"To thy happy children of the future, those of the past send greetings"
As I briefly mentioned before in the last blog entry, a company recruiting effort brought me down to U of I recently for a short visit. After graduating almost 6 years ago, I've been back down to Champaign more than a few times since, the last trip being for the '07 Homecoming weekend. And pretty much every one of those trips has had its share of adventures. Some stories I can share (and have), while others will have to stay classified to protect the not-so-innocent.
This time, however, my trip down to school actually felt much different than all of those previous experiences. A large part of it was probably because I was there on business (and not for wafflemaker hunting), but a lot of little things about this visit made me feel more like an older alum than someone who still kind of fits in with the college students. Definitely a new feeling for me.
One of the notable parts of this visit was staying at the Illini Union hotel for the first time. Like many students, I spent a big chunk of my college years in or around the Union. In between classes, there was no better place to go shoot some pool, grab a bite to eat at the food court, check your email in the computer lab, or find a spot to study/hang out. It was also a common place for job interviews, holding events in the ballroom, or for people to get cold-packs/contraceptives from the McKinley booth (not me of course).
At any rate, I must have walked through the Union at least thousands of times during my 4 years at school, that it was practically a second home. But one part of the Union that I never saw was the 3rd and 4th floor hotel rooms - that is, until now. Some of you may not have even known that there were hotel rooms at the Union, but I'd heard of them before and always wondered what they were like. Well, wonder no more:
As far as hotels go, the Illini Union hotel is pretty average, maybe even a bit below average. It's clean and has all the neccessary amenities, but the rooms are a bit on the small side and the AC/heater is noisy. Of course, it didn't matter to me because I was so fascinated by the novelty of staying overnight at the Illini Union (I'm easy to please like that).
One other thing about the Union that I should mention is that the basement McDonald's is no more! It has been replaced by a Chick-Fil-A.
Out of the 3 big restaurants in that food court, the last one I would've expected to go would be the McDonald's. Yet somehow Sbarro and Rice Garden both outlasted the golden arches. I was pretty shocked.
Whenever I visit Champaign, it seems like the place that changes the most is Green Street. I still remember the days when there was a "CO-ED" theater, dingy little stores that sold records and posters, and multiple Chinese buffets named Yen Ching. Now, the place has been transformed into a pedestrian friendly strip of chain restaurants that I'm guessing would barely be recognizable to an older alum than myself.
This time around, I don't think Green Street changed all that much (although it has only been a few months). The one thing I noticed was that the Legend's sign is orange and blue now (I think it used to be red and green).
My favorite part of the trip, as you might guess, was dinner. I convinced the folks I was with to come with me to Kamakura, one of the nicer places around town for Japanese food. The prices there were always a bit too steep for a college kid to go regularly, but that didn't really matter now that the company was covering the expense. It made me feel particularly special to dine at the Teppanyaki (hibachi) grill side of the restaurant for once, I don't think I ever ate in that section when I was a student.
One last thing about this trip that reminded me that I'm not in college anymore, was picking up a DI (that's Daily Illini, the student newspaper for non U of I grads). The format of the paper has changed to look a little more professional, but what amused me was reading the front page headlines:
I have to say, only on a college campus would you see the top stories be "US Recession May Benefit Environment", and "Bill Aims To Legalize Marijuana".
