Chicago 2016 - Day Six

Sunday in America. Surely there is one thing you must do on a Sunday morning in America - watch some 'Christian' TV. It was fantastic. The first one I found had some bloke ranting about something which apparently was from the Bible. I couldn't work out what he was talking about so keep flicking through the channels to find something else. 

The next one looked really scratchy, and that made me wonder what was going on until the camera panned out and I saw the "Moving Ahead in '91" banner on the wall. Has nothing happened in the church since 1991? Is there nothing more up to date to show than this? Anyway, after listening to him shout at his congregation for a while it was time to move on. 

Finally I found him. The man with the impossible teeth. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joel Osteen!! (Insert sarcastic cheers here). It was almost impossible to turn away as I heard him speak about having a proper view of yourself. "No one can love you if you cannot love yourself" (Sucks to be depressed then) "Put on the breastplate of God's approval" (um, excuse me?) To be fair, there are worse things you can tell people than a positive self message, but you don't need to do that without Jesus. More about that below. 

I could look at those teeth and listen to this dribble for only so long, so the remote was pointed at the TV once again and then I struck gold; pure cheesy religious TV gold. "The Holy Spirit wants you to send $100 now. You may have never donated to this ministry before, but there's a reason you are watching today. Send $100 now, not to me but to the ministry." It was so good I wanted to stand and applaud. Instead, I changed the channel, found a gospel choir and just listened to them. They looked terribly bored, which was a bit out of place, but still sounded better than everything else I had seen. 

Tom arrived so we walked to the station, bought our tickets and jumped on a train. For three of us it was our first train experience in Chicago and a simple description of it is NOISY!! Not the people, just the train. 

Anyway, we got where we needed to be then walked to Covenant Presbyterian Church, the church Tom has been attending while in Chicago. (I would love to put a link here but can't see how to do that on the iPad. I encourage you to look it up online.) The sermon we heard today was interesting because there were some parallels with what I heard earlier from J.Osteen. The outstanding difference, and the thing that cheered my heart, is that the preacher at Covenant took the focus away from ourselves and put it on Jesus. 

What is my greatest hope? It is not anything in me except what Jesus has done. 

After church we journeyed back into the city and enjoyed lunch at Panera, which is so much more than a bakery. Great, great food and beautiful bread. Bronwyn also had a hot chocolate that is, well hard to describe. Another good place to know about in Chicago. 

We walked back to leave Tom at his rooms and then back to our own rooms for Bronwyn to pack her bag and wait for the bus to come and take her to the airport. She left in good time to get to the plane on time.

Today has been a good day. We now look forward to a sunny week in Chicago.

Chicago 2016 - Day Five

Today has been cold. Seriously cold. The snow that fell last night was still there this morning, so Anne and I wandered down to take some more photos. The snow is so light and fluffy here - very different to snow on Donna Buang - and was beautiful to see on chairs, tables, fences, and very beautiful on the trees. 

If I try to describe what the day felt like, it is best to use a Ballarat description. Blue skies, bright sun, and a light wind cold enough to cut through whatever you are wearing and quickly make you wish you had your gloves on. I loved it!

This morning we took some time to visit Tom in his place. It was great to see where he has been living for the last eight months. The views from some of the rooms, like so many places in Chicago, are amazing. Particularly the old library room. This room is beautiful with a rounded ceiling, interesting panelling and, as noted, the view. It must have been a difficult place to work in back then, but a great place to perform in now. 

Tom took us for a tour around the building and introduced us to a few of his colleagues as well. Now when we speak with him we will be better able to picture where he is talking about.

After lunch we followed the recommendation of a local bloke and visited Navy Pier. It gets real cold here! The view of the city from here is terrific, and having a tall ship on the dock added something special too. The size of some of the ships had me wondering how they got here in the first place! Did they build the boats in Chicago? I don't know. The best part of this expidition was the walk through Millenium Park, over BP Bridge and along Lake Shore Drive to get there - although that also had a detour up some stairs and across a busy bridge. 

But, let's be honest, today was all about what happened tonight.

Tonight we had the chance to see Tom sing with the Roosevelt College Choir. They were performing with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra doing Schuberts Mass number 5 in A Flat. We really enjoyed the pieces the orchestra performed first, especially the work from the double bass crew I the second piece, Night of the Flying Horses. And one of them had a five string bass! Who knew they existed? 

Back to the choir. They were solid, professional, proficient, enthusiastic, and simply wonderful. Everything was in tune. The entries were spot on, even very quiet entries were precise, and when it was time for silence, this group of young singers stood silent and still. There are a lot of "Kyrie Eleison" and "Christi Eleison" and "Osanna" and "Amen" to be heard in this piece, and we heard them all. 

When the piece ended, the conductor stood still, absolutely still for quite some time, before nodding his approval to the choir and putting his baton on his stand. Then the crowd erupted into applause, a sound which magnified when the choir stood up to bow. Everyone was on their feet and I have no doubt that it was a great encouragement to the choir and to the orchestra.

As an extra blessing, we were invited to travel back into town on the bus with the choir. Not only did this save us a lot of time and money catching a taxi, but we were given a good cheer by the choir for coming to see Tom (and the rest of the choir too). 

It has been a good day, but more than that, it has been a wonderful night. We are delight to see how Tom has developed as a singer and as a young man. We hope to have the chance to say this to some of his tutors during the week. 

My final word today doesn't come from me. Instead I'll quote a friend of ours who posted this comment on Anne's Facebook page tonight:

Well done to Tom.  So exciting to see that young chap from St Andrews CC in Melbourne now performing on the stage in Chicago.  Just brilliant!!

Chicago 2016 - Day Four

Today was a day of walking, shopping, and hanging out with some friends. We had a wander through Macy's, which was a bit fancy but since that is where the visitor centre is we had no choice but to visit there. It is another fine example of architecture and building that Chicago boasts. 

Over lunch we looked through the pamphlets we picked up from there before heading out again to walk "The Magnificent Mile". The streets were crowded, the wind was cold, and at times the snow flurried past. 

Tonight it snowed properly. Bronwyn and I went out for a few minutes to take some photos. I had a quick chat to security officer who was standing out in it all. He didn't seem at all worried. In fact, he said, "This is nothing!" When it's really cold they aren't allowed to stand out in the weather for more than 20 minutes. It must be very cold on those days. 

So today we have seen more of Chicago. Here are some of those photos. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Three (Part 2)

Before I get onto day Four, there is one important thing I forgot to write about day three. I'm not sure how I forgot something as significant as this, but I did. 

We visited the Chicago Cultural Center which is just over the road from where we are staying. This was built as a library, but after the library outgrew the building and had to move it has been used as a building for other cultural things. Which is kind of irrelevant but gives the building some context. 

I have been 'moved' by stories, poems, sermons, sunsets, and a few other things. I don't know that I have never felt moved by a building before. But this building is something different. The foyer is incredible with stairways that draw your senses up to wonder what else is up there. Forget anything you've seen in Australia. This is amazing. 

The domes are truly amazing. I don't use the word 'awesome' often because I believe it is normally poorly used. In this context the term seems to fit though. The architecture and building and beauty is truly awesome. The tiles and the domes are built with Tiffany glass. But enough words. 

Here are just a few pictures.

Chicago 2016 - Day Three

As I write this I almost feel like my body clock has settled down. Almost. By tomorrow I hope it will be right on track. We will see.

Last night I sat down to check something on my iPad and fell asleep straight away. I'm not even sure I had opened the browser before I was gone. Anne woke me up long enough to get me to bed, where I had my first deep sleep for a number of nights. It was wonderful. 

When I woke up this morning at around 4.00, it was still a stupid early time to get up, but I had enjoyed the sleep. I was surprised at how quiet the city of Chicago was at this time too. I expected it to be much busier and noisier. 

So, let me tell you a bit about the rooms we have. We are in a building called Fornelli Tower and we are on the side of the building. From here we look over Millenium Park and over to Lake Michigan. It is an amazing view early in the morning or late at night with lights and trees working together to create a sight that is so beautiful. We don't know how lovely it looks in the sunlight yet as it has been a day of light rain and even some snow. 

There are two bedrooms which is very handy, as you will shortly see. There is a kitchen, table and chairs, W-Fi, and Cable TV - and it is amazing that there can be so many channels and still nothing I want to watch. 

In other great news today, Bronwyn, my sister, joined us here in Chicago. I have no shame in saying that God has graciously worked things out so we were here at the same time and here when Tom is singing at some University Events. 

Anne and I enjoyed a slightly longer stroll than planned this morning as we went to do some food shopping at the Whole Foods Market. I like this place. Lots of good food here. This afternoon the three of us went out for a walk to visit the Chicago Blues Museum. If you know me, you'll know that I was pretty excited when looking at Google Maps and seeing this museum located just down the road from us. Fantastic. 

Or it would be. 

If it was there.

But it's not. 

After that disappointment we walked through Millenium Park, took some photos of the Big Bean (it is called something else) and wandered past the Uni where Tom is studying. We chatted to a homeless bloke named Kenny who allowed me to take a photo of him (actually, he asked me to) and then stopped at one of the many Strarbucks along the way. Anne ordered me a hot chocolate but still said "No" to the whipped cream! Oh well. I probably don't really need it. 

Tom joined us all for the first dinner Anne has cooked for him in over eight months, which was delicious. Then we wandered next door for some ice-cream. The size of this thing was ridiculous, but I what you to know that I persevered and got through it all. Pretty sure I won't be doing that again. 

Tomorrow we might do some more shopping and wandering through the streets of Chicago. 

Chicago 2016 - Day Two

I've had sleepless nights before, but last night was something out of the box. I know that jet lag can impact people, so it wasn't too surprising that we were pretty much asleep at 9.30pm. But when we woke up and saw light coming through the curtains, we thought we had slept through the alarm and leapt out of bed to get ready. 

But we hadn't slept through the alarm at all. In fact there was a very bright light over the car park that was the problem. So, while it was only 11.30pm, we were awake. With people outside calling to each other, and the TV in the next room on all night, and the light shining through the curtains, I'm not sure that I got any sleep until about 5.00am, and with the alarm set for 6.00am, it was going to be another long day. And it was. But it has finished well. 

The ride to the LA Airport was nothing short of amazing. I sit and watch Grand Prix drivers and sometimes wonder what it would be like to be in that car. Today might be as close as I get. The driver of our shuttle bus was amazing!! He got us there in plenty of time for our journey through customs. 

After flying from Melbourne to LA, four hours on a plane didn't seem so frightening, but it wasn't an exciting thought either. As it turns out it seemed to go very quickly. Flying across some of the states meant we were able to see some very different landscapes - desert in Arizona, snow somewhere else, and then rain in Chicago. It's nice and cool in Chicago today. 

We got off the plane, collected our bags, and boarded a shuttle bus. More than 100 minutes later, we were at our accommodation for the next few days. It seems to be a beautiful old building, and the rooms that we have look like they should be quite comfortable. 

Leaving our bags here, we went out to meet Tom for the first time in eight months. It was wonderful to see him waving to us as he walked towards us, and very wonderful to share a group hug on the footpath. We shared dinner together at a place called Vapiano. Good food and a comfortable place to be. It was so good to sit with Tom again. 

When we got back to our room, we coudn't open the door! Fortunately, our call for assistance was answered quickly and we were able to get in. So now, while Tom has returned to his rooms to continue his study work, we are sitting at a table enjoying a cup of tea while watching Star Trek Movies. 

Chicago 2016 - Day One

Chicago Trip – Day One

WHAT A DAY!!!

Today has been, without doubt, one of the longest days of our lives. We arrived at Tullamarine before 7.00am and joined a queue to drop our bags. And while trying to check in online was an exercise in frustration, the forty minutes I spent doing that probably still saved us twenty minutes this morning. 

Our plane was delayed for about an hour while some bags needed to be off-loaded. Two people had checked in their suitcases but hadn't made it to the plane. Who does that?? Anyway, once that was done, we were on the way with United Airlines for a 14 hour flight to Los Angeles. We were sitting in the very back seat, which wasn’t as bad as it might sound. I had a window seat and enjoyed looking out across Australia. 

Some good things about the flight – we were able to enjoy some movies, nobody could contact me (which is nice for a while), and the lady sitting next to us was from Stawell! So we had some mutual friends to talk about. Some not so good things about the flight – bumpy, so bumpy, didn’t get enough sleep, breakfast. And that cup of tea was a bit questionable too. Staff were great though. 

Getting through customs at Los Angeles Airport was easy enough, but I’m very happy that there was only one other plane landing at the same time. Some people enjoy the experience of wandering around a new airport in a new country. I am not that kind of person. Trying to work out where to go when you are tired and fading quickly is not easy, even if there are plenty of signs. At least Anne was able to see what we needed to see. 

 

So now we are in LA and we are exhausted. Eventually got to our accommodation after learning there are two Travelodges near the airport. Guess how we learned that! While we would like to see more of LA, we are so tired. And LA is not our great attraction, it is not the reason we have come to the USA.

Tomorrow we are off to Chicago. And that is the reason for this trip.