Misericordia 5

While I was expecting to experience different cultures at Misericordia, I was not expecting them at our hostel. It's just not something I thought about. Being at the hostel was a new experience for me because of how international the culture there is. We met people from Germany, France, Australia, Minneapolis, Madison, India, and some east asian countries all in one week! You would think that all these different culture would result in a mish-mosh of distinct cultures. But in reality, it seems that because most everyone was there for the same reason the hostel itself had its own single culture. We were all there to experience Chicago/traveling in some form. So aside from most of the small talk, almost every conversation ended in what each person was doing in Chicago and how they were planning on getting around the city.

In terms of getting to know Chicago, we learned that the popular tourism points are Millennium Park, the Willis Tower (aka the Sears Tower), and the museum district. We got several tips on places to go for night life, and we actually went to an 18+ comedy show. In terms of travels, we heard about why people like to travel and what they like to do while they are traveling. In the hostel, a lot of people were there to experience the Chicago night life. This made sharing a room with 11 other girls interesting because our group was getting up at about 6 or 7 am every day while the other girls would just be getting back at 5 or 6 am. Surprisingly, there weren't any major issues regarding the opposite sleep schedules. But given that the population of people staying at the hostel was mostly college students, this emphasis on night life makes a lot of sense. Between all of us travelers though, the common denominator was our desire to experience the culture of Chicago. I think this common denominator is what helped the people at the hostel get along so well; there was a basic understanding of why each of us was there.