I’m nearing the end of my 54 weeks in Chicago and there’s somewhere on my Midwest Hotspots list I haven’t yet been. If i’m honest, I think I’ve been pretty good at scouting out the surrounding area. I’ve checked out multiple locations in Wisconsin, explored the tantalising Gary, Indiana not once, but twice, and been to more Chicago suburbs than you can shake a stick at. But one place managed to elude … Continue reading A Hot Second in St. Louis
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
It was late July and the mercury had been pushing thirty all afternoon. I’m guessing this, of course, as I haven’t laid eyes on an actual thermometer all year… but my Blackberry was telling me that it was, in fact, a stonker of a summer’s day, and even if there’d been a technological blackout, the masses of people lounging semi-naked along the banks of the … Continue reading Girl on Top (of the city)
It’s my Birthday. Time to throw a party. Theme? 90s Eurodance. Naturally. In my 10 months in Maastricht so far, I seemed to have garnered quite a reputation for my frivolity skills. This was confirmed last week when I received the coveted “Party Animal” award at the final International dinner piss-up. Then, like it does every year, my birthday came around and, having a lot to prove … Continue reading Party to end all Parties.
So our program, and we shall be known from this post onwards as MPP (Master of Public Policy), is very nationally diverse. From about 100 students in total, there are about 45 different nationalities represented. To celebrate this diversity, and so that we can all get to know a bit about each others’ cultures, there will be “international dinners” held sporadically throughout the year, where we … Continue reading First International Dinner
We are in Maastricht and it is beautiful! So my fantastic parents decided to take the “any excuse for a holiday” approach to me moving abroad, so we basically just loaded up the car with all my junk, grabbed my sister and drove to Newcastle where we got on a ferry, had dinner, sat at the bar for a few hours, went to bed and woke … Continue reading Arrival in Maastricht
the lost scot 