Twin Cities

I'm in the Twin Cities right now. The ND Club here has been really helpful, and they actually put me up in a hotel for the week, compliments of one of their members who owns the place. I don't love hotel living, but I think it has been good to start off, since I'm figuring out a routine for myself, insofar as it's possible to have a routine on a trip like this!

So far, so good. The drive up here was really fun, thanks in part to my new best friend Sibyl. She's the lovely British woman who sits on my dashboard and tells me how to get from Point A to Point B without ever having to look at a map. She has a very pleasant demeanor and we get along pretty well, though I've come to dread hearing her say, "recalculating," which translates to "you're going the wrong way and now I'm figuring out how to get you out of this." Fortunately, she recalculates pretty quickly. I had also forgotten how much I love driving through Chicago in heavy traffic. Seriously--it's such a rush speeding down the expressway through downtown with skyscrapers towering on both sides, six lanes of cars all weaving in and out, merging on and off, rounding curves in perfect synchronization...I'll stop there, since I know my dad is reading this.

Anyway, I've done 5 interviews in 2 days, with 3 more tomorrow and possibly another on Saturday. Yikes. It's been a lot of work, and of course a lot of fun. I won't go into too much detail here, but I have learned a lot already. Yesterday I had a great surprise with an interview I didn't think would be that interesting exceeding my expectations by far, and then today I had an interview where the person just wasn't relaxed at all, and the best stories came out as soon as the mic was off. It was good to have both of these experiences early on, because it's a reminder to me that no interview is expendable, and that not everyone's used to being interviewed, so I need to work harder to help them feel comfortable.

I had a bit of time off last night, and had a lively dinner with the father of one of my ND roommates. We ended up hanging out for a few hours, talking about everything from the Steve Bartman phenomenon to papal encyclicals. We had a great time, and it was nice to see a familiar face!

I've spent most of my time in Minneapolis so far, and I had an interview in a really beautiful old neighborhood in St. Paul this morning. Everything here feels very clean and organized, and the weather has been sunny and unseasonably warm. I'm really looking forward to exploring more on Saturday and spending some time hanging out in the city.

And right now I'm late to go drink with the young alumni of the Twin Cities. Such taxing work...