Blogging from Illinois

Having stopped traveling for almost two years, the opportunity to go to the United States was a welcome change, especially as there was also an opportunity to bring my family along. So, when I got notified that I passed an interview for a project management role at a client in Illinois last Oct 23, my wife and I were very elated. The joy lasted for a day! Soon, I found out that I was needed as early as possible, my family can’t join me on my flight since they had to fix their visas on December 5 at the earliest, I had to turnover a lot of things to my Manila colleagues, I had to renew my driver’s license that was 2 years expired, take my winter clothing out from hibernation and get some new ones, etc… etc… the logistics were staggering. So, I pushed for a Nov 1 flight to give me a weekend and 2 additional work days to prepare.

I did manage to do a lot of things (not all but a lot) before I finally left on Nov 1 – and now, I’ve just spent my first 2 days at the office and my first weekend at Buffalo Grove, a suburb 20-30 minutes from downtown Chicago. I was aware that the weather is real bad for a tropical person like me so I was prepared with long-sleeves, a sports sweater, and a heavy ski jacket when I went down the plane. I landed at O’Hare International at midnight, and was surprised that there were other adults who were lightly dressed and there were even kids on my flight with just shorts and shirts on; so I couldn’t help but compare the way they dress in Europe and here – it is a stark contrast. In Europe, people are bundled up when the temp goes down to single digits; and here, it doesn’t seem to matter.

Got a rental car on my first morning, a Thursday – hadn’t driven an automatic car ever, but it seemed I was born to drive one, ahahahaha, knowing my driving history. And, there was a slight snowfall which I thought was quite early but I heard that in this area, winter starts early. Got to the office, a 15 minute drive from the hotel, took a compulsory drug test, met some colleagues, and was off to the grocery for some fruits and greens. Yes, might as well take advantage of the easily available fresh produce to finally clean up on my diet. The next day, Friday was my official first day – and by 3pm, jetlag became a struggle. I was finally able to leave by 5pm. The midweek flight helped me as I at least, will have a weekend to rest before my first full week.

The plans and prayers right now are for my family to join me for the holidays. Until then, the wonders of technology keep me from being homesick. We are in touch via webcam everyday – talking and being able to view your family and having them see you in turn is much better than the regular phone calls. Best of all, IT’S FREE! I even played a couple of chess games with my eldest, and view my second son’s paintings. My youngest gets to say goodnight. And, there's endless chatting with Bev and myself... I even turned the camera on while I slept, hehehe. Of course, these wouldn’t compare for them being here, but in God’s perfect timing, that would happen.