I was asked recently why I wanted to spend a quarter abroad. The question was phrased in such a way as to inquire what I hoped to gain by living abroad. This is a strange question to me, since as an international student I already am living abroad, and have been doing so for the better part of the last two years. As such, I will reflect a little bit on being in Chicago as a foreigner. After 2 years in the military, I felt like I had to catch up on lost time to see the world. Chicago has been both stimulating and disappointing on that front. The University of Chicago is well-known internationally, but Chicago itself is known for more than that. It is known for its sports teams, blues music, its Really American food, and its skyline, among others. Yet, it has been disappointing how segregation of communities and functions, each of which strives constantly to be self-contained, has come to dominate life in the city. This applies not only to the University or Hyde Park - it applies to how the Loop feels unsettlingly empty after working hours, or how Chicago residents will commonly not have been to most parts of the city.

I suppose I have gotten used to only going to certain establishments that fulfill all my needs - CVS, the Ida Noyes Pub, Lockdown Grill, Chinatown. Both the city's overall tenor, amplified by the time commitments of a University of Chicago education, and the shortcomings of the CTA have persuaded me to trust in my own blinkers.

I would like to study abroad firstly to get away from Chicago's overwhelming sense of functional segregation. Being from Asia, and having lived in Europe, I am used to the notion that a city should be porous and imperfectly planned. I would like to have a plethora of options in terms of the places I go, to develop my preferences among restaurants that are not major chains, and bars that have a history. I would like to have the option of exploring a city on foot and on my own time, learning its different faces, whether they are agreeable or repulsive.

At the same time, I would also like the time to let Chicago settle and foment in my mind. I know I am bound to miss my favorite record stores and bookstores, and I know I am bound to miss the winter. I surprised myself recently; having not been Downtown since before winter break, I emerged from Jackson station on the CTA red line and found myself quite speechless at the sight of State Street stretching in front of me flanked on both sides by skyscrapers. In some ways, the city of Chicago has become a part of me, Chicago with all its detachment and quiet suffering. Chicago, whose people try from time to time to shout above the wind, but finding themselves worn down and hoarse, withdraw back to the vast expanse of the city's ground level sprawl, where there are too many empty corners to occupy.