Travel Tuesdays: Chicago!
Good morning, and happy Tuesday, travelers! Today I'm going to share with you about the time I went to Chicago almost exactly six years ago.
A little background: I looked at my CV and realized that I had been going from bad job to worse job for the previous several years. The economy was a mess, and it looked like it could only get worse with the nation one trillion dollars in debt, to be paid by future generations. I had struggled a lot with chronic illness in my life, especially after high school, and I didn't have a lot of education or work experience to bargain with.
Someone had suggested to me that since my parents are European, I should try applying for an EU passport and look for work in Europe. At the time, I had dismissed the idea. I loved America--why would I want to live anywhere else? But when I explored my options and another person suggested the same thing to me, I decided to look into it further.
I found out, to my surprise, that I was actually already a German citizen. Legally, I could just go to the consulate and demand a passport, which was way easier than I had imagined. At that time, the closest German consulate was in Chicago, so I booked a bus ticket and asked some friends if I could stay over with them one night while I tried to get things sorted out.
Breakfast with my friends Tina and Raquel in the morning.
After the five-hour bus ride, I spent a pleasant evening with my friends and then got a good night's sleep. In the morning, I took the train into the city, which felt like quite an adventure to me, and made my way through the city streets and up a skyscraper to the consulate.
The lady looked at my paperwork and nodded. But one thing wasn't in order: I was smiling on the passport photo I had brought with me. No grins allowed in German passports, apparently, so she sent me to a pharmacy across the street to get it retaken with a straight face.
And that was it. I just had to wait for my passport to arrive in the mail, which it did a week or two later. So I had a few hours until my bus left to just wander around the city. Here are some pictures I took:
I remember thinking as I walked around, This city is so much cooler than mine...
The garden at the Chicago Art Institute
Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park
Plus me :)
I sat on this wharf on the shore of Lake Michigan for a while.
Lake Michigan
This selfie I took that day that ended up being my online avatar across the Internet.
And this is the failed selfie I took moments before. Lol, they don't call it The Windy City for nothing!
Just as I was getting ready to leave, I stumbled upon the shoot of a TV series. Little did I know that I was about to embark on my own adventures in filmmaking on the other side of the sea.
Fun trip!
Thanks to @paradigmprospect, this post was resteemed and highlighted in today's edition of The Daily Sneak.
Thank you for your efforts to create quality content!
Thanks a lot!
I don't think you can smile in any passport photos these days. I just had my Aussie one renewed and my British one expires in Jan.
Also, yay for two passports. So good!
I know, it's great, right!? I recently found out I can get a British one as well, but I'd have to hurry up and do it before Brexit goes into effect. Can't really afford the trip at the moment, so we'll see if that happens. :/
One day if I got the opportunity ,I would love to visit america.I remember my first time having actually a conversation with a american which doesn't seem much but I was fascinated ,I wanted to know more .The fascination is still there after couple years after the encouter .
Did Europe meet your expectations ?Hi Durzo, thanks for the comment! Where are you from? I hope you can visit America someday. :)
Europe has been an adventure for sure. Actually many adventures, both good and bad. You can read more about my journey in my other Travel Tuesdays posts. :)
I'm from Europe to be exact from the Netherlands .While your at europe you should visit The netherlands if you have the chance. Language won't be a problem ,most people there can speak english so .
I will check your Travel Tuesdays posts out ,I was really impressed on the post your wrote about Chopping Up the Piano with an Axe , your wrote experience so vividly the story was playing in front of my eyes like a film.So sincere ,I got a little heart ache .But really I hope one day the music and you unite again after being long apart
p.s.
you gained a follower ;)
Thanks a lot, Durzo, that means a lot to me!
Wow what an awesome kick-off for a heart-adventure!
You know, that grinning-not-allowed regulation is somewhat of a precursor to the current German mindset, though I gotta say that - to foreigners (especially to Americans) - coming to Germany, they tend to see the great sides of it all more than the somewhat heavy and depressing details of the mentality and conditioning.
Once again I am amazed (and in a weird way totally not surprised) by the cosmic connections here to my own life. As exchange student, I went to stay in MI for a year back in 2004 - it's 'my corner' of the US. And even though I have my share of pains with the US, I still feel more at home there than in Germany. It's calling me regularly and I will probably end up somewhere in the midwest eventually once the universe shows me the path to walk ;)
The connections of North America to Germany are somewhat of an open secret, it's actually stunning to dig them up. First I found out how many people in the Midwest have German roots, then I stumbled upon German towns, and the comment by literally anyone I met: "Germany?!!!! Wow cool, my aunt/uncle/grandma/sister/dog/neighbor is from Germany!"
And everyone was really friendly and curious. Which works the same way the other way around - Americans are rockstars in Europe, particularly in Germany. I feel crossing the ocean - especially with an 'inborn' connection - can propel one's whole life to new heights of experience and learning about other ways of doing things.
This article made me super curious to find out more about your journey and what experiences came your way ever since you crossed the ocean on courage and trusting the universe <3 Will greatly enjoy reading more about your journey.
Hope you are having a great ride in Europe and that you have found many new people to connect with and to propel you on your path of filmmaking and all your heart-endeavours.
I'm curious: You seem like a floor sprite - ever go dancing on psy floors?
Much love from the Hamburg area Stephie - cya in 5 somewhere ;)
Yeah, there are a lot of German-background people in America. In fact, did you know that English won the vote against German to be our national language by just one vote? Think about that!
If you're interested to learn more about my journey, feel free to take a look at some of my past articles--I've been writing on Steemit for a few months now. :) I really appreciate you following my adventures!
Hmm, I'm not exactly sure what a floor sprite is actually... sorry lol.
All the best, greetings from the South!
Ya I keep hearing about that story. My own research confirms that the fondness for Germans and many Americans' German roots came under heavy political attack in the run-up to WW2, and it took a while to twist the American mind to swallow the propaganda and turn against their roots in a well-intentioned but unfactual display of worry and fear.
Will be a pleasure to read more of ya.
Don't worry about the floor sprite reference, you will get it if it's supposed to be.
Much love to the South <3