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2. article – my last days in Illinois

My last days in Illinois

In this article I wanna write about my last experiences I made in Illinois before I moved to my second stop where I will live till end of June: California.

My girlfriend from Germany visited me about two weeks before Christmas. I couldn’t wait for it and probably annoyed all people around me in this time because I had to tell everyone when she would arrive.

Anyway, I drove to Chicago to pick her up at the airport. It was theoretically a difficult time since she visited me in the final exam week. I was really worried about that before we finally booked the flight. On the one hand I wanted to achieve a good grade in my tests and therefore had to learn a lot. On the other hand I wanted to spend all the time with her. I finally found a solution for it and started to learn earlier and was well prepared.

But it wasn’t actually necessary. I should have had to write three tests. In one course it was just possible to test separately and fortunately I was one of the first ones. Due to the high amount of students in this course the teacher decided to start with the final exam a week earlier. That means that I passed this test before the final exam week and before my girlfriend arrived. The second course was quite simple and mainly based on practical tasks. The theoretical test wasn’t difficult and not necessary to learn for since the teacher prepared us very well for it. The last test was canceled due to the missing of the teacher. In the end I had enough time to spend with my girlfriend.

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(This is what I learned in my classes: sharpening my own drill, big metal block: drilling a hole with my drill, drilling small holes, countersinking, tapping, reaming, milling a slot, grinding, milling the surface; cylinder: lathing; piece in front: plasma cutting. So amazing!!!)

We made a trip to Chicago again, visiting some attractions in the area, going out for dinner in the best restaurant I found during my time there (“Pangea” in Evansville, I can highly recommend that!!!!) and other interesting stuff.

We also spend Christmas together. Some of Dee`s friends invited us for Christmas Eve and let us experience the traditional celebration. It was absolutely amazing! We ate some great dishes first. They own 4 local restaurants and apparently are able to cook outstanding food.

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We participated how the family unwrapped their presents before we went home to give each others‘ presents between Dee, Jana and me. It was a really nice and merry evening.

We decided to invite two other international students on Christmas day and some friends invited us for lunch on December 26th. The main topic of these days were obviously food (and I really liked that!).

After five months living in Mt Carmel it was really difficult to say Goodbye. I met some great people and experienced very extraordinary things.

For instance Dee implemented a private tour for me through a local metal machining company due to her connections. It was absolutely astonishing and marvelous how big all the machines were. They had a big crane weighing 100 tons and able to lift 400 tons. I took some nice pictures you find attached.

One of Dee`s close friends is a retired pilot who gave us a private tour through the local airport. It included a simulated flight start on the runway (with the car) and showing all planes. It was really impressive and interesting to see how an airport is structured and works.

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(That’s the house where I lived for 5 months, cute isn’t it??)

My girlfriend and I finally started our road trip to my location where I would live till end of June on December 27th: Lodi, California. I was expecting this trip with a tear in one eye and a smile in the other. I had a great time there and would miss my hostmum. It was a great pleasure to meet her and I do hope to stay in contact with her. On the other hand I was heading towards some further memorable experiences and I was really looking forward to it.

But this is another story…

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6 Kommentare

  1. Jana Januar 8, 2017

    Es war eine wirklich schöne Zeit bei dir und ich hab mich sehr darüber gefreut, sehen zu können, wo und mit wem du die letzten Monate verbracht hast.
    Das ein oder andere Mal musste ich zwar zitternd in der Kälte stehen und warten, bis mein Fotografen-Freund das perfekte Bild im Kasten hat, aber beim Betrachten der Bilder kann ich nur sagen, dass sich das kurzzeitige Frieren definitiv gelohnt hat. Deine Bilder sind wunderbar!

    • jens Januar 9, 2017 — Autor der Seiten

      Ja, das hat mir immer sehr leid getan!
      Wenn es um kreative Sachen geht und ich eine Idee habe, gibt es kein Bremsen mehr für mich!
      Ich hoffe sehr, dass ich dann doch ausreichend deine Hände wärmen konnte beim Händchen halten danach.
      Ich fand es auf jeden Fall wundervoll, dass du mich besucht hast!!

  2. Nia Januar 9, 2017

    Jens, ich bin sprachlos!!!!! Deine Bilder sind der Hammer – fast besser als was man von Profi-Fotografen so sieht! Mehr davon!!!!
    Wann gibt’s die als Print? Welche Kamera verwendest du? 😀 (Typischer „Fan-Blog-Eintrag“)

    • jens Januar 22, 2017 — Autor der Seiten

      Thanks a lot!!! :)))
      It’s so much fun and I always try to improve myself.
      I have a Canon Eos 70D with a standard 18-55mm lens.
      And lots of different equipment 😀
      If you are interested in a picture in particular, just let me know.
      I can send you a print of it 🙂

  3. Petra Januar 22, 2017

    Hallo Jens

    Endlich komme ich dazu, mich zu melden. Das ist mein erster Blog-Kommentar – ever. Was man nicht so alles lernt auf die alten Tage hin 😉
    Ich bin überwältigt, was Du alles zu berichten hast, deine Erlebnisse, wie Du alles in Worte fasst, dazu noch in einer Fremdsprache (ich als Englischlehrerin bin ja immer mit einem halben Auge am Korrigieren, aber bei Dir finde ich NIX!!!).
    Deine Fotos sind der Hammer, falls es je einen Fotoband geben sollte, will ich einen – mit persönlicher Widmung!!!
    Ich weiss nicht, ob es in diesen Blog gehört, kenne auch Deine Pläne nicht, wie es bei Dir nach Deiner Rückkehr aus den USA aussieht. Aber bei uns gab es auf dem TV-Sender SFR 1 eine Dokumentation über Schweizer in New York („Abenteuer in New York“). Da gibt es den Möbeldesigner Patrick Weder. Der hat immer wieder Praktikanten. Der kreiert ganz tolle Möbel für reiche New Yorker, ist aber ganz bodenständig geblieben. Als ich das sah, musste ich sofort an Dich denken.
    Geniesse die Zeit in den USA, sammle so viele Erfahrungen wie möglich. Die kann Dir keiner mehr nehmen, das prägt für’s Leben.
    Wieder für längere Zeit ins Ausland zu gehen, wäre für mich der einzige Grund, gerne nochmals 20/25 Jahre alt zu sein 😉
    Ich freue mich jedes mal riesig, von Dir zu hören. Mach weiter so!!!
    Herzliche Grüsse (schliesst man so überhaupt einen Blog ab?!?!) aus dem winterlichen Bettingen
    Deine Tante Petra

    • Jens Februar 24, 2017

      Dear Petra,
      thank you so much for you comment!
      And I am glad to hear that you like my pictures. I have bought a new camera only a few weeks after my arrival here.
      It’s is a great opportunity to catch my experiences I gain here and a very interesting way to change my point of view for nature and subjects. I sometimes lie in the middle of a street or climb on top of a tree to get a great picture 😀
      And I have already thought about your idea about a photo album – let me suprise you 😉
      That sounds actually really interesting. But I am unfortunately not allowed to go back to the USA in the next two years due to my special Visa. Anyway, I’ll keep it in mind, especially after I’ve seen his furnitures on his website! Very nice!
      I’ll let you know if I have any new articles (what I actually have – did you see it?).
      Have a great week!
      Jens

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