One writer recalls the fun of six J-1 students sharing a Chicago apartment, and what the group’s plan to return to the city 20 years later taught him about the challenges – and the importance – of maintaining friendships amid the responsibilities of midlife
“We knew return to Chicago would not happen soon; most of us needed to find jobs, some of us still lived with our parents. Meeting back there in 20 years’ time though? Definitely.” Image: Clare Meredith
I did my J-1 in Chicago at a time the Cubs were still cursed by the Billy Goat, French fries were ‘freedom fries’, Tom Brady and Kobe Bryant were the new sporting icons, and La Résistance were the WWE’s biggest villains.
I was part of the college student droves that skittle into various cities, towns and resorts across America, each summer. I travelled to Chicago alone, with ER episodes and a barely touched Lonely Planet as the height of my research. USIT Travel put a hostel-full of us up for the first night, provided an orientation, then nudged us from the nest. I was hyper-friendly, extra-outgoing and fortunate enough to find six fellow students happy enough for me to sleep on an inflatable lilo in their back hall, in exchange for a share of the rent.