Hello everyone!
 
Over the last week I have begun an internship, learning experience and all around adventure with the Illinois St. Andrew Society in Chicago.  The Society is a not for profit organisation, bringing together the Scottish American community by celebrating and nurturing the Scottish identity stateside. 

Having lunch in sunny Glasgow the day before I left with Jim and Isobel Bell (who I'll be working with over the next few weeks) and Andrew McFarlan (who interned with the Society last year) was brilliant and gave me plenty of food for thought as we talked about the Society, my role over the next eight weeks and big city of Chicago.

Sitting in Glasgow airport on Friday morning it finally hit me that I was really going and as excitement (and wee a little bit of panic) set in I reached for a trusty can of irn-bru, bought a Chicago guide book and got on a plane.  Nine hours later I was met by the Society President, Gus Noble and his lovely wife Aisha at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago.  

My first job would be getting involved with the Society's infamous Scottish Festival and Highland Games which were taking place exactly a week after I arrived.  So on Saturday morning it was great to attend a meeting for the Highland Games Committee at the Scottish Home (where the Society's headquarters and the retirement home it supports are situated).  Everyone made me feel very welcome and it was brilliant to get a real idea of the scale of the event and of the hard work and dedication of the staff and volunteers who make it possible. 

That afternoon I hit the streets of Chicago armed with an umbrella for the pouring rain and after dropping into the Blues Festival, exploring some of the city's parks, and heading up Michigan Avenue, it was time for some hard earned Chicago style pizza.  As the sun emerged on Sunday I was paddling in Lake Michigan and gazing at the amazing skyline behind and the never ending water in front- does life get better?  Evenings have been filled with making friends, exploring Chicago's amazing art institute, neighborhoods, beaches, parks and food (from cheese popcorn to root bear floats).

With the Highland Games so close my first week at work has been a brilliant mix of the mundane and the extraordinary.  I've organised merchandise and tickets, attended a Rotary Lunch (at which the Earl of Sinclair gave a thought provoking speech on Scottish politics) and a great Isla Sinclair concert complete with top notch piping and highland dancers.  

The Highland Games kicked off on Friday and after a week of tentatively checking weather reports, the fields where the Games were to be held somehow avoided the rain and as the day wore on vendors, clans, organisations and eventually crowds of people began to arrive.  The gates had been open about two hours when diaster (in the form of a big storm) hit and the evacuation siren loomed over the fields.  The big tents struggled against the winds, whilst the smaller ones seemed to be making a break for Canada.  Thankfully no one was hurt and when we headed out to the fields early on Saturday morning the ground was wet but the sun was shining.

As the festivities kicked off on Saturday I was surprised by how similar they were to those held in Scotland.  There were a few American twists (e.g. an all you can eat haggis competition) but with lots of pipes playing, excited kids, heavy events, shortbread, athletics, highland dancing, mud and crazy happy people, the Games had a really similar buzz to those at home.  Working at the gate I couldn't help but smile as whole families arrived (and left) in full Scottish attire on a baking hot Chicago day. It was great to see how much everyone was enjoying themselves (including many of the volunteers who had been up since sunrise).  In the face of some major obstacles everyones determination to enjoy the festivities and make them a success won out and made the weekend a hit.

Trusty welly boots covered in mud, funnel cake stuck to my clothes and with a slightly sun burnt face I arrived home last night to my friends laughter before someone asked, "Have you been fighting a war out there?"  All I could do was smile and head straight to bed.  It's been a brilliant week!!