The Irish do get around, don’t they? Lucky for the rest of the world that they do, because it means we’re all allowed to get extra drunk once a year when they celebrate the day of their patron saint. This is cultural appropriation at its most useful, and the larger the Irish population is in a city, the more frivolous the day will be. Good thing … Continue reading Getting Chirish
The one time I forgot to check the weather forecast was the time Chicago experienced its 5th heaviest snow-dump of all time. OF ALL TIME. It began snowing at about 8pm on Saturday. I was in a dive bar in Ukrainian Village on a date of the romantic sort, and was informed by the establishment’s owner, as he showered us with free cheese puffs, that blizzard-warning nights are always … Continue reading #Superbowl #Snowday
I remember watching Friends and other apartment-based American sitcoms as a youth and being slightly sceptical of the premise that there were all these apartment buildings in big cities filled with people that actually hung out with each other. I remember moving into my first landlord-rented apartment in 2010 and, in the two years I lived there, having a grand total of zero instances of communication with any of … Continue reading Tales from the Castle
The first time I visited Chicago it was December. It was 2008, it was cold, it was windy… And it was just about as close to a Christmas paradise as I had ever seen (there’s a reason they set Home Alone there). The thought of getting to spend a WHOLE DECEMBER in this festive city was potentially one of the bonus factors that pushed me towards … Continue reading Chicago Goes Festive
I’ve been working in Chicago for almost two months, and I just had the pleasure of attending my first fancy conference. Go me. Let’s set the scene. I actually don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but I work for this super feisty non-profit called the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic (LTFHC). Like the name would suggest, they are, in fact, building a floating hospital on … Continue reading To the Summit
Chicago is definitely a city of music. I’ve been here a couple months now, and am just getting started exploring the music scene. Here’s what I’ve been up to in the last few weeks: November 7th – Frontier Ruckus @ Subterranean A very good friend of mine (who I met in Maastricht when we did the same Masters degree and lived in the same building) has … Continue reading Chicago Live
Yesterday I regressed into tourist mode. At a party last week I befriended a Chicago native, who promised me a fun day out in Chicago, on him, because I am an impoverished intern and he has a great new job… and apparently Chicago has a lot to see. He basically took on the role of Ambassador to the City, and his first job was to … Continue reading Tourist Trapping
…Sorry, I meant Fall. Life is fast in this city and there’s not a lot of time for sitting and writing about it. Mostly it’s been work, weekend shenanigans (and the hangovers that follow) and the odd trip downtown to look at pretty buildings. I’ll find time to write about that eventually. For now, though I want to share with you one of my favourite … Continue reading Autumn in Chi-Town
At the end of my last post, I was somewhere in up-state Wisconsin on a coach that was 4 hours behind schedule with a US phone that had run out of battery and a UK phone that was about to follow suit, knowing that, even if everything from now on went to plan, I was going to be dropped at a bus station approximately 2 miles … Continue reading A Wausau Wedding
After an arduous week-long journey from Scotland via Ireland and England and Canada, I’ve been living in America, in my new city, Chicago, for a grand total of three days… and its now time to up and leave again on another trip. As coincidence would have it, two of my very good friends are getting married (to each other) in a town called Wausau in up-state Wisconsin … Continue reading Surviving Milwaukee
the lost scot 