So It Begins!

Well today has been an interesting day.  Up at 5:45 AM--a time of day with which I hope to not get too familiar!--on the road to the airport at 7, into Chicago by 12:15, and to the hotel by 2.  Everything went surprisingly well. All of our luggage showed up at the airport and we were all very thankful! We bought tickets to take the L to the hotel because $2.25/person sounded MUCH better than $15/person :)  Thankfully the L wasn't  busy so we had no trouble getting on and off when we needed to.  I'm thinking that might be a whole different story when we move from the hotel into our apartments!  I will admit that getting from the airport, to the L, to the hotel was mildly stressful when there were four of us that each had slightly different ideas about how to do things.  Luckily, I really like these girls, so we worked through it and managed not to kill each other :D
Once at the hotel Karla and Sherry were able to check into their rooms. Megan and I, on the other hand, were told there was a problem or something with our rooms so we wouldn't be able to check in til a little after 3.  Well, orientation started at 3...so we (Megan and I) kept our bags in Karla's room and in Sherry's room til we were able to check in. We did orientation stuff like getting to know people/staff and talked about policies/procedures until 5:30 and then headed out for supper.  We were broken into groups of seven and had a leader who took us to a restaurant.  As my group left the restaurant my leader asked if any of us at taken the L before; I told him I had taken in from the airport to the hotel this morning. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be in charge on the way back to the hotel then because he wouldn't be taking us back!  He wasn't joking!  He seriously walked us back to the L and said goodnight!  But we all got back safe and sound :)   Quite honestly, I think it was a good thing he did that.  It made me a little more confident about my abilities to navigate this city!!  After supper we had more orientation and found out where we will be interviewing.  I have an interview at BMO Harris Bank and at MainStreet Advisors.  I then have until Monday to make a final decision as to which site I would prefer to intern at.
The most important thing on the agenda tomorrow is HOUSING.  We are really really REALLY hoping to get into one of the 6-person apartments!  The housing lottery is 1:30-2:30 tomorrow and we are praying that one of our names is drawn first!!  We found two other great girls that want to live with us so we are really hoping it works out!
Well, I need to do a bit of reading and then some interview preparation--I have practice interviews tomorrow--so I think I'll call it a night.  One day down, 102 to go!  I think this is going to be great semester!