself how to make origami cranes - it's not so easy!
Hi Aek
Just running around in the blog world finding some really cool blogs yours is pretty cool! I would have to agree with James rainy days are awesome if you have someone to cuddle with. I just wanted to stop a sec and say hi and add your blog to ones I'm following.
i think "Where the Wild Things Are" looks scary....but then, i'm basically a scared person, i guess!
Loved hearing about you trip and what it's like to have friends. Sounds like such fun...
Origami strawberry...love it! Wish i could do Origami.
I can't wait to see Where the Wild THings Are. I need to read the book before I go. I had read it many years ago in probably Kindergarten and I know for sure 2nd grade. We also read Stellaluna at that time. I kind of have the prejudice going in that it is a great book and they of course had to make a movie about it. I'm trying to set that aside as I go in and have an open mind.
That hospital you described sounded amazing. I was thinking while reading this, "ooh, Chicago again, snow, maybe I'll go."
Origami for med interview?!! That is wayyy odd! Sounds like a pretty nice weekend - I wish I still have days like that. Urgh. Someone needs to come visit me!
Hey, Aaron,
Wish i could come visit you! i'd bake for you !
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