Day 06

Written on Saturday, September 4 at 9:35 pm.

Today was move-in day!

My hotel roommate and I got up and packed up our belongings. Then we ate breakfast at the Corner Bakery. And for those of you who are wondering, it is indeed located on the corner. We went back to the room for a last minute sweep and then checked out. But, of course, this was no simple task. We turned in our room keys and then had a bell boy put our bags on a rolling cart, since there were five bags. They told us they would call us a taxi, which they did, but other people kept taking them. How rude! Finally we got a cab and away we went. The cab ride was nice. It made me a little homesick, though. Instead of traveling on a bus or a train, crammed next to tons of other people, I was in a car with plenty of personal space.

Upon arriving at our apartment building, we got our room keys and trudged our bags up to our rooms. I should mention that the elevators are amazing. They are very old with mirrors on all four sides of the interior. When the door closes, just a regular door with a pull handle on it, an iron gate slides shut automatically. The elevator buttons are not new and fancy but rather old and classy. But it works and it’s great.

The apartment is pretty spacious, compared to others in the building. It has a little kitchen with a gas stove, a round table with chairs, a desk and desk lamp, 3 nice-sized closets, a sweet couch, and some very interesting art work (ranging from Monet to a guitar with a face on it). The first thing we did was make our beds and this added some color to the drab surroundings. We unpacked our things and got settled in, then we left the apartment and ran some errands. At home, this would have been pretty easy, but not in the city. We had to go all over town to get everything we needed. We went to a thrift store called Brown Elephant, Target, Jewel (groceries) and CVS. A stop at Baskin Robbins was also included in this outing.

After the craziness of the day, my roommates (Kristin and Rachel from Calvin College) and I settled down to watch a movie, “The Book of Eli”. The first day at our new place has been hectic and overwhelming but definitely fun. I even greeted our next-door neighbor lady.

Happy 1: Our apartment has…character. It’s pretty much amazing. Not sketchy exactly, but it really gives us a taste of city living. I’m not a picture-taker, but I will see if I can get some from my roommates.
Happy 2: It was difficult to know what to buy for the apartment. Luckily my roommates had lived on their own, so they know what it’s all about. Me, I’ve been pretty sheltered because I’ve only lived at home and in the dorms. I realized how blessed I’ve been to have my parents take care of all the little stuff, like buying toilet paper.
Crappy: Moving into my own apartment brought this semester into a harsh reality. Today I went through a time of homesickness for the familiarity and comfort that I have grown accustomed to. To be honest, I was a little mopey.

So, before I went to bed, I leafed through this wonderful little book that my roommate put together for me. It had pictures of my friends and words of encouragement. Thank you Emily! And everyone that contributed: Beckie, Rachel, Sara, Holly, Laura, and Maggie.

Tomorrow we are headed to our first Chicago church service!