West Loop Roadtrip – Day 7

So begins my last post. Our roadtrip has finally reached its last day…

We started off our day by visiting a Quaker church, which turned out to be very different from my usual Southern Baptist services. Here, they emphasized a more personal and direct form of worship through silence and reflection. We gather around in concentric circles, and just…sit and be still. Should a divinely inspired revelation come to an individual, he or she is encouraged to stand and share it.

That was pretty much it, no pastors, no sermons, just quiet meditation. Throughout the allotted hour, 2 people spoke, and I will say that I have never pondered what connected paper and breakfast together…quite interesting. After service, we were invited for lunch, and it was pleasant speaking with the other church members.

After a hearty lunch, we met up with Elliot’s friend at a tea house; an English-style tea house, not the Taiwanese ones like back home mind you. This tea house is a quaint and charming establishment, albeit very feminine. When I asked a Victorian-apron clad waitress where the bathrooms were, I was directed to two rooms both labeled, “Powder Room”. In my ignorance, I asked which was the Men’s, and with friendly smirks, they told me it didn’t matter :P.

The snacks were delicious, and the tea, hot and flavorful. It reminds me of a Japanese tea house I once visited. Elliot and I were very full, especially because of the lunch we just had, so we bid his friend goodbye, and make our very last stop, the Computer History Museum. At the museum, the exhibits started with the abacus, and slowly gave way to huge mechanical and electrical contraptions. As one who studied in this field, it never amazes me to see how rapidly computers have evolved and developed. It is a constant reminder for me to keep my skills and knowledge up to date, else I risk becoming irrelevant.

It wasn’t until the modern era that the exhibits begin to pique my interest. I quickly smiled with nostalgic memories of devices from the 80’s and 90’s, as I could actually relate. For you fellow gamers out there, you’d be lying if you said that these don’t evoke fond memories:

Then my nostalgia quickly turned to shock when I saw this:Seeing that the iPod was in a museum…I then just felt old :(

As the museum exhibit came to an end, so did our roadtrip. It was now time to make the long, rainy journey back home, back to my own bed, back to family, and back to work…

Hope you enjoyed reading my debut bloggering, because sure I didn’t. Quite frankly, I’ve always disliked English classes and writing exercises…which is probably why I went into the technology field, so I can have computers do it for me. Buahahahaha.