Chicago: Around town

I’m ready to move to Chicago now.

So we cheated a bit and went straight to Chicago the first weekend we came to Detroit. We had plans to meet our friends and also wanted to head out as soon as possible. It took four hours, one fuel stop and 20 second gaps between the like 20 radio stations. I’ve been to Chicago before when I was really young, so didn’t remember a whole lot with the exception of deep dish pizza, which turned out to be a good thing for both of us.

미국에 온 첫 주말은 짐 정리에 바빴고 두번째 공식 주말은 시카고행. 디트로이트도 제대로 구경 못했지만 일단 시카고로 출발했다. 어릴때 갔었지만 기억이 거의 나지 않은 관계로 나와 G에게는 첫 방문이나 마찬가지. 디트로이트에서 시카고까지는 4시간정도의 거리. 딱 한번의 주유와 20초에 한번씩 라디오를 바꿔가며 도착.

If there’s one thing I would recommend if you have absolutely no time and have to choose one thing to do: do the architecture boat tours. There is the official one run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, which we hopped on, but it didn’t seem that theirs was the only necessary one. The foundation also hosts other types of tours, including the one with the cruise or bus, or tours about the Loop, old and new architecture and more cultural themes ones. But then just walking around downtown is an architectural eye-opener. The sliding doors. The lights. The doors. The entrances. The lake.

건축의 도시 시카고. 가장 먼저 예약한 건축 크루즈 투어. 시카고 건축 협회에서 공식적으로 운영하는 투어도 있지만 솔직히 다른 투어들도 훌륭해보였다. 크루즈 투어말고도 자전거, 버스 등 다양한 투어들이 있지만 좀 더 느긋하고 게으른 투어를 원한다면 크루즈투어 + 와인 한잔 + 도시 구석 구석을 구경하는 투어 추천.

I can only assume the advertisement was made with the Victoria’s Secret Angels in mind. I guess not against the models per se, but the company’s overall “angels equals pretty, skinny models” marketing deal. And the ad did manage to make a point. Because in the end it’s true Victoria’s Secret redefined the term “angel” into the tall, skinny models we know of, whether that was their intention or not.

And then I had to search for a documentary or article about the lives and works of plus size models. Found one. #Imnoangel, you go girls.

빅토리아 시크릿의 엔젤들에 대항한 또다른 속옷업체의 광고. “난 천사가 아니예요”라는 뜻의 해시태그지만 제대로 해석하자면 #엔젤은무슨 정도. 늘씬하고 마르고 키 큰 모델들만 내세우는 브랜드들에 대항. 하지만 결국은 늘씬하고 예쁜 모델들을 좋아하는 우리 소비자들의 문제이자 또 그런 우리를 겨냥한 브랜드들의 문제. 서울 성형외과 거리에서 이런 비슷한 광고를 내보낸다면 어떤 반응이 일어날까 은근히 궁금해짐.

The bean. Actually the official name of the bean is Cloud Gate and it was designed by Anish Kapoor in 2006. The artwork won a contest for the Millennium Park, while fellow artists like Jeff Koons also submitted a proposal. Koons’ idea was a 46 meter high sculpture of a playground slide which would be accessible to the top via an elevator. As much as I like the idea of a huge slide, it would have been a bit of a pain to wait so long to go up. Besides, there’s already a lot of waiting happening within the city, including the Skydeck and Modern Art Institute of Chicago.

Apparently, according to an interview, Kapoor thought the nickname the Bean was “completely stupid.”

시카고의 명물 콩. 사실 클라우드 게이트라는 공식적인 이름이 있지만 콩처럼 생겨서 콩이라는 별명이 붙여진 작품. 아니쉬 카푸어라는 조각가가 만든 작품으로 밀레니엄 공원에 설치할 작품을 선정하는 대회에서 1등을 차지했다. 이 작품말고도 전세계적으로, 특히 뉴욕과 파리, 유명세를 타고 있는 제프 쿤스의 작품도 있었는데 결국에는 콩이 1등을 차지. (쿤스는 거대한 미끄럼틀을 제시했지만 결국은 콩이 승리) 흥미롭게도 콩이라는 별명에 대해 카푸어는 “완전히 바보같은 별명”이라고 비판했다고.

A quick lunch idea would also be to buy deep dish pizza or hot dogs for take out and eat in the park. And eat while watching everyone take photo of themselves, their friends, the bean, themselves with the bean and architecture. Considering that you may have to wait for a seat at popular restaurants, this may have been a better idea. Minus the pigeons, maybe.

As much as I wasn’t sure what to expect, I had to try the deep dish pizza with the Italian. I was just too curious to know what he thought. So we went to one of the most famous, note that it’s not the best, but one of the most famous, Giordano’s. The first couple pf bites were actually really good, but I think this was because we were hungry, and then came the next two slices and we were, well, very full. The verdict was “it was not bad. But not good. I don’t think I have to try it again. Ever.”

And according to historians, there really isn’t a confirmed origin of the deep dish pizza.

시카고의 유명한 딥 디쉬 피자. 개인적으로 좋아하진 않지만 솔직히 G의 반응이 궁금해서 결국 먹으러 갔다. 6조각짜리 피자를 주문, 둘다 세조각씩 먹기로 했는데 첫 조각은 둘 다 놀라울 정도로 맛있게 먹었는데 두번째 조각부터 약간 부담스러워지기 시작. G의 반응은 “나쁘진 않았어. 그다지 좋지도 않았지만. 다시는 안먹어도 될 것 같긴하다.”