Feeling at home in Chicago

I’m starting to feel at home in Chicago. Yesterday I even went to Walgreens, just like a local!

Well, not entirely like a local. I had to ask the Philipino check-out chick (actually she was more like a check-out mamma) where the Panadol was. I didn’t actually have a headache, but with the conference in full swing now, I wanted to have them on me in case I got one in the middle of a presentation (and you already know how little sleep I’ve been getting, Possums, so I thought it very likely). She showed me Tylenol in a tube! – very handy, cute, purse size. I wonder why they don’t make it in circular packaging at home in Aus? I must get some more to take home for the novelty.

The other thing that separated me from the locals was the fact that I spent a considerable amount of time in the souvineers isle. I was very excited to find Chicago Beenie Kids. These are little bears that are made as collectables. Every second day they bring out another bear. All the bears are the same shape but they are different colours and fabrics and are made to a theme. You can get Zeddie the Zebra, which is a bear in a Zebra outfit, or Olga the Viking, which is a bear, yep, in a viking outfit… etc, etc, ad infinitum. The Chicago ones are plain with Chicago embroidered on their tummies. You can get them in purple, yellow and red. Anyway with four girls in our family, it goes without saying that we spend a small fortune on these damn bears.

There was only one in the store, so I bought it and between conference presentations I have been legging it to every Walgreen store within cooee of the conference to up my bear count. Luckily there is a Walgreens on just about every block and I now have four little bears of different colours lined up in my suitcase! I feel very satisfied when I glance over at them, and a certain excitement related to the anticipation of the kids’ reactions.