I thought I probably should reflect on Chicago, before too much time passes by…
Chicago overall was awesome! We got a lot of good NCSC work done – 26 pages of minutes for our 3-day meeting. We went through the discernment process and have chosen the next National Chair – Ross Gruebel. Along with that we went to down-town Chicago to meet with the Conference Host team, which was productive and energizing. We got a chance to tour the hotel which we’ll be staying at. It turned out to be really nice! After watching all of the hard work that the student host team has been putting into Conference, I left Chicago feeling more excited and pumped about what’s planned for December. I’m really excited to bring this excitement and enthusiasm back to my region as well.
I was pleasantly surprised by the City of Chicago as well. Chicago seems a lot like New York, but smaller, less busy and cheaper. Their Millenium Park was really pretty. One of my favorite things were these big pillars that were 5-7 stories tall, and were actually water fountains. The pillars themselves faced each other and cast these large images through light. Some of the images were pretty landscames, but most of them were these large images of faces (like the one pictured right). I really like this pictures because the shadows of the spectators gives you an idea of just how big these structures are. The area between the pillars was a concrete pond, that really seemed like water over-flow. The ground was slightly slanted to allow 2-3" of water between these structures. It was really pretty! I’m anxious to go back in the winter to see what that area looks like.
While we did do a lot of work, there was still a lot of time for fun. Some highlights include:
- Learning how to play Bean Bag Toss… I didn’t realize it could be a structured and fun game
- Dance Dance Revolution – Maureen is amazing at that game. – Josh going "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom"
- The Youth Group kids at St. Bede’s that hosted us. It was so refreshing to be around a dynamic, vibrant group of kids that really enjoyed being at church.
- Playing that funky ice-cream eating game! It was funny to see everyone chowing down on their sundae’s with no hands (picture below).
- "Bop It! Pull It! Twist It!"
Some pictures below:
The National Team with the Host Team right after dinner
My good friend Erin & me
Ice Cream!
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More pictures on my Shutterfly site