Chicago, Here we come...

After joining my wife and the boys in spending the holidays with my 3 sisters and their families in Maryland - our dday arrived. Waking up at 3am of Jan 2, a sister and a brother-in-law took my family and our 20+ baggages to the Washington DC airport for our flight to Chicago. I was concerned about adjustment; after 1.5 months with their cousins and plenty of activities in Maryland, we're moving to a hotel room in the northwest suburbs of Chicago where we'd be on our own. My wife would have to know how to get around the new environment, and the 2 older boys would have to start their homeschooling in earnest after a prolonged holiday.

We were given the biggest room in the hotel - and my wife took a couple of days to arrange everything to make use of the limited space. She did quite a good job, and we have ample space for the boys to jump all they want and do 10m races (no kidding!). It's one of those places where there is a fully equipped kitchenette and my wife has since been whipping up wonderful home made meals since our first day.

For the first week, checking out our surroundings was a priority. We visited a major shopping complex, checked out several grocery and fresh food stores, visited a couple of indoor playgrounds, and went to a very good library - all within 5 to 10 minutes of where we were staying. Furthermore, my workplace is near so I am able to join my family for lunch. Only the Fil-Am church where we attended Sunday worship took almost 45 minutes to drive.

After almost 2 weeks, we're pretty much settled. Not all have been smooth sailing though - there was the time when we had to wait for an hour and a half for the reserved van to fetch us at the airport only to find out that our 15 checked in baggages wouldnt fit in. Then, our middle son asks me why I had to work in the US when he misses his friends and the ability to play outdoors anytime in Marikina. Of course, we miss our househelp. And, in winter, going outdoors is a burden with the all the dressing up that has to be done - gloves, scarves, sweaters, jackets, and that pesky facial cream. But these are all a bundle of experiences that we as a family are gladly facing together - and for that, we're very thankful.

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.