hey, i'm about to graduate college and want move to chicago. problem: i don't know anyone there and i don't have a job set up. advice?

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anyone else done this and can give me some advice...? tips to help me out would be appreciated. thanks.

― here i come (maybe), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Work at McDonalds! They are always hiring!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Go. Expect 12 months of isolation, desperation, poverty, and intense lonliness.

(probably it will be more like 2-4 months, but expecting the worst is best)

― supercub, Friday, 19 November 2004 00:33 (twenty-one years ago)

FAP 'til you drop!

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a cool little bar I like. I can remember what's it's called, but it's a brick building on a corner, with an Old Style sign out front. You know the place?

― andy, Friday, 19 November 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I made friends within 3 weeks of moving to LA, and I'm an antisocial prick. Post on here a lot more and butter-up the Chicago ILXors, they'll take good care of you!

― Remy (x Jeremy), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Where are you from? Have you spent a winter in Chicago?

― andy, Friday, 19 November 2004 00:48 (twenty-one years ago)

where are you moving from?

i moved to chicago with my girlfriend a year out of college and hated it. neither of us had jobs or friends there (i had a bunch of family, but that's different). coming from LA, the midwestern lifestyle just wasn't what we wanted. it seemed conservative and whitebread. she felt like the only asian person in the whole city. i did make some really good friends, but it wasn't enough to keep me there. we left after a year and a half

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:48 (twenty-one years ago)

actually the winter was fine for me, but the summer kicked my ass. way too hot and muggy

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 19 November 2004 00:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry to have been negative upthread.

My sister lives in Chicago, and she likes it. Go for it.

― supercub, Friday, 19 November 2004 01:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, the accent though. It makes the lovliest girl in the world sound like a forklift mechanic.

― andy, Friday, 19 November 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

My apologies to you, JaXoN, on behalf of the city of Chicago.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Chicago!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:36 (twenty-one years ago)

What is whitebread?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I love Adam.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, if you have to work at McDonald's, make sure it's the Rock N' Roll McDonald's. At least work would be far more interesting... (maybe)

― donut christ (donut), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:46 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, i have been to chicago many times, and every time i go i enjoy it more. winter and everything. right now i'm in gainesville(UF), florida, and i intensely hate it here. short story: g/f lives in chicago, but she recently dumped me and therefore has made my only artery into the city null.

― here i come (maybe), Friday, 19 November 2004 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

g/f lives in chicago, but she recently dumped me

Is she hot? What's her number?

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 02:04 (twenty-one years ago)

That's not very nice.

― supercub, Friday, 19 November 2004 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

it was supposed to be a funny! You know, to leaven the mood.

I like Gainesville. I had a good time there, but then again I only stayed for a night. Bought a shit-ton of vinyl there. Gainesville actually has a couple great record stores! Or used to, this was about 8 years ago I think. Good barbeque too.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 02:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never heard Chicago described as whitebread btw.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 19 November 2004 02:20 (twenty-one years ago)

haha, can't say it really jibes with my experience either. But then again I've only ever lived on the South Side.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 02:32 (twenty-one years ago)

diamond your new name sounds like a nice 1970s soul handle.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 03:01 (twenty-one years ago)

mr. gainesville: you aren't in law school down there are you?? i know this guy...

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 19 November 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

why don't you try finding a job or get some interviews lined up before you get here?

rents aren't so bad these days, and apartments are in abundance. if you make a weekend trip up here with a little preparation you'll find a place. so long as it's not december or january--it can be harder to find places in those months.

what sort of work can/do you want to do?

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 04:05 (twenty-one years ago)

What is whitebread?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

it's bread and it's white

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a cool little bar I like. I can remember what's it's called, but it's a brick building on a corner, with an Old Style sign out front. You know the place?

Heh. I'm a Chicago native, but I'll never get the Old Style thing. Worst. Beer. Ever.

― m.e.a. (m.e.a.), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:35 (twenty-one years ago)

it ain't but a PATCH on NYC ... move to NYC instead.

(and expect to be even MORE isolated, desperate, poor, and intensely lonely)

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah whatever fuck NYC

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 04:40 (twenty-one years ago)

ok i'm ordering t-shirts right now

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 04:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Am I whitebread?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:44 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know, what's your relationship with yeast?

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

'NYC is the Chicago of the east'

blue states 4eva!!

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:45 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe he's an infection?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 19 November 2004 04:57 (twenty-one years ago)

(gaaaaa, that sounded like a john foxx song title)

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

chicago, whitebread??? maybe you should've looked around other places than Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

coming from LA, the midwestern lifestyle just wasn't what we wanted. it seemed conservative and whitebread. she felt like the only asian person in the whole city.

Hm... I can understand how coming from LA might have been a bit of a culture shock. I haven't found "whitebread" to be true at all, though. Chicago is as pleasantly kooky as any city its size (very big, in other words). True, it's still got that blue-collar, rough around the edges jagoff vibe, but that doesn't make it conservative. And the asian thing is confusing. There are LOTS of asians here. Maybe you picked the wrong neighborhood?

Not that I'm trying to convince you of anything, just saying.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:10 (twenty-one years ago)

In response to the thread question: we moved here without knowing anyone, either, and neither of us had jobs. I won't tell you that every day was fun for those first few months, becasue it wasn't. But we found jobs (and quit them, and found better ones) and eventually some great friends. It's scary, but it's going to be like that moving anywhere. Big cities can be more isolating and lonely than other places at first, true, but hey... we'll buy you a beer. OK?

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:13 (twenty-one years ago)

that vibe is what makes chicago great!
xpost

― oops (Oops), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:14 (twenty-one years ago)

i've always wanted to visit chicago, but i have yet to do so. i dunno what to expect, honestly.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:19 (twenty-one years ago)

expect meat.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Falling from the skies, adorning our women, lining our highways...

― oops (Oops), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:25 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.designboom.com/trash/img/100.jpg

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:26 (twenty-one years ago)

You produced that image far too quickly for me not to be disturbed.

― oops (Oops), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:28 (twenty-one years ago)

What, you dont know where the meat hat pics are yet? Get with the program!

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I should totally photoshop a Cubs logo onto this one:

http://www.designboom.com/trash/img/40.jpg

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:30 (twenty-one years ago)

that is absolutely vile ... it's fantastic!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I especially like the way that the brim is covered in a different grain of meat, a bit more slick and nylon-like. It's really disgustingly genius.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 05:36 (twenty-one years ago)

hi, 5hrs later and i'm home from work.

yes, we picked the wrong neighborhood. we moved into an apartment my cousin was moving out of in.... WRIGLEYVILLE. yes the neighborhood sucked but we paid 600$ for a gigantic 3bedroom. and we both worked downtown, so all we saw were suits at work and suits dressed down in khakis at home.

but that's not to say that the racial make up of the city wasn't weird to us. there are lots of different races, but they're all split up into different pockets. you have the rusian neighborhood, the black neighborhood, the latino neighborhood, the white neighborhood, etc. i was just used to something different.

adam, you know what whitebread is. just very bland, white american.

obviously there were good things about the city too. i thought it was a great "city". the layout was cool coming from LA. there was a center of town. the public transportation was great. brick everywhere was cool.

and at the time i moved there (99 to 01-ish), the music scene was great. one of the reasons i thought i'd like the city was because the music was so experimental. i was really into experimental and post-rock and jazz at the time, so it was the perfect place to be. and the record stores (reckless & dustygroove) were perfect for me.

i'm just not made for the midwest

― JaXoN (JasonD), Friday, 19 November 2004 06:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 74 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

yeah, well, you're a little gay

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah. :)

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

WEBSTER'S 11TH, DUDE.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.broodger.com/cvr/c026/c02666.jpg

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Amateurist, Ellen Alien is a highly accomplished German techno artiste, DJ, and label head.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys can have her. If I wanted a hot electronic artist, I'd go to bj0rk.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

What about Nick???

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, well, that's the default. Sometimes you have to spice it up, though.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha. Yeah. I was talking about female electronic artists.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

nick is not a hot electronic artist. He's a sexy doofus pop idol.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Amateurist -- Nabisco showed us that CD, which he had just acquired, when we went to Gold Star for drinks last summer. He told me I might like it. But I was all like, whatever, never heard of her. I only remembered this recently.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I love that CD! It's goofy!

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't remember that at all! i mostly remember discussing my objection to the "great man" theory of pop music history and nabisco nodding in assent.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 18:09 (twenty-one years ago)

because really nabisco doesn't have powers of independent thought, as we all know.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 18:09 (twenty-one years ago)

the "great man" theory of pop music history

I don't remember that!

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess that was one of those "you had to be there" moments.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

i wanna move to chicago in 2006. this is the third time or so i've said this on a chicago-oriented thread.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

We will welcome you with open arms, Mandee.

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

that's funny Mandee because I'm seriously thinking of moving to Denver in a couple years.

Nora, are you a Maroon?

gabbneb forgot

Results 1 - 1 of 1 for "i graduated university of chicago"

and on a chicago thread, no less

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

if denver gets better, soon, i may stay.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

gabbneb forgot

i tried "i graduated chicago" and "i graduated u. chicago" but neither seemed right

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Nora, are you a Maroon?

i read this as "nora, are you a mormon?"

which got me thinking about "lucille, are you a lesbian?"

just in case anyone wanted to know. what i was thinking. i mean.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 19 November 2004 18:39 (twenty-one years ago)

T. Valentine! I've still never heard that.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 19 November 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

gainesville is nothing more than a college town. i'd like to move and close this chapter...

g--ff, law school: no, i will graduate with a BA in economics and math.

amateur!!st: i'm trying to set up interviews and get a job; it's not so easy being in florida though. work? i guess i'll do anything that my limited experience allows me to, but i'd like to stay away from manual labor. i'm a very frail dude.

kenan: going at it alone is what will make it hard. i wouldn't think twice if i had someone to come with me. indeed, i'll have to join you if i make it. thanks for the tips.

trigonalmayhem: the beauty of receiving a scholarship is that you dont have any debt when you graduate. thanks for looking out.

Colin Meeder: what's colege? thanks for your compulsory post.

n/a: yea, i plan to look at craigslist.

colette: i will try a temp agency if all else fails. thanks for the input.

thanks everyone.

― here i come (maybe), Friday, 19 November 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

If I were you, I wouldn't save temping as a last resort, I'd meet with them as soon as you came up so that you could be temping while looking for a job and at least have a small amount (a VERY small amount) of cash coming in.

― n/a (Nick A.), Friday, 19 November 2004 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree w/that wholeheartedly. That's what I did.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

"colege" is the result of me leaving out one letter and looking sloppy. "Graduated college" is the result of you leaving out an entire word and looking like a retard.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

WEBSTER'S 11TH, DUDE!

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"WEBSTER'S" ISN'T A PROTECTED TRADEMARK AND IS MEANINGLESS AS A REFERENCE, DUDE!

(Sorry, "graduated college" is just about the only phrase I turn into a grammar Nazi about anymore.)

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

That's cool, I'm just being a dick. Although I'm not sure what you mean by "isn't a protected trademark." I'm using Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, which is the standard within the publishing industry. At least at the two publishing jobs I've worked at.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I do remember saying "graduate college" to my mom a few years ago, and she was all like "ow my ears," and when I thought about it, I realized that "from college" is probably the better construction, but it didn't ring that false to me because lots of people say it.

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"I graduated college" sounds transitive (as in 'college was graduated by me'!).

Yeah, me neither.

What are we, chopped liver?

I don't know anyone on this board, either!

Bourgeois Pig north side is hiring

Is it? I called to check back (I turned in one of those "in case you're hiring anytime soon" applications a week or two ago) as soon as I read that and was told that they aren't hiring. They may have already found someone... hmm...

― chicago, now! (chicago, now!), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Is "finished school" more acceptable than "graduated college"?

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Less grammar more hotness.

http://infratunes.com/musique/fotos-artistes/ellenalien.jpg http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/exposed/media/ellenalien.jpg http://img.iskon.hr/kl/2003/05/20/0002004v.jpg http://techno.gra.pl/technoland/biografie/ellen_allien/ellen_allien.jpg http://www.loop.cl/upload/ellen_allien_interior_entrevista2.jpg http://gullbuy.com/buy/2002/7_16/images/stadtkind_png.jpg

― Kenan (kenan), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont know. i think such small matters say more about the nitpicker than it does my laziness.

― here i come (maybe), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I am special.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

trigonalmayhem: the beauty of receiving a scholarship is that you dont have any debt when you graduate. thanks for looking out.

I got scholarships/finaid too, but my school is just terribly expensive so it didn't cover everything.
On the upside, I'm coming out with only about 1/4 of my actual school costs in loans, the rest was thankfully covered by the aformentioned free money.

Basically I could have bought a luxury sedan instead of an education for this price, but I'm pretty happy with the way I went. Plus my interest rates will be lower. Ka-ching!

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

My collej ejucayshun was free!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Just like my healthcare used to be!

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys can have her. If I wanted a hot electronic artist, I'd go to bj0rk.

well, personally I'd glady do both ellen AND björk.

But björk is probably getting a little too old now, has kids/a man/etc.

: (

ellen is easier to fantasize about because she's at least marginally closer to my age (not really, but moreso than björk), and since she seems to regularly make rounds to clubs/etc. I would have a chance to someday maybe be so lucky as to shake hands LIKE THAT ENVIABLE BASTARD.

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:06 (twenty-one years ago)

It's well known around London that Bjork gives it away like so much halloween candy. I once saw her buying tangerines in a low-rent grocery store in Belsize Park. She looked sad.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry to be vulgar.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG.
I must swoop in on her NOW then, before she gets too much older.

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Friday, 19 November 2004 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i've never really been hot for bjork, though i love lots of her music. she seems like she'd be kind of flaky (well duh).

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 20 November 2004 05:09 (twenty-one years ago)

what's a maroon?

― nora (nora), Sunday, 21 November 2004 05:45 (twenty-one years ago)

oh - the University of Chicago mascot -- I thought you may have attended as you obviously have some familiarity with Hyde Park...

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Sunday, 21 November 2004 06:35 (twenty-one years ago)

The last time I was in Hyde Park a bunch of thugs piled onto my bus and beat the shit out of some guy at my feet.

They were crawling over me to get in punches on him.

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Sunday, 21 November 2004 08:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Lucky you.

― Kenan (kenan), Sunday, 21 November 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Sunday, 21 November 2004 08:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Naw, not a maroon. I grew up in Chicago and hung out lots in Hyde Park.

― nora (nora), Sunday, 21 November 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

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