Leaving Chicago in less than 24 hours. I can't quite sleep tonight, probably because my feelings are quite mixed, I am glad that I will finally go back to my "home" home - Hong Kong - to be with my family and friends again, but at the same times, leaving a place you have lived for a few years is never easy, especially I have grown quite fond of Chicago over the past 3 years, the city, the lifestyle, and more importantly, I do have a circle of friends here. If I would have stayed in the United States, this is the place for me. Although selfishly the planning of my South America trip has helped me not to deal with the leaving sentiment until now, it's the last day, I guess I just do have to face it finally.
I have been thinking what I will miss about this place the most and what I will not care to remember. Here is a quick list:
Things I'd miss...
- A good number of people who have welcomed me to their homes and make me a part of their lives. You know who you are. Thank you. You have made America a much friendlier place than what it looks like on the news.
- Snow: definitely! It's still magical to me and since I don't drive, it can snow all day I'd be happy.
- Chicago winter: believe it or not, that icy feeling on my cheeks when walking down the street in Feb, love it, make my head crisp and sharp. Alright, I admit, when the wind starts to scratch my face like a cat claw, I hate it too.
- Dishwasher: such a genius creation unfortunately is not popular in most households in Asia.
- Bravo! TV Programs: Ah... Top Chef, ah... Project Runaway. I can watch no more. Luckily, I bought the whole DVD series of The Golden Girls. At least I can still watch them in Hong Kong. :P
- A few restaurants: Bistro Champagne and Indie, in particular. I have lots of good meals there. (As weird as it may sound, I also miss Steak N Shake too, in my mind, it associates with Louisville, KY, not Chicago though)
- Ebay: it gonna be hard for me to bid CDs overseas. For that, I almost have tears in my eyes.
- The Queen size bed in my room here in Chicago, my bed in Hong Kong is literally half of it, the room too.
- The Lake Michigan Lighthouse trips, I have visited over 30 of them, I may still finish the rest of them someday. Who knows.
- Swimming in a freshwater lake: I grew up swimming in the salty sea back in the East, here swimming in a lake is tasteless. That is odd, I tell you.
- The "crab rangoon" (raccoon) on the highway, ie the road kills. I won't see any of those in Hong Kong for sure.
- The Fall colors, definitely no color changing trees and falling leaves in the fall in Hong Kong.
Things I care less to remember:
- Political drama: on MSNBC, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC... lies, bullshits, long talks about nothing, religious nonsense, attacking each other personally, sorry guys, those TV negative ads about another individual to me is democracy at its worst. I won't miss any of those. I don't know how people can stand that for all these years.
- The 15-20% tipping: I can't never get accustomed to that.
