For and Against: Volume 1

Welcome to the inaugural "For and Against" post. "What is 'For and Against'" you might ask? Well its my attempt to tell about the things I appreciate, enjoy, like and those things I am against, hate, or am annoyed by. I hope to bring you "For and Against" every Sunday and write about events or things relevant to my week. In that capacity, "For and Against" will also update you on some of the things I've been up to or some of those things I experienced that may not get their own post. Some will be humorous (at least I hope), some will be deep, and some may be boring (I hope not). Comprende? So without further adieu...

For and Against: Volume 1 --

What I'm for: Chicago/Chicagoland


What a great city! I got a chance to go visit my nohnoh at my Aunt Kimiya's house in St. Charles - a suburb of Chicago. (More on the visit in a bit) We took a wrong exit and instead of bypassing Chicago we ended up on the Chicago Skyway. While it took us an hour out of the way, we got a chance to drive next to the city.

The Chicago skyline is THE original skyline of America; the skyscraper was was first built and popularized in Chicago. From the Sears Tower to the Hancock Center and all buildings in between, downtown Chicago just looks like a city with a lot going on. I think of it as New York City with a Midwest attitude.

Driving by reminded me of my high school spring break trips with my siblings and my grandma. We went every spring break and explored the city. We went to plays and musicals, we went shopping at on Michigan Avenue and the Water Tower Place, and we always ate at restaurants - some new and some favorites.

Chicago is clean, fun, and relatively safe. Even metro-Chicago is nice. It is clean, plenty of shopping and restaurants, and they all have a small town feel.


My Aunt Kimiya and Uncle John live in St. Charles which is 40 miles due West of Chicago. Unfortunately my Grandma has had to fly all the way from Guam to have more work done on her heart. The good thing (maybe selfishly) is that I got to visit my Grandma for the first time since this summer. We talked for the longest time and her voice immediately reminded me of our late night talks from this summer.

It was the first time I've seen my Aunt since before the trip and I enjoyed talking with her about my experience and showing her my pictures. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit them soon.

What I'm against: Winter

The drive down was beautiful. It was sunny and the temperature was between 55 and 60 degrees; you could smell Spring. It was so refreshing.

The drive home was not so pleasant. The further north we drove the thicker the snow became. Thankfully it was sunny, but it is still depressing to see all this snow (especially after the tease of aforementioned weather). I don't need to go on about this as you can read my thoughts below.