Following our screening at Columbia College, we spent a few days in Chicago with my cousin, Steve. Rae and I got caught up on work while preparing for the next slate of screenings; seven showings of Autumn Gem in the next six days! Tonight’s screening will be at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Tomorrow morning, we’re flying to Baltimore, Maryland for a screening at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

On Saturday, we had lunch over at The Bagel. The Mish-Mash Soup was really good and the Reuben sandwich that Jeff and I both ordered was huge! Usually, I can finish my meals, but I had to save half of the sandwich for the bus ride to Champaign on Sunday!

Following lunch, Steve took us to the Lincoln Park Zoo, a free zoo along the waterfront in Chicago. I was pretty cold already, but I felt for the animals who have to brave the cold winters and hot summers of Chicago every year! The tiger pen had a pretty high barrier; I don’t know if that tiger could have jumped the barrier like the one in San Francisco nearly two years ago.

After our trip to the zoo, we went back home to Steve’s place, where I made my famous Ma Po Tofu and butternut squash dish. We bought extra supplies over at the Super H Mart, which is like a Korean 99 Ranch or Marina Foods. The next morning, we took the train into Union Station at Chicago, where we waited for the Megabus to take us to Champaign. The Chicago Marathon was happening at the same time, and we got to see the runners at the Mile 13 marker.

Here are some photos from the past few days in Chicago.