Chicago, Day 1

My first day in Chicago Emily and I headed downtown to check out the Chicago Marathon and to wander around downtown. I have to tell you. I have no idea why 40,000 people thought that it was a good idea to run 26.2 miles in low 40 degree weather. Some people are just insane. The really crazy part of it is that as I stood there watching it I couldn't help but feel a little inspired and I actually found myself thinking that maybe I should give it a try for the 2007 Honolulu Marathon. Dangerous thoughts... I suggested that we move on.

The highlight of the day was seeing "The Bean". The Bean is actually named Cloud Gate and it was designed by British artist Anish Kapoor to be part of Chicago's Millenium Park, which was opened in 2004 (don't ask). The bean is a giant curved mirrored object that begs to be interacted with. It is simply fun to walk around and see how your image changes on the different surfaces. Without too many more words I will simply leave you with some pictures.

Big Changes

This past Wednesday I was awarded a post masters fellowship through the Joint Pacific Accounting and Command Central Identification Laboratory. I will be joining an organization whose responsibility it is to go around the world and recover the remains of United States armed forces members who fell in combat and were not retrieved during the past conflict. This includes WWI, WWII, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, and Gulf War I and II.

I will be working as a recovery team leader and will have the possibility to travel to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Korea, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, etc... My job will be to lead a team of 8-15 military personnel in the excavation of a location where missing service men are thought to be located. I will be traveling for up to 5 months a year. When I am not on deployment I will be working at the laboratory on Hickam Air Force Base at Pearl Harbor here on Oahu and will be responsible for writing up the results of my previous mission and preparing for the next.

I am very excited to say the least. I have finally found a job that combines my two favorite things in the whole wide world: archaeology and travel. This of course means that there will be many more posts from my travel adventures.

Next stop: Chicago. I leave tomorrow night.

It did what?!

That's right. It SNOWED in Chicago earlier this week. In the MIDDLE of October! This means that the temperature must have been down around 32 degrees F!

This is simply unacceptable. I am not even sure if I own enough warm clothes for a trip like this. I can't even remember the last time that I had to cope with temperatures below about 45. I am definitely going to have to rummage around in the back of the closet.

Regardless, with less that a week to go I am getting very excited.

Chicago, chicago that toddling town

I am off again for a short trip. This time I am headed to Chicago for 10 days to visit Emily. Emily and I met in college and even though we have lived very far apart for four years now, she is still one of my best friends in whole wide world. She is currently a political science Ph. D. student at the University of Chicago with an emphasis in international relations.

During the four years that Emily has lived in Chicago and I have lived in Hawaii she has come to visit me several times while I have only been to see her once, so it is high time that I journey to the windy city. As far as I am concerned the disparity in number of visits makes perfect sense. After all, I do live in Hawaii.

I am really excited to get to spend time with her. She knows me better than almost anyone and I can truly relax and just be myself around her. It is a nice warm comfortable feeling. I am also stoked to get to spend some time in a real big city that has great art, restaurants, bars, and night clubs. If anyone knows of anything cool going on in Chicago between the 21st to the 29th, please drop me a note in the comments.