illinois

Sometimes I still can't believe I'm in law school, at Northwestern, and in Illinois. We took a short tour of the library today, and seeing all of the Illinois reference books really made me realize that I wasn't in California (or even New York) any more.

Another unique Illinois feature is Lake Michigan. I went on my first lakeside run yesterday, and the beautiful weather, combined with the gorgeous lake view, made the five mile run go by quickly. Hopefully I can get back into a running schedule like in San Francisco, as my student diet is horrible.

This weekend I vow to get some furniture. I'm tired of just owning a bed and a desk (no chairs, television, anything).

One more thing, I had dim sum this weekend at the Phoenix, and it was awesome!

how convenient!

As soon as I move to Chicago, the Times does a 36 hour travel piece on the city! Once I become more accustomed to my schedule, I definitely plan on checking out some of the tours and exploring the other neighborhoods. Of course, that means I really need a new camera as well.

Today for dinner I treated myself to a hamburger, fries and a shake from Portillo's Hot Dogs. The food was cheap ($8 total) and tasty enough for me to go back and try theith Italian beef. Up next, however, is dinner in Chinatown tomorrow!

streeterville

Isn't that an odd name for a neighborhood? I live in Streeterville, which is part of the larger neighborhood known as the Near North Side. It more or less feels like I'm living in Midtown East, close to Fifth Avenue in NYC, as I'm blocks away from Michigan Avenue, Chicago premier shopping street. The Magnificent Mile is filled with tons of malls, food courts, and all of the big retaiil stores. I'm about two blocks away from Nordstrom, Virgin Megastore, Niketown, the Apple Store, and tons of other stuff. The only thing missing is good cheap food. I would go nuts for even just half a block of MacDougal Street.

Anyways, back to more reading. Classes have been interesting so far, but the biggest surprise is how dense the reading is. I consider myself a fast reader, but it can easily take me about two to three hours to properly read, digest and take notes on only 30 pages!

i'm back!

I apologize for the long hiatus, but I finally set up my internet connection at home! I'll kick off my return post with my Dream League farewell article (thanks guys!).

I've been in Chicago for a little over two weeks, which have included the week-long orientation, as well as my first week of school. All in all, everything about Northwestern has exceeded my expectations. The administration has been welcoming, the faculty impressive, and students are extremely friendly and considerate. Not to say that school hasn't been busy. I probably spent more time reading and doing homework during my first week of class than I ever did during the non-final school year at Berkeley.

Speaking of which, I'm off to do some more work this morning! I promise to start posting regularly again!

PS - For more about what I've been doing here, read about my awesome meal at Alinea with Gerald and Susana, who were here visiting for the Labor Day weekend.