IMPORTANT: if a reservation for you has been made at the Wooded Isle Suites then you possibly need a special appointment to get your key (more details).
The address of the department is 5734 S. University Avenue (Eckhart Hall and a part of Ryerson Hall). E.g., Drinfeld's office (Ry 360 B) and Beilinson's office (Ry 360 C) are in Ryerson Hall, and the seminar meets in room E 206 (E=Eckhart).
The Quadrangle Club (1155 E. 57th Street, 773-702-2550) is one small block away from the department.
Ramada Inn (4900 S. Lake Shore Drive, 773-288-5800) is in
about 30 minutes walk from the department, (to get to the department
from there, walk south from 50th to 57th, and then west to University
Ave.)
So if you arrive early in the day, you may wish to go straight
to the Math Dept
from the airport, and check in at Ramada later. To the best of our
knowledge,
there is a shuttle bus service from the Ramada to the University several
times a day (schedules are available at the front desk).
Information for non-US residents
First read the instructions (in particular, the list of documents you have to present and the list of Social Security Administration offices). Probably the best place to go is the SSA office on 77 W. Jackson Blvd (you can can take bus no.6 on Stony Island Ave, and on your way back you can take the same bus on Jackson Blvd and State street; you should have enough cash to pay the exact bus fare). You can download the form to fill or you can take it at the SSA office. The "mailing address" you have to indicate on the form is the address to which you want the Social Security card to be mailed. You can find out your Social Security number even before you get the card by calling 1-800-772-1213.
Possibly you will have to pay taxes to the US. You can try to figure out whether you have to do it by studying the tax treaty with your country of residence. You can find it at the IRS web site.
There are borderline cases when you think that according to the tax treaty you do not have to pay taxes but the opinion of our financial people is opposite. In this case it is impossible to persuade them, but it is usually possible to get your money back when you file your tax return. (In theory, if you are not on a tourist visa you have to file your tax return even if neither you owe the US government nor the US government owes you, and even if you don't get any salary).
If you have to pay taxes to the US you can reduce them by using two methods. First, tell the people in room E 207B that you would like to get a part of your money as reimbursement for the trip to and from US and for your buisiness-related expenses in the US rather than as salary (probably this is going to happen anyway). Second, fill the form "Annualized salary (part-year tax-withholding) request for non-resident aliens" (ask Dorothy Cook in room E 207B to give you the form; if you are unable to get it then contact Drinfeld). Filling this form does no harm, and usually it reduces your tax rate.
The tax return for 2003 should be filed in 2004 so that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) receives your papers by April 15. You can download the necessary forms and instructions from the IRS web site. At this site there is a "search engine" which enables you to find them. If you file a tax return, say, for 2003 you will probably need
and maybe also