Diva Dips and Chicken Lips

So I’ve been in Macomb for just about a week and I know there are so many who are like “has she survived?” I promised to blog about my experiences, and while not every one will be weekly, I’m taking advantage of this free time while I have it!

I thought a lot about how I can accurately describe my first week living in McDonough County-I hope this is to your liking.

Things I have learned while living in Macomb, Illinois.

1. Macomb may not be Vancouver, there are no breathtaking mountains, no ocean views, and no downtown city skyline (but Walmart, or WallyWorld, looks pretty good). There are however, dozens of cornfields. Now, you may think this is a negative, but then I would argue that you have never seen a cornfield town before. Quaint heritage houses, fence-free, surround these cornfields. And, when you’re as friendly as these people are, fences would only get in the way. And these people are friendly! I have yet to encounter someone who isn’t ready to go above and beyond just to make sure I feel at home.

2.Chicken Lips are delicious. Before you judge, go ahead and check out http://www.chicksonthesquare.com/. This local restaurant serves what has to be the most delicious form of chicken I have ever tasted.  In case you weren’t able to discover, they are not in fact chicken lips but more of a boneless, giant chicken strip with the most flavourful, spicy sauce you can imagine (excuse me while I go wipe up my drool). And, if you Google it (as I just discovered) Chicken Lips Macomb is the first option you get. So I am living in a town with world-renowned cuisine. How about it!

3. I am back on the grid! Despite some initial trouble with being from Canada, and thanks to my parent’s immense patience throughout my Diva Dips (times where I can be an extreme diva, when the world obviously revolves around me), I have a new phone! It’s gold and pretty and I couldn’t be happier to be able to communicate with people without needing to truck my laptop around wherever I go. My time away from social media was fun, but I am a 21^st century girl, through and through. So hit me up for mah Illinois digits!

4. There is a name for everything here. I am learning the lingo slowly, like WalyWorld. There is a restaurant here called Buffalo Wild Wings, which is obviously BDubs. Similarly, Sports Corner is of course SpoCo. My need to abbreviate everything in my life brings a particular love for these nicknames but it will take me a while to get up to speed. So I’m also learning to ask for clarification. You might say, I’m “faking it ‘til I make it”, another fave saying ‘round here.

5. My cohort/ co-grads. I mentioned the friendliness of the town of Macomb and while this spreads through the entire town, the welcoming nature of my cohort members and co-grads has been a major highlight. There are 1^st year grads and 2^nd year “grads” (we’re all in the same academic program) in the housing program and every single one is caring, genuine, fun and welcoming. I had encountered many of them only through Facebook this summer, which is as deceiving as it gets. Let’s use the cliché, never judge a book by its cover. Not only this, but on the first night alone, sans Janne and Denis, one of our professors invited us over for a bonfire. Being someone who never really connected with my faculty, having a professor open up her home, to some people she barely knew, just to get to know us before school, was shocking. Bottom line- I can get used to this small town atmosphere.

6. I am the “irresponsible Canadian”….and I’m cool with it. People love chatting about Canadian stereotypes and the jokes have been flowing like sweet iced tea. When asked if I could drive an American car, I promptly informed them that we don’t have motorized cars, we “Flintstone” it. And, when offered to have an American phone tutorial for me, I said that would be great because we use cans and string-between our igloos. I have become known as the irresponsible Canadian due to my innate ability to put fun above everything else. Luckily, I have my two “mama bears” who are the other grads in my building. These amazing ladies are both responsible people by nature and have no problem taking on the role of “getting Holly through the day”.  This is working out really well for me!

7. Lastly, and this is really nothing new, I have the best set of parents in the entire world. No exaggeration there at all. They truly saw bringing me down to Macomb as a vacation and embraced literally every little bit of this town. We ate, and drank (GASP!) through this county and had more giggles than I can count. Despite hating shopping, Denis would smile through it, even helping to give suggestions (like getting mix matched dishes from a thrift store- proud of you!) and picking things out here and there. All he would ask is that once the shopping was done we would go get a “beer and a snack” before the next errand. This trip also reminded me of how much JAnne loves people. She oozes friendliness and can get to know anyone because she has the innate ability to take interest in everyone, asking questions about them and putting her judgements aside (sometimes only until later). She understands my need to have my apartment decorated (by understands, I mean I am my mother’s daughter) and does everything she can to make it happen. But best of all, she is the comic relief of every day and laughs along with us. Thanks for the laughs, "Julie". All the loves J & D.

So that’s my first week! Full of orientations, new friends, crafting, decorating, eating and of course some adult bevys. And I’m loving it so far. Time is already flying.

Until next time, GGLI.

hollyd

Outside one of our "beer and snack" breaks at Chubby's

Life is happening.

So, my adventure to graduate school, Macomb and the United States is happening. Like, on the realsies, it is happening. I am beginning to finally wrap my head around this big and exciting change but there is a word that has been lingering in my mind for the last couple of weeks. Avoidance.

Don’t worry, this is not about to get sappy-on the contrary I hope it gives y’all some giggles as this whole experience has done for me. I have had a lot of people ask me recently “have you started packing?” And my answer has remained the same up until yesterday…  “nope!” (as I grin widely in my nonchalant way that I see as being charming but could actually be quite annoying).  With those questions, came the realization that I had been avoiding these preparations for some time. So why? There are definitely a couple options.  It could be that J-Anne has been worrying and organizing enough for the both of us, to-do lists keeping her up at night. It could be that I actually wasn’t ready for this change or more likely that I was hoping I could simply buy all new fun things and clothes to start this new life…. but none of those seemed quite right.

Yesterday morning I went into the storage room, partly to get out of the sauna we are calling our upstairs lately, but mostly to begin to tackle this packing job. I saw my 8 (hot pink) Rubbermaid bins piled high to the ceiling. Surrounded by Christmas ornaments, party decorations and wonderfully odorous hockey gear, my first thought was “oh my goodness I hope that smell hasn’t seeped into those bins” but my second was “my whole life from the past 5 years are located in those 8 bins”. Thinking about it now, I know that this is where that avoidance was coming from. How will I ever be able to fit an entire life into 4 suitcases when those who know me will tell you that my wardrobe alone could take up 6. I kept thinking through this as I struggled to lift the bins down, being really careful of the one marked “wine glasses”, and began opening them up to see what treasures were inside. This brought me to pretty much my conclusion and where I find myself now, what do I need? What will I truly miss? The fact of the matter is, those bins are filled mostly with memories of an amazing 5-year undergraduate career, and they aren’t going anywhere. What I needed to realize was that Western Illinois University is an opportunity to make new memories, fill 8 more (hot pink, obviously) bins. You’re welcome, Dad.

So needless to say, I have decided that what I need is my clothes on my back and while is has been tough, I have managed to fill 4 suitcases with * most * of my closet. After all, the rest of them can always get shipped down later.

As I spend my final 36 hours in Canada, and the Ridge, I have one more burning question on my mind: “Can I get a double Caesar, extra spicy please?”

GGLI (great. groovy. love it.)

hollyd