A Great Year for the Global VIllage

Hey Global Villagers!

May is upon us, meaning that our year has come to a close. We have had some amazing adventures this year! 

Our group at the Bean

On April 12, a group of Villagers and other LLC members boarded a bus to go to Chicago and explore the city. 

Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium, where we saw jellyfish, otters, dolphins, and (my personal favorite) beluga whales!

Villager Brandi at the Shedd

We stopped H-Mart, a Korean and Japanese super center. We each bought some tasty goodies and shared them on the way back downtown. From aloe water and seaweed chips, to chocolate Cheetos and Lottepies, we were able to experience a lot of new foods! One of the LLC stakeholders, the lovely Dina Wolf, was able to share some of her favorite recipes and food from when she lived in South Korea with us. 

RA Mercedes' goodies from H-Mart

We went to Millennium Park next, and took about a million photos with the bean. We crowned Alex the selfie king as he spelled UWM with our hand's reflections. 

Writing "UWM" at the Bean (photo credit: Alex Thompson)

We walked and ate deep dish pizza in the heart of the city, and explored Michigan Avenue before we loaded up the bus to come back home. Although we were exhausted, when we returned we all watched Finding Nemo in our kitchen lounge, and polished off the rest of our treats from H-Mart. 

It was a fantastic way to close out the year. RA Anna and I both thank you so much for sharing your Saturday with us, and for being the wonderful residents and people that you are. If you'd like to see or post more photos, use the hashtag #UWMLLC so we can find each other. 

I've truly enjoyed the last year I've spent with you all. We have had so many great times and made so many memories. I could not have picked a more fun group of residents to spend the year with. 

We wish RA Anna buckets and buckets of luck as she heads off to New York to work with the UN for the summer, and then heads to South Korea for the 2014-2015 school year. Global Villager Rachel will be in the UK next school year, literally living in Herstmonceux Castle. Danny, a villager who was living with us fall semester, will return from his internship in Argentina and he promises to visit. A group of Villagers will all be living in a house together next year, and they're already planning to cook plenty of delicious foods from around the world. 

While I am sad to see all of you leave, I'm also extremely excited to see what comes next. I will be joined by RA Caitlyn next year, and we have BIG plans for the new villagers. 

Your journey doesn't end when you leave the village. Keep exploring, keep learning, and keep in touch. 


--RA Mercedes