Interview Trail Stop #4a: Chicago, Illinois

Oh Hail, the Mighty Giant Reflective Prostate
Originally uploaded by ironchefmike.

My visit to Chicago was very pleasant. When I walked out of my first interview, it was raining quite hard, and I thought I would be confined to my hotel room. Luckily the weather cleared, and it turned out to be a beautiful day in Chicago. I had time to wander a little around the Millennium Park area. To the right you can see the Cloud Gate, a mirror statue placed on the edge of the park. Personally, I think it more resembles a prostate gland, and you can see a group of would-be urologists underneath the statue checking for giant nodules.

I also walked by Lake Michigan, however I was driven off by a gaggle of Canadian geese, who were apparently having a 'Who can take the biggest crap on the sidewalk' contest.

I tried to get a photo of the Chicago skyline, but failed because of shaky hands and fading camera batteries. I can't prove it, but Chicago has a fairly nice skyline, second only to Philadelphia's on my interview trail so far (I'm excluding Pittsburgh's skyline from this 'contest' to avoid questions of favoritism). I loved walking around downtown - Chicago has all the culture of a big city, but without the Type A tension of Boston or New York.

I'm desperately trying not to fall in love with a particular city or residency program so to avoid too much disappointment when Match time comes around. So, the only levels of criteria that exist on my evaluation scale now are:

1. I could live there.
2. I could live there only if someone were to hold a gun to my head.

Chicago is in the first category.