Huzzah for a fun weekend with friends!

One of the things about going to Kalamazoo College is that you know all of your friends will be scattered across the globe in your third year. This is because of K's popular study abroad programs which about 80% of the students take advantage of at some point during their four years. It'll be over a year before I see many of my friends, who, as I've mentioned before, are awesome. Fortunately, I had a chance to see many of them one last time in Chicago before our big travels. Adam (my roommate of two years) and his family were kind enough to host us in their house in Wilmette, a suburb just outside Chicago. Although not all of us could make it, it was still a fun gathering.

I received this birthday gift from Adam, a touching memorial to Chairman Meow, a golden waving cat of mine who passed away in a tragic accident freshman year. Adam has video coverage of the event. 

I had a great time going to the Sushi Station, a "rotating sushi bar", where plates of sushi roll by your table on a conveyor belt and you grab plates as they go by. You pay at the end based on how many plates you grabbed and what colors they are. It was my first time trying sushi outside of the occasional california roll and I was pleasantly surprised! I also had some sake (rice wine) to go with my meal. I believe it was the first time I've ordered an alcoholic beverage at a restaurant. Special shout out goes to my friend Bo who managed to down ten plates of sushi.

The hero of the faire 

Now we'll never get to study abroad! 

The next morning brought a trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire on the Illinois/Wisconsin border, which Adam's parents graciously bought us the tickets for. At the faire, it's huzzah this and huzzah that, hence the title of the post. The faire has the immersion and fantasy of Disney World combined with some of the hocky countryness of a state fair. The fairgrounds are huge and covered with hundreds of stores that sell armor, weapons, books, music, and just about any medieval knick knack you can imagine. There are also plenty of games, rides, and events sprinkled around the area. We had a good time watching an entertaining minstrel and listening to a few bawdy tunes. There was one station called "vegetable justice", where a man caught in stockades insulted passing visitors who could then purchase tomatoes to chuck at him. The insult comic was pretty good at pushing peoples' buttons. My favorite activity of all was the jousts. At the very end of the fairground lies a large jousting court with wooden stands set up along the sides. Much like a real 16th century joust, the crowd spilled out of the stands, so we watched in a large crowd surrounded by dirt, dust, and cheers. The actual joust was quite exciting. I can't be 100% sure, but I think the competition was authentic. There were some satisfying views of riders getting knocked flat onto the dirt by a well placed lance, and one round that featured quite a few broken lances and shattered shields (which means a mighty good joust, or so I'm assured by Game of Thrones). Unfortunately, we ran out of energy before the 5:00 joust to the death, which I didn't know was the kind of thing you could just schedule. That night, Adam's parents treated us to some classic Chicago deep dish pizza, a prerequisite to any visit to the area.

Heading to the faire for a good olde time 

It was a highly successful trip! The group that made it included people who will be studying in the UK, Germany, Spain, three different sites in Japan, and Kalamazoo. I'm sure we'll all come back senior year with fascinating stories to tell.

The gang