Later Chicago

Due to technical difficulties, jet lag, and absolute laziness, I'm just now getting around to writing about life in Shanghai. I've been in Shanghai for about 5 days, but first want to recap the time leading up to the big move.

Real World Irving Park: Spent a majority of my free time trying to organize and pack my possessions. Conditions: pack for 1 year, 4 different seasons, include Frisbar equipment, 10lb weighted vest, total weight of large suitcase = < 50lbs, look sweet at least more than 4 days out of the week. Done. Special props to my sister for letting me store my junk at her place. I also spent some time indulging in luxuries that are non-existent in China. i.e. Long John Silvers, Fogo de Chao, going #2 on a western toilet, American TV shows, Free Speech, Long John Silvers.

Kraft: I spent a lot of my last day saying good bye to all my friends at work. Both of them seemed genuinely sad to see me leave..jk =). Transitioning was easy thanks to my backfill and the ops team didn't really seem to miss any beats. JK and I were members of the month down in the employee gym; thats how you go out on top of your game!

On Friday night the roommates (sans JF, but + TB) went to Smoque for a little goodbye dinner. After which I said goodbye to AY and JL, who left for Great Wolf (in WI). Their weekend probably consisted of 3ft kiddie pools, binge drinking, gourmet dining, and flirting with single moms. Its kind of like Valhalla, but in Wisconsin. While they were in Wisconsin, I left a single tear drop for both of them on each of their pillows. BK and I stayed in town and watched Heat. He also volunteered to see me off and drove me to the airport the next morning (thanks buddy!).

On Sunday morning, the scene at Sparta...i mean the airport was absolute madness. On Saturday Zeus, in his infinite wisdom, smote Chicago with a ridiculous Winter storm canceling about 70% of the flights leaving O'hare. Which directly resulted in a 70% increase in bitchy moms with crying babies. In addition to all this my luggage ended up being 7lbs overweight. I gave the woman at the counter my best puppy dog face, but that only bought me 3lbs. I ended up carrying on some shoes. Overall no big deal. Everything else leading up to boarding was pretty smooth. Side note: I did get some entertainment getting a front row view of a 5'1" woman jogging in 3" heels completely bite it face first. I know I'm a jerk, but I assure you while I was chuckling on the outside I was definitely concerned on the inside.