Bourgeois Pigs, Bubble tea, and Frushi

A few hours after my last post, I arrived in Wheaton.

This is Blanchard Hall, my favourite building on campus. I think I like it because it almost looks old. Of course, the turrets are only aesthetic and the inside has been completely modernised, but at least it was built in 1853 and isn't just a brick box (like the rest of campus' buildings).

Because of last-minute packing(and blog post-writing), I reached my new apartment around 11 PM, unloaded my things, and promptly collapsed on my bed. I spent Sunday arranging rooms, buying apartment necessities, and feeling like more needed to be done. You see, I was really happy about how my room at St Andrews turned out. It was a cozy little nook where my friends could come and relax to tea and conversation. It was a hard act to follow. However... I lucked out on a Craig's List deal and think that I've achieved something similar(with my living room, at least).

Other than apartment furnishing, the first week was a lot of catching up with friends(board games and tea), buying books (23 novels and 3 handbooks to be exact), and classes. As you could probably anticipate, the sheer amount of reading required for this semester made me reconsider playing lacrosse. And as I am looking to leave the door open for graduate school, my decision became clear. It was difficult, and I will miss the team.

The following weekend, some of my friends from Columbus came to Chicago. Andrew Mikac, his younger brother Joey, and Adam Marquart stayed the weekend with another old friend, Alex Mahylis(lots of A's between the four of us) who goes to the University of Chicago. So, on Saturday, I went down to the city to meet them.

They met me at the train station and pointed the way to our first stop: the Bourgeois Pig.

It was a local tea shop that had a trendy/old timey feel about it. A nice place to warm up from the Chicago chill and start to plan the rest of the trip.

We went out to Chicago style deep dish pizza(my request) and then returned to Alex's apartment where we were able to meet his roommates and some of his other college friends.

As expected, I got the short end of the stick and had to sleep on the floor. Luckily I brought my my sleeping bag. And with all the billowing down feathers, I was actually able to get a good night's rest. We slept in a bit(also my request) and then headed to China Town.

We decided to finish our trinket shopping with a little Joy Yee Noodle and bubble tea. If you don't know, bubble tea is usually tea or a smoothie with little black tapioca balls in the bottom of the cup. The straws are really big and allow for the tapioca balls to be sucked up at random intervals as you enjoy your smoothie. It is a strange and delicious experience to say the least.

Though this post is already getting too long, I will do what I can not to bore you by summarising the rest of the day: free Shedd Aquarium, Wicker park area, mexican food.

The next morning, Alex took us to this brunch place called Orange. Not only did they serve Orange peel-infused coffee(which was delicious), but they had this strange stuff they called frushi. Fruit. Sushi.

Of course, none of us ordered frushi, but I couldn't have put up a picture of pancakes.