Chicago--the same--and different

Now that I've been home for a day I've got a bit of perspective to assess my trip to Chicago. There was a mixture of old and new--some things the same, some very different.

This was my first out-of-town business trip--ever. I marveled as I listened to other women passengers at the gate, waiting for the plane. They were planning, strategizing, and using business terms I'd never heard of, relative to their particular job, I suppose. I was more comfortable watching the mom with her baby or even the ladies' tour group who was on their way back from Ireland to Minneapolis. People were flipping out their cell phones, blackberries, palm pilots, laptops, ipods, mp3 players and cd players.

Once in the air, however, we were all equal. All electronic devices had to be shut off. People either nursed their water bottles, sipped the beverage provided (we also got a small bag of chips--thank you American Airlines!), read their magazines or books, looked out the window, slept, or chatted with their neighbors.

As soon as cell phones were allowed on again after landing, people were back at it. They called loved ones, informed their rides of their arrival, or checked messages. I have to admit I flipped my phone on immediately to tell Tim we were almost at the gate.

Anyway--back to Chicago. I lived in the Chicago area at two different times in my life--during my junior high and high school years and in graduate school. My first and very pleasant encounter upon my arrival this time was seeing my sister Lori and her son Richard--waiting for me as I got down to baggage claim. We went to a very fun restaurant/deli type place where I ordered a delicious reuben sandwich. I had planned to buy dinner, especially since Lori spared me the $30+ cab ride it would have been to the hotel, but she snatched the bill from the server before I could sing "My kind of town, Chicago is....." (actually we were in Skokie).

After dinner, Lori had to get back to finish up some work at the office, so I had another pleasant encounter with my past--more recent past, that is. My friend Lana who works for the Covenant headquarters (where my meetings were to be) met me after dinner and we had a nice visit in the atrium/corridor area of the mall where Lori and I had supper. Lana was a short-term missionary in Ecuador in 1998 when our church team spent almost two weeks in the mountains northeast of Quito. It was great to catch up and also reminisce about our time there.

Seeing the area of our meetings brought back lots of memories. The Covenant headquarters is in the neighborhood of North Park University--where my husband Tim attended seminary for one year--the year we started dating. The neighborhood was rather questionable when he lived there, and I walked past the corner where he always walked me to my car at night (for safety reasons, of course). I visited the Sweden shop--his sem apartment was right above the store. The shop had expanded, and some of the restaurants on the street had changed, but many were still there--including a Swedish restaurant where we had lunch in the busy, diner-like atmosphere.

Devon Street goes on for blocks and blocks as a sea of Sri Lankan businesses--a well-known street in Sri Lanka. Our group drove past Lake Shore Drive--Lake Michigan looks the same--miles and miles of beach, sailboats and friends and lovers out for strolls.

Water Tower Place looked the same--and of course the old water tower is a historic landmark where the Chicago fire ended. The Water Tower shopping area is in stark contrast to the old site across the street. We saw many older churches, too, in the same blocks with high end newer department stores.

When I flew back to Minnesota, I could see the little skyline of St. Paul--the capitol building proudly shining on a hill down from the St. Paul cathedral. As the plane turned, I could see my home--the Minneapolis skyline. (Well, we're closer to Minneapolis than St. Paul.)

Chicago is great, and a nice place to visit, as they say, but there's no place like home (another cliche, but true). Even if I talk more like a Minnesoootan now than a midwestern Chicago native, I'm glad to hail from the northland.

Ya sure ya betcha.

Till next time,


Suzi