Its not been the most exciting week in the world, as I have had lots of basic things to do such as opening bank accounts, buying everything I need for my room, buying books for class and stuff like that. But I have also managed to walk down Michigan Avenue, the main shopping street, also known as the magnificent Mile because it is a mile of fantastic shops.

In fact shopping seems to have been the theme of our week!! We live so close to the shops, and we all brought so few clothes that our wardrobes have required updating. The other advantage is that clothes and shoes are more easily found in larger sizes so I am having a fabulous time with lots of choices, which is a novelty for me!!

On Wednesdays and Saturdays Navy pier has fireworks in the evenings and on Wednesday we left the apartment to late and only made it to the waterfront to see the fireworks, but last night we made it to the pier itself and were able to see them properly. Navy pier also has a lot of restaurants, bars, shops and rides and we rode the ferris wheel, which was amazing, as we could see all the city lit up.

We have also had orientation this week and have found where are lectures are being held, worked out how our visas work, and learned lots about the types of people who make it to law school. Some of the people going into 1st year have already had very impressive lives by the time they reach the age of 23/24 and it is going to be very interesting meeting and getting to know these people.

Sadly as classes start tomorrow we have had to knuckle down and get working. We are expected to prepare for every class with some form of reading, which is very different from the UCD lectures.

I did however decide that as today was Sunday, and also the sun was splitting the skies, I would take the morning and afternoon off. I went to church which was very different from home, very American, with people chipping in prayers etc, and then I went for a picnic in the park with a different church that one of the girls down the hall is going to. It was very good fun, with lots of free food!! Aoife and I then decided to spend the afternoon at the beach, enjoying the sunshine. The beach was fabulous as it Is right in the heart of the city, just a few blocks from the shops. We are hoping we have gotten a little colour to make us stand out a little less!!