Recurring Sights

Now that I have been here for exactly one week I thought it is time for another post in this blog of mine. To the left you see some impressions I've gotten so far. Science and Engineering South (SES) is the building that is home to all the science departments of UIC. As you can tell from the name, it is south ... of the "Ike", which is an Expressway from downtown Chicago (where all the really tall buildings are) to the western suburbs (where I live right now). This road is several lines wide, yet always busy. It is named after former president Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, whose paternal ancestors, according to Wikipedia, originated from Karlsbrunn / Saarland (Germany). Well, they won't name a road after ALL people from that area, will they? It should be mentioned also that President Eisenhower signed the bill for the construction of the US Interstate system, while I am more of an "L" person, you know ... Speaking of which, I take the blue line of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) from Oak Park to UIC-Halsted. Check out the CTA "L" network here. The "L" ride takes me 18 min, which is quite convenient. I live only 5 min walking from Oak Park station, while SES is about 10 min walking from UIC-Halsted station. The latter is still right next to the end of the campus. In total I do not spend any more time on commuting to work and back than in Berlin. Oak Park, by the way, is located in Cook County, just outside the municipality of Chicago. Both the "Ike" and the blue line are dead straight east-west connections, with the trains running in between the two parts of the Expressway (eastbound and westbound) for a good deal of my daily ride.
I recently learned that Oak Park and the adjacent River Forest have a joint High School, which produced an impressive number of famous alumni - first and foremost, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was born here and returned later, after fighting in World War I. His mansion is still here, so I will see it some day soon and provide you with a picture. Other sort-of-known alumni include Dan Castellaneta (the American voice of Homer Simpson), Ludacris (hip hop artist), as well as Ray Kroc. The latter has erroneously been called the "founder" of McDonald's; he acually bought it from brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, but it was him who made it then go worldwide. So it is some sort of closing the circle: American soldiers like Hemingway paved the way for the success of American brands in Germany, which made me buy and devour tons of junk food, and I recently brought the resulting belly over here, to Oak Park ... just kidding! Right next to Oak Park station there is a Fifth Third Bank building, which shows time and temperature. Now, as a European, I am used to °C (and K, of course), but in the US people use °F. The picture shows that it was in the mid fifties that day, which is rather mild. Earlier this week, there were low thirties in the morning, which felt like freezing ... and yet on the night of Halloween, we were even in the mid sixties, where you almost need no jacket.
Speaking of Halloween, it is as big as you know it from the movies. In my neighborhood a decent number of front yards were decorated with great many scary creatures and items. People had even shut down the street in their block for an outdoor celebration, including some barbecue. And of course you could see costumes everywhere ... in that sense, it comes quite close to German carnival.
Today I also went to work for a few hours. Jing and I tried out some of the geeky science stuff, which I am actually here for; with limited success. We did get it to work, but we are aiming at some specific things, which will require some modifications of the experimental setup. I will keep you posted.
Thanks for staying with me to the end of this entry. I shall be pleased if you come back regularly and check for new ones!