Next stop: USA

What happened so far - Part 2: USA

After an absolutely fabulous Birthday/Halloween week and only three hours of sleep I headed towards the airport, and the plane to Chicago.. :-)

Thanks to having the passport check and customs already at Dublin Airport, it took me only 30 min after landing until I entered the bus to Madison. When I got off at South Beloit Andrina and her roommate Miranda, with whom I stayed for the following week, were already awaiting me.

Beloit

 Beloit, also known as the centre of the universe, is a typical american small town in the middle of nowhere. It is located right on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. Exactly on the border. While South Beloit is still part of Illinois, Beloit College and Downtown Beloit already belong to Wisconsin. This means, that only three hours after setting my foot on US-territory I had already been in two states.

Beloit College

 During my time at Beloit College, I felt like in onw of these American teen films. The Campus accomodates about 1,200 students in different houses and Dormitories, those are mixed with the actual school buildings, a big library (with a crafts tabel for knitting and stuff like that :-D ), two museums, two theatres, and the "Commens" -- the cantine. There everybody with a card would get access to the all-you-can-eat Buffet in exchange for a swipe.

Haunted Woods

Immediatly after dinner we headed to the Haunted-Woods. That means we took part in a walk through Andrina's dormitory. Here the Sci-Fi Club had darkened all the windows and organized small scetches and instalations to shock or horrify who ever dared to walk in. Mostly it made us laugh more than scream.

Konzert in der College Bar - im C-house

 Our next appointment was a concert in the rundown basement of the student bar, the C-house. The music as well as the ambiente reminded me somewhat of the Club 81 though...

Frat-Party

Apparently Fraternities and Sororities are really depicted quit accurately in US-american movies. That's why I was already incredibly curious about the next point on our to do list: my first (and I think only) Frat-Party. It was like in all the movies: an emptied house, drunk College-Students, bad music... but no alcohol. Since it was an official university event, there was no beer out of the typical red plastic cups.

And that is how my first evening ended.

Madison

Madison is the capital city of Wisconsin and only a one and a half hour bus drive away from Beloit. Of course I had to take this chance and go... The city is home to some cool museums (Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Chazen Museum of Art), the impressive State Capitol at the end of State Street, where a number of lovely shops are located, hundreds of food trucks which serve international food and the Memorial Union Terrace from where you can overlook the lake Mendota. Oh, and Madison also has a cyclist counting pole...

What else happend during my time at College?

• Andrina and I cooked Lasagne for her friends.
• I attended an American Politics and a Russian lecture.
• Andrina gave me a city and college tour - including coffee at the most Hipster place on earths surface Bushel&Peck's.
• I paid the two College museums a visit (I had never before been asked "Where's Waldo" in a Museum before. Can you find him?)
• We went to trivia - twice:
• 1. at C-house: Yeah, "we pursue you trivially" came in third place!!! (out of three)
• 2. at Bushel&Peck's: "quizy rascals" went failed dismally.
• As a special exception, we were allowed to sit in on the dress rehersal of the College's very own musical production "Dreamers".
• Off to Chicago!!!

Chicago

 The "windy city" lived up to its name during our stay - it was freezing cold. Eventhough weather forecasts had promissed me snow, I got excited for nothing.

 Day 1

We decided to safe the 20$ we would have had to pay for the rooftop view off the Sears/Willis Tower and enjoy the marvellous view over the skyline of Chicago from our own rooftop terrace. Right afterwards we headed Downtown for Tapas, a new Laptop and some Cocktails. 

Day 2

After a delicious Breakfast with Austrian smoked ham in the "Cafe Vienna", which is owned by a Styrian expat, Andrina was finally able to hold her beloved Austrian Bread in her arms. She was in heaven!
This was followed by: Lincoln Park, some serious shopping at Nordstrom Rack, Loyola Museum of Arts, where we visited the new creches exhibition together with seven nons, Navy Pier, Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and excellente Cocktails at the most awesome Cocktailbar in Chicago: The Matchbox. The name was picked well, because this bar litteraly was actually not that much bigger than a matchbox.

Day 3

Of course we started our last day, a sunday, with Brunch and a Breakfast Burrito. Afterwards we headed Downtown once more to visit the "Bean" and walk along the waterfront of Lake Michigan. Next thing, it was already time forme to go to the airport again.
Good bye Andrina!
Hello Dublin!!!