Many of you have commented on how I should be a writer; that I have a natural flow of my words and my description of details. And I want you to know it's something I've always loved - the expression of self through words. (And it's even more intense when I get to express words through music). But I can't just always spit these words out at the drop of a hat. Some days it's fueled by the emotions I'm feeling, and other days the emotions are too intense to translate into words until I can fully wrap my head around them. Some days, someone, or somewhere, or something just plain inspires me and I feel this rush of words pouring out of my soul and into my brain for translating, while other days things may just feel so common and ordinary that there's no true emotion behind the words. So while it's been almost an entire week since my last update, I really haven't been inspired to "put the pen to the paper" until tonight, and there's nothing worse to me than reading something I wrote (see my post on my first day in LA) that I don't feel the emotions all over again when I'm rereading it. Bland, feelingless, forced writing is so boring and is almost a waste of effort in my eyes.
So, now that I've got that little prose-jaunt out of my system... :)
I've gone through such a range of emotion just the past 24 hours alone that I'm just kinda mellow right now. Not sad, but not like last night crazy happy either. I'm in this in-between stage where I don't know what's going on and it's driving me crazy. I know it's only been a week and things don't have to move at warp speed but like, ugh, I hate the question marks. I just wish I knew so I could get on with things and not be thinking about it. I didn't expect for this to happen in a million years, really seriously. It caught me be suprise and now I feel like I'm awkwardly navigating instead of being fully prepared. Ughhhh I need to stop this line of talking now. Lol. I told myself I wasn't going to do this on here, but sitting out in the heart of this completely gorgeous campus this evening after taking a walk with some awesome girls I've met and decidedly coming to the conclusion that I need to let things be for the evening and see what tomorrow brings is serving to be harder than I expected when all I can think about is that one thing. Okay. seriously. i'm going to shut up now and let you all draw your own conclusions because I really did promise myself I wasn't going to do this on here...it's just hard to focus on typing about something else when you're mind isn't fully in it.
Katie Glynn, i really hope you read this blog because you're the only one who is going to understand this next sentence and I'm putting it on here especially for you because I thought of you today when it popped into my head: I'm twitterpated.
Okay. I'm going to try and do this....focus on all the other experiences I've had...
Last Tuesday was my first day of my internship at Solters&Digney PR. I woke up super early (645) and still got there only 3 minutes early (927!) I don't know why it took extra long that first morning because ever since then I've been completely fine waking up at that same time and getting there at normally around 911, so I have time to grab coffee or something if I need it. Otherwise I'll read a few pages of my book until about 925ish.
Anyway, so I totally dress up, because it's my first day of work, and that's what you do, right? I'm in this way cute creme skirt with brown polka dots and green trim with a creme cami under a brown short sleeved jacket with brown open-toed heels that I carried in my purse and wore flip flops until I got to the office and changed into the heels. So, like uber cute, uber dressy-totally professional....for only the East coast apparently! I walk into the office and the first guy I see is in jeans, the second guy I see is in jeans and a button down denim shirt and (he's not gay, which makes this next part baffling to me...) ugg boots, and the third guy I meet, who happens to be the President of the freaking company, is in jeans and a tshirt. Ooooookay, memo to Stephanie, we're not in Michigan anymore! It just seemed weird to me. Anywho, so that was my first thought. My next thought was, oh my God this office is A)incredibly small, B)incredibly cluttered(even for me), C)composed of 3 middle-aged men and I'm the only female...what the f*** did I get myself into?! (hey I'm being honest, that's really what I thought.) I immediately felt like I needed to look down and make sure my shirt was adequately covering everything, and not because they all looked or anything because they didn't, but just because I was instantly uncomfortable. I slightly panicked. But i had to make sure to pull myeslf together because I was meeting the President and then I started telling myself that many other interns have come through here with the University of Dreams program (Bryce said he's been working with them for about 4 years now) and I don't think they'd put me in a shady position. But I still made a mental note to keep my wits about me.
So anyway, Rene -the guy I technically had my interview with, but is apparently the lowest man on the totem pole in the office - shows me around (as best as we could move) the tiny place and I'm already starting to feel clausterphobic. But we get to the last office and it's nice and big and clean and has pictures on the wall and it immediately calms me down. And Rene says "This was Mr. Solters' office" (Lee Solters ran the company all the way back to the Sinatra (yes, Frank Sinatra was one of his clients) days and is the owner; Jerry Digney signed on and eventually became partner and took over the role of president as Lee began to age more and more). And thankfully I was too like in my head to respond to the "was" because he goes on to say, "I'm sure you've heard that he passed away about 4 weeks ago." And unfortunately I didn't have enough wits about me at the moment to say, "oh yeah" and instead I stupidly say "no" and then I realize it makes me sound like I did no research whatsoever into the company I was working for when in reality I did....I just did it in May while the owner was still alive! So anyway, the poor guy was 90 years old and Hollywood PR/publicity legend...he has a huge list of clients ranging from Sinatra to Barbera Striesand to Led Zeppelin to Bob Newhart to (I'll say more about this later...) Michael Jackson. I am so sad that I never had the chance to meet him, to work with him, and most importantly to learn from him, but on the bright side of things I feel lucky to be able to put on a resume that I worked for a company that bears his name and legacy.
So anyway, one of the publicists was on his way to a meeting with a client and he said to the others if they didn't have anything prepared for me to work on yet what a great experience this would be for me, especially on my first day. So the other two are like yeah, go ahead so before I know it, I'm getting in a car with this middle-aged man I just met and it goes against everything ingrained in my system from growing up - Don't get into cars with strangers, don't let yourself be alone with a man you don't really know, etc. So my brain is on high alert, and I'm sure he could probably tell because I sat so stiff and kept my purse clutched to my body like a lifeline in a position ready to bolt if I needed. But I still remained cordial and conversed about home and being in California for the first time and schooling and things like that. Lol and I remember driving on the highway and you could see these really big, rocky hills and I said before I could stop it from coming out of my mouth: "Are those, like, mountains?" and then realized how stupid,blonde, valley-girlish I must've sounded and sort of chuckled and said "Please excuse me, you gotta remember this is my first time to California and I wasn't sure if there were mountains out here or not." and he kind of laughed and said yeah that they were mountains and then explained the haze around them and I really didn't fully hear him because when he gets talking about a topic, he goes on forever and will repeat the same point multiple times and you're just kind of like oh my gosh this is painful we can move on now kthanks.
So we arrive at this place called Americana something or other and basically it's an outdoor mall and it's so so so so cool. Store entrances are all from the outside, but it's not like a strip mall, it's like a circle and the roof of the mall has been cut out. And they have some mighty "posh" (haha i love that word now thanks to my new friend here from England!) stores. We were meeting the client at the Barnes and Noble so we went in and we were kind of early so we kind of looked around for awhile and he seemed amused that I was so enthralled in all these different kinds of books. I smiled and told him I'm a closet nerd and only priveleged people in my life know it about me.
So background on the client. Our firm represents Pat Boone's (who, I hate to admit, I didn't know until they told me he was like almost bigger than Elvis in his day) Record Label.
We were meeting with a band on his label (who I also didn't know until it was explained to me) who is unveiling their 40th anniversary CD in July called ShaNaNa. For those of you from my generation who have no clue who they are either like I did, they played at Woodstock in 1969;their set was right before Jimi Hendrix. After Woodstock they played the band "Johnny and The Gamblers" in the movie "Grease" (think of the school dance scene...that's them!). Not only did they make that appearance in that movie, but 6 of their songs they performed were in the movie and on the soundtrack, and their keyboardist wrote the song "Sandy" for John Travolta. After "Grease" they had a hit TV variety show for 3 years called "The ShaNaNa's" and then kind of disappeared off the TV screen but continued all the way until now to record and release albums. So, although they may not be the most recognizable name to my generation, they are definately a huge part of rock n' roll history.
So we were meeting with the drummer from the band, Jocko, a representative from Pat Boone's label, and the Barnes and Noble events planner and store manager. I felt like, big time lol. We met on the third floor a the coffee shop and everyone stood up and shook each other's hands and Jerry Brown (the guy I was with) introduced me as their new intern and it was my first day and everyone was really nice about that asking if I'd been to California before and yada yada.
So they start talking about arrangements they have obviously already talked about concerning stage settings and media rules and CD sales and photo ops and etc. and I'm just taking it all in. See on July 16 in the evening, ShaNaNa is going to put on a free half hour concert as a sampling of the music you'll hear on their 40th anniversary CD in Barnes & Noble and also do a CD signing and meet and greet with fans plus they're doing a costume contest - best ShaNaNa inspired costume (think Greasers) wins a free Strata guitar from Guitar Center. Pretty cool stuff, so I got to learn all the logistics of an event like that so that was pretty cool. I stayed pretty quiet during that meeting and at the end we all stood up and shook hands and quickly looked at the area where this will be happening and then Jocko, the Pat Boone guy, Jerry and I left. We went outside and Jocko wanted to talk more about another event they are playing for, this time a full concert for free for a classic car show, 2 days after the Barnes & Noble event. So I sit down for coffee (actually I got lemonade, but everyone else got coffee lol) and Jerry and the Pat Boone guy who's name is Dana went to go wait at the counter for our order and talk more business while I sat with Jocko. He and I started talking about lots of things - he was asking me where I was from and what I wanted to do after I graduated and all this stuff and I asked him about his band days and what it was like being at Woodstock and on the set of "Grease" then all of a sudden this big band jazzy tune came on the loudspeakers and he was like, turn around, this is so cool, so i did and they had the fountains timed to the music so it was like a cool water show and then Jocko starts singing the song to me! And finally the serious enormity of the siutation hit me - a famous rock 'n roll drummer is sitting here conversing with me about my life and is singing to me. Like, seriously, how many people can say that? I mean, this guy is in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, and I'm, ya know, just plain old me. And he seems to really be having a good time just conversing with me.
So eventually Jerry and Dana come back and they sit and talk business for awhile. I'm not going to say much on this because it'll probably violate company confidentiality and blah blah blah but just let me say, I got my first lesson in the politics that are involved in the entertainment industry (and, i'm sure, in any business industry). Jocko even turned to me at one point and said "You're learning a lot today, huh kid? It's all about politics!"
Then, Jocko brings up Twitter, and immediately I feel like I have a comfortable hold on the conversation. This is totally my area of expertise, right? Like, I seriously could probably be certified as a professional tweeter or whatever. So Jocko tries to explain how he just created a twitter and is trying to drop hints about the new CD and the events coming up and all and he's just failing to explain it in anyway understanable so I politely interrupt and say "Jocko, I use twitter everyday, can I try to explain?" and he gladly lets me take over and so all of a sudden, the focus is completely on me. These guys are all asking me questions about how it works and the technical names and I'm like, wow, I never realized how much my knowledge of this social tool could help me out. So, since I'm feeling confident now, I take the opportunity to launch into a explanation why I think it is becoming a great publicity tool and a way to connect with a younger generation and the place it could have in the future of PR and blah blah blah and these guys, these industry professionals, are hanging on my every word. And just like that I've apparently created a respect for my ideas because the Dana guy from the record label starts asking me my opinion on everything from the best advertising avenues to reach the demographic ShaNaNa would most resonate with to how to draw in other demographics and how hard to hit them and how we could incorporate social networking sites, such as Twitter, to possibly reach them and just on and on. I kept glancing every now and then at Jerry Brown, hoping I wasn't overstepping my boundaries or anything, and I made sure at one point to say "Remember though it's only my first day so I don't fully understand the logistics of a budget for something like this and what is already planned, but this is what my opinion would be based on what I've learned in my classes" so as to not like, I don't know, like I said, basically overstep my boundaries on my first day. And i'm glad I said that because a few sentences later I remember Jocko saying "Well Jerry, she says she's only here for 8 weeks, but I really think she's gunning for your job!" and Dana agreed and said "she's learned about the politics, now she's just gotta pull the rug out" and I could feel myself blush and I said I would never do that and Jocko said "Not until you're fighting to get paid." and then we kind of changed the subject again. But it was so cool. Because I totally felt like for those few minutes that I belonged in that conversation; that my education thus far put me on this correct track and my brain took off and took that guidance and blossomed it into a full fledged idea for a real client on the spot.
Then things started winding down and everyone needed to head back to the office. But before everyone could get up Jocko said, "well, we gotta do something for Stephanie here" and pulled out a black and white 8x10 from a manilla folder of ShaNaNa and a pen and signed it "Love to Steph - Jocko & ShaNaNa" and I was like, omigosh this is sooooooooo cool in my head. And then Dana pulled out a copy of the CD that's unreleased as of right now and said, "here, do you have one of these yet?" and kind of smiled and now I have a copy of the collector's edition of the 40th anniversary ShaNaNa CD 3 weeks before it's release date! (that I haven't even been able to listen to because my new laptop doesn't have a CD drive,ugh!)
Then we all stood up and shook hands and Dana asked me, "So, while you're here, are you only working exclusively with Solters & Digney?" and I was trying to understand what he was getting at so I was like, "yeah, it's what the program I'm participating in arranged." and he said, "Because if I were hiring at all right now, it would be someone from your generation with the newer ideas and technology knowledge you have." then proceeded to take out his business card and give it to me and shook my hand again and then said goodbye. I kind of stood stunned for a minute. Like, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that. My first day there and did I kind of get courted by a different company already? It blows my mind. All because of Twitter. See, mom, I'm not really wasting my time after all. :-P
The rest of the day was pretty blah. Went back to the office, grabbed lunch, and sat and hand-recorded Mr. Digney's phone messages until my hand went numb from the combination of writing so much and the air conditioning blasting in the conference room they temporarily put me in.
So, all in all my first day was pretty pretty cool.
Oh, and by the end of the day I felt totally comfortable with all the guys. I mean, I'll still always be on alert just because that's natural in that situation, but I didn't start imagining they had ill-intentions anymore.
And that night we had our first weekly seminar. It wasn't the best seminar in the world, but it was a good starter seminar, which is what I think they were going for with the whole first week vibe. It was this guy who is somehow linked with the University of Dreams program (we all got a $26 copy of his hardcover book for free at move-in!) who ran a 150 super-marathon in the Sahara Desert over 6 days. It sounds like the craziest thing in the world, seriously. But basically his point was that he dreamed of that achievement, and he set his mind to it (albeit later than he would have liked) and completed his goal and made his dream come true. So whatever we dream, especially for our experiences this summer, we can all make happen if we set our minds to it and make the most of the tools given to us. And get it, participants of this program are called "Dreamers"? It all came full circle. Like I said, not the best seminar I've ever been to, but a good opener all the same.
My second day, which for those keeping track was Wednesday, was pretty much the same boring intern stuff from the second part of the first day. Which I think is what most people actually went through on their first day but I just got lucky and had a cool first day. Ya know, recording messages, typing spreadsheets, researching press clippings. In fact, after Tuesday, I felt so trapped from being in the office (did I mention we're on the 11th floor?) all day that I was thisclose to breaking down on the bus on the way home. I kept thinking "this isn't what I want for the rest of my life. I can't be trapped in an office." Then I went into the grocery store and a song that unfortunately contains many memories concerning a certain someone came on and that really did make me lose it. I called my mom crying freaking out. (Those damn hormones). But eventually settled down and really, that was it.
Okay, I need to be done for now. It's way later than I would have liked to be going to bed and I have to be up earlier than normal tomorrow. Why? you ask? You'll have to wait until later to find out :)
And yay I stopped thinking about things while I wrote that.
Until now, dammit.
Goodnight all <3
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
"Our dreams assured and we all will sleep well..."
I can't stop smiling right now, and I love it.
I'm going to go to bed with a smile on my face for the first time in I don't even know how long. I feel great about everything. I can't even believe this entire trip...this entire experience... is happening to me.
I know I have loads to update, but for now, I'm going to bask in this feeling.
(I promise I won't make you wait much longer!!!)
And I just wanted to share with you all my moment of extreme happiness, because I know you all have dealt with my sorrows many a time.
:-D I'm absolutely loving this.
I'm going to go to bed with a smile on my face for the first time in I don't even know how long. I feel great about everything. I can't even believe this entire trip...this entire experience... is happening to me.
I know I have loads to update, but for now, I'm going to bask in this feeling.
(I promise I won't make you wait much longer!!!)
And I just wanted to share with you all my moment of extreme happiness, because I know you all have dealt with my sorrows many a time.
:-D I'm absolutely loving this.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Day 2 -UCLA Campus Tour/Orientation, Work practice run, & Transformers 2 Premiere.
I feel like such a lame ass. A bunch of people went out, including my 2 roomies over 21, to the bar a little while ago, but I chose to stay here. I just can't do it at this point...my body is still not adjusted to the time change (I started yawning leaving work at 6pm and I realized it was because it was nearly 9pm at home) and I have to wake up super early to get ready and catch public transportation (which takes nearly an hour to get me to work). As much as I'd love to further my social experiences here right now, it would just not be a smart decision. Which makes me look like a loner, but whatev.
Plus, though I am an incredibly social person, I still always have and always will like my alone time. Especially since I've grown accostomed to it this past summer having virtually no social life. So even though my other roommate is home right now (the under 21er), I spent a couple minutes in the living area with her and now I'm in my room with the door shut and the light off taking advantage of my actual roommate who sleeps in here being out. It's so weird, when I want to be social, it seems no one else does and I have to settle on being alone. And then when I want alone time, everyone else is going out and having fun. Ugh. I have such a complicated psyche.
But seriously? The second day of our internships are tomorrow (first day for my roommate, she didn't start today!) and you're out. at the bar. drinking. I just can't comprehend it. Not saying it wouldn't be fun, but again. Logic tells you otherwise in this situation.
So anyways.
I think this is going to be a longer one. Because I made the realization today that I need to stop blogging a day behind because then it looses the flair of the actual feelings I had and I'm actually a hyped up about something else.
So yesterday morning we met at 10am for a campus tour. Which some people skipped and others didn't take seriously, which kind of annoyed me...I want to have my bearings on this campus while I'm here thank you very much. It was hard enough to hear the tiny voice speaking let alone over others rudely talking. Alas we didn't get a tour of the entire campus (which is huge), like we didn't go over by the academic buildings much, but what we did get to see was absolutely gorgeous. Especially over near the center of campus...like holy crap my jaw literally dropped when we turned this one corner and the view was just spectacular. You can definately tell it's an older campus, but it has just enough updated flair to not make it feel ancient. And the flowers were absolutely everywhere, which just enhanced the view more. So i found out where all 3 dining halls we can eat at are, where the tennis courts Andy Roddick sometimes practices at are, where the track where Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel have often been spotted walking early in the morning (I'm going to have to wake up super early one day to see it for myself), the main campus store and student center (like Kirkhof I guess, but I haven't been inside yet), and where the gym is. (The hike to the gym, however, is a workout in and of itself since it's quite far from my actual residence hall and as I previously stated, the entire campus is built on steep hills. So you're either going up/down a massive hill, or up/down a large staircase.) We took our big "Dreamers" (that's what we are referred to as and how we refer to our group in conversation) picture, and headed back to Covel Hall for orientation.
Orientation was kind of boring. Minus getting to look at Bryce and his fine physique. Basically it was all the information they gave us in the folders they put together for us when we first arrived on Sunday. I don't think I mentioned them in a previous post, but I'm actual quite impressed by the little packets. Not to mention our participant advisor, Anglea. Check-in on Sunday you had to walk up to the table and get your folder with your info and blah blah blah. This other guy and I walked up to the table and Angela looked straight at me and said, "Stephanie...Plona?" and I looked down to make sure I wasn't wearing a nametag or a sweatshirt with my name on it and I wasn't. I looked back up and I was like, "wow, I'm impressed." She had studied all our facebook pictures and names and internships prior to us arriving so we didn't feel like we were going into a cold, uncaring enviornment. How classy and dedicated, if you ask me! Anyway, so back to the folders. In the folders on the right side is basic UCLA/University of Dreams info, rules, phone numbers, schedule for the first few days, etc. Below it is a slot. If there was a card in the slot, you were taking the bus to work (as I am.) If it was baby blue, you took the metro (as I do). If it was royal blue, you took the big blue bus. On the left side of the folder was your internship information, and detailed instructions how to get to and from your internship on the bus system. So in other words, UofD employees mapped out the best bus route (for those who could get to work on bus routes. some have to be driven in uofdreams vans) for each and every dreamer to get to work and then typed them all up and personalized them. It was pretty impressive. So yeah, he went over the folders, and went over transportation stuff. People who were going in vans found out what van they were in and what time it left and they were set free for the day, while us on buses had more detailed instructions. A special shuttle picks us up from the dorms every morning and takes us down into Westwood (the area of LA closest to UCLA...within walking distance, but I don't think they wanted to make us walk in work clothes down that massive hill at awful hours of the morning) where you get off at one of 2 stops, depending on which bus you're taking. From there you pick up your bus and go. So they wanted us bus riders to do practice runs so we didn't get lost or anything today. (And suprise suprise, those who skipped out on mapping their routes to work this morning all encountered problems. One kid even found out his business had moved buildings within the last few weeks and had to take a taxi cab to the new place!) So after orientation I came back to my room and changed into a sundress for 2 reasons. 1)I was going to wander around Hollywood for pete's sake! and 2)Everyone was going to the "Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen" premiere later and I wasn't sure if I would make it back in time to change and get a prissy. (I wore my purple sundress and black flip flops for your reference, mom.) Then I went and caught the makeshift shuttles for the day and headed off on my merry way.
P.S. Have I mentioned how GORGEOUS Greek Row is here? They have so many fraternities and sororites, and all their houses are to die for! The weird thing is is that fraternity row is just off campus...every time I walk to and from some parts of Westwood I see all their houses. But sorority row is settled further off campus and the first time I saw it was on my bus ride to work. Some of the frat houses are actually bigger than the sorority houses, but they are all so so so nice. I'm way jealous. If they had a Phi Sig I'd be all over spending time at their place!
So anyway. My commute to work takes place almost entirely on Sunset Blvd. So every day I pass Bel-Air, Beverly Hills (yes, I freaked out when I saw that iconic little brown sign with yellow piping that reads "Beverly Hills"), plenty of gated mansions (I really would like to figure out if/what stars live in them...), The Beverly Hills Hotel, lots of iconic places in West LA and West Hollywood such as The Roxy and The House of Blues, One Nightclub (where many DWTS people hang out), and more. My mouth literally dropped open when I saw all these places. Seriously, every day i go to work I see all these places. And get this, my bus stop is at Sunset and Vine. Then a walk down a mile - ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME (everyday on my walk to work I walk over Shirley Temple, Janet Jackson, and my most exciting one Martin Sheen's stars!)-to the legendary intersection of Hollywood&Vine, where I work in one of the most historic buildings in Hollywood history, the Taft Building.
So i'm like freaking out about all this, right? So exciting. Here comes the really weird part - walking around in a foreign city (foreign as in I'd never been there before) really didn't faze me at all. I really hardly noticed I was alone...I didn't feel like I needed anyone there to hold my hand. I really just wished I was walking with someone so I could gush that I was on Martin Sheen's star and that was about it. I wandered up Hollywood about a block and found myself a Pinkberry (I see lots of celebs tweeting about this place and how much they love it) and decided to try it for myself....ugh their pomegranate soft serve is HEAVEN! And then wandered back to the bus stop and hopped back on the Metro 2 to head back towards LA.
This other girl who is on a smiliar route as mine was on her way back at the same time so it was nice to know when I got off the bus I wasn't going to be alone because I wasn't sure if we were getting picked back up from practice runs (we get picked up after work for sure everyday though) or if we were supposed to walk back or if they assumed we were all just headed to the premiere (which was at the legendary theatre in Westwood which i can't remember the name of now....Fox maybe...) or what. So I called when we got off the bus and they said yeah they just assumed everyone was heading to the premiere but they could come get us if we wanted but I said nah no big deal I'm cool staying down here.
And good thing I said that because we wouldn't have even been able to see anything! As it was we had a very obscure view and probably the furthest out of any of the spectators. Not to mention a helluva time getting through the security guy. Everything was blocked off,sidewalks and all, around the theatre and where they had everything set up. The whole block inbetween the theatre and another street was used because they set up Optimus Prime (he's the truck, right? if not, they had the real truck there) and the real car they used as Bumblebee there. It was absolute madness. The only way we could see half of anything was to sneak in Starbuck's back door and order a drink so the security guy let us out on their patio which is right next to the theatre's entrance. Unfortunately, most of the star's exited their limos and such on the other side of the main road from where we were, but we got to see them for like 2.5 seconds as they rushed inside the theatre. It was madness. And they give spectators free tickets to the premiere because PR people don't want empty seats,so they hand out free fillers. And they only handed out 6 where we were standing the entire night (who all happened to be lucky dreamers!), whereas across the street, though it was further away from the red carpet, was getting ticket after ticket after ticket (some of the uofdreams staff got in from being over there!)
But, quite honestly, I didn't really care as much about seeing this particular movie as I would about some of the others that are premiering this summer. Plus, if I wasn't in the area that I was, I wouldn't have seen Shawn Johnson get out of her car right in front of us and wave at me when I (and a few others, it wasn't just me thank you very much) yelled her name out! That was way exciting for me per my DWTS obsession! Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of her - you can't see her face in either of them - but I'm sure I'll spot her at more events this summer...she seems to be going to a lot of them lately. And the whole yelling thing? Yeah the "seasoned veterans" who were there explained to us that a lot of stars aren't likely to come over and pose for pics, sign autographs, or even look your way at premieres unless you're making the most noise yelling their name out. So it was a necessary measure.
Other celebs I saw - some I got pics of, some I didn't thanks to my location - Shia LeBoeuf and Megan Fox (obviously as it was their premiere!), Josh Duhmel, Vanessa Minillo (she actually was wayyyy close to us!), Nick T. (I can't remember his last name but he was in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"), Jon Voight (actor and Angelina Jolie's dad!), Lala Vazquez (from MTV), Kristin Cavalleri (from "Laguna Beach" and "'The Hills"), and Ciara from a distance. I also heard Reggie Bush, Linkin Park, and Kim Kardashian were there, but I didn't get to see them.
Oh, and they had some guy dressed up in a lifesize transformed Bumblebee suit walking around and that was pretty cool to see.
All in all, it was a fun premiere and now that I know the ropes, I will know how to play it just right next time to get into the movies I want. Not to mention to get there super early to get good positioning to see my fave celebs.
After the premiere, we all headed back to campus and grabbed a last minute dinner at Covel Hall, which is the only hall open til 9 for dinner. Basically, it's the same exact concept as Fresh Food Co. at GVSU, so unfortunately for me not a ton of G-Free options, but there's always salad and there's always the option if I want to risk cross contamination of taking meats off of buns/sandwich breads/etc. And they had just plain rice you could add steamed veggies on top of so that worked out for me...salad, rice, and steamed veggies. No protein other than the boiled egg I had with my salad, but it worked at 9pm.
Wow. I am so so so tired now. I know I said I'm gonna talk about today too, but that's unrealistic at this point. So. Tomorrow at some point. I am going to do both. Plus i don't think tomorrow will be as eventful as it's the second day of work and all....i'm going to have much more to say about today than tomorrow I'd assume.
But anyways. Yes. 11:05 pm and i'm passing out for the night. :)
Muah! <3
Plus, though I am an incredibly social person, I still always have and always will like my alone time. Especially since I've grown accostomed to it this past summer having virtually no social life. So even though my other roommate is home right now (the under 21er), I spent a couple minutes in the living area with her and now I'm in my room with the door shut and the light off taking advantage of my actual roommate who sleeps in here being out. It's so weird, when I want to be social, it seems no one else does and I have to settle on being alone. And then when I want alone time, everyone else is going out and having fun. Ugh. I have such a complicated psyche.
But seriously? The second day of our internships are tomorrow (first day for my roommate, she didn't start today!) and you're out. at the bar. drinking. I just can't comprehend it. Not saying it wouldn't be fun, but again. Logic tells you otherwise in this situation.
So anyways.
I think this is going to be a longer one. Because I made the realization today that I need to stop blogging a day behind because then it looses the flair of the actual feelings I had and I'm actually a hyped up about something else.
So yesterday morning we met at 10am for a campus tour. Which some people skipped and others didn't take seriously, which kind of annoyed me...I want to have my bearings on this campus while I'm here thank you very much. It was hard enough to hear the tiny voice speaking let alone over others rudely talking. Alas we didn't get a tour of the entire campus (which is huge), like we didn't go over by the academic buildings much, but what we did get to see was absolutely gorgeous. Especially over near the center of campus...like holy crap my jaw literally dropped when we turned this one corner and the view was just spectacular. You can definately tell it's an older campus, but it has just enough updated flair to not make it feel ancient. And the flowers were absolutely everywhere, which just enhanced the view more. So i found out where all 3 dining halls we can eat at are, where the tennis courts Andy Roddick sometimes practices at are, where the track where Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel have often been spotted walking early in the morning (I'm going to have to wake up super early one day to see it for myself), the main campus store and student center (like Kirkhof I guess, but I haven't been inside yet), and where the gym is. (The hike to the gym, however, is a workout in and of itself since it's quite far from my actual residence hall and as I previously stated, the entire campus is built on steep hills. So you're either going up/down a massive hill, or up/down a large staircase.) We took our big "Dreamers" (that's what we are referred to as and how we refer to our group in conversation) picture, and headed back to Covel Hall for orientation.
Orientation was kind of boring. Minus getting to look at Bryce and his fine physique. Basically it was all the information they gave us in the folders they put together for us when we first arrived on Sunday. I don't think I mentioned them in a previous post, but I'm actual quite impressed by the little packets. Not to mention our participant advisor, Anglea. Check-in on Sunday you had to walk up to the table and get your folder with your info and blah blah blah. This other guy and I walked up to the table and Angela looked straight at me and said, "Stephanie...Plona?" and I looked down to make sure I wasn't wearing a nametag or a sweatshirt with my name on it and I wasn't. I looked back up and I was like, "wow, I'm impressed." She had studied all our facebook pictures and names and internships prior to us arriving so we didn't feel like we were going into a cold, uncaring enviornment. How classy and dedicated, if you ask me! Anyway, so back to the folders. In the folders on the right side is basic UCLA/University of Dreams info, rules, phone numbers, schedule for the first few days, etc. Below it is a slot. If there was a card in the slot, you were taking the bus to work (as I am.) If it was baby blue, you took the metro (as I do). If it was royal blue, you took the big blue bus. On the left side of the folder was your internship information, and detailed instructions how to get to and from your internship on the bus system. So in other words, UofD employees mapped out the best bus route (for those who could get to work on bus routes. some have to be driven in uofdreams vans) for each and every dreamer to get to work and then typed them all up and personalized them. It was pretty impressive. So yeah, he went over the folders, and went over transportation stuff. People who were going in vans found out what van they were in and what time it left and they were set free for the day, while us on buses had more detailed instructions. A special shuttle picks us up from the dorms every morning and takes us down into Westwood (the area of LA closest to UCLA...within walking distance, but I don't think they wanted to make us walk in work clothes down that massive hill at awful hours of the morning) where you get off at one of 2 stops, depending on which bus you're taking. From there you pick up your bus and go. So they wanted us bus riders to do practice runs so we didn't get lost or anything today. (And suprise suprise, those who skipped out on mapping their routes to work this morning all encountered problems. One kid even found out his business had moved buildings within the last few weeks and had to take a taxi cab to the new place!) So after orientation I came back to my room and changed into a sundress for 2 reasons. 1)I was going to wander around Hollywood for pete's sake! and 2)Everyone was going to the "Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen" premiere later and I wasn't sure if I would make it back in time to change and get a prissy. (I wore my purple sundress and black flip flops for your reference, mom.) Then I went and caught the makeshift shuttles for the day and headed off on my merry way.
P.S. Have I mentioned how GORGEOUS Greek Row is here? They have so many fraternities and sororites, and all their houses are to die for! The weird thing is is that fraternity row is just off campus...every time I walk to and from some parts of Westwood I see all their houses. But sorority row is settled further off campus and the first time I saw it was on my bus ride to work. Some of the frat houses are actually bigger than the sorority houses, but they are all so so so nice. I'm way jealous. If they had a Phi Sig I'd be all over spending time at their place!
So anyway. My commute to work takes place almost entirely on Sunset Blvd. So every day I pass Bel-Air, Beverly Hills (yes, I freaked out when I saw that iconic little brown sign with yellow piping that reads "Beverly Hills"), plenty of gated mansions (I really would like to figure out if/what stars live in them...), The Beverly Hills Hotel, lots of iconic places in West LA and West Hollywood such as The Roxy and The House of Blues, One Nightclub (where many DWTS people hang out), and more. My mouth literally dropped open when I saw all these places. Seriously, every day i go to work I see all these places. And get this, my bus stop is at Sunset and Vine. Then a walk down a mile - ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME (everyday on my walk to work I walk over Shirley Temple, Janet Jackson, and my most exciting one Martin Sheen's stars!)-to the legendary intersection of Hollywood&Vine, where I work in one of the most historic buildings in Hollywood history, the Taft Building.
So i'm like freaking out about all this, right? So exciting. Here comes the really weird part - walking around in a foreign city (foreign as in I'd never been there before) really didn't faze me at all. I really hardly noticed I was alone...I didn't feel like I needed anyone there to hold my hand. I really just wished I was walking with someone so I could gush that I was on Martin Sheen's star and that was about it. I wandered up Hollywood about a block and found myself a Pinkberry (I see lots of celebs tweeting about this place and how much they love it) and decided to try it for myself....ugh their pomegranate soft serve is HEAVEN! And then wandered back to the bus stop and hopped back on the Metro 2 to head back towards LA.
This other girl who is on a smiliar route as mine was on her way back at the same time so it was nice to know when I got off the bus I wasn't going to be alone because I wasn't sure if we were getting picked back up from practice runs (we get picked up after work for sure everyday though) or if we were supposed to walk back or if they assumed we were all just headed to the premiere (which was at the legendary theatre in Westwood which i can't remember the name of now....Fox maybe...) or what. So I called when we got off the bus and they said yeah they just assumed everyone was heading to the premiere but they could come get us if we wanted but I said nah no big deal I'm cool staying down here.
And good thing I said that because we wouldn't have even been able to see anything! As it was we had a very obscure view and probably the furthest out of any of the spectators. Not to mention a helluva time getting through the security guy. Everything was blocked off,sidewalks and all, around the theatre and where they had everything set up. The whole block inbetween the theatre and another street was used because they set up Optimus Prime (he's the truck, right? if not, they had the real truck there) and the real car they used as Bumblebee there. It was absolute madness. The only way we could see half of anything was to sneak in Starbuck's back door and order a drink so the security guy let us out on their patio which is right next to the theatre's entrance. Unfortunately, most of the star's exited their limos and such on the other side of the main road from where we were, but we got to see them for like 2.5 seconds as they rushed inside the theatre. It was madness. And they give spectators free tickets to the premiere because PR people don't want empty seats,so they hand out free fillers. And they only handed out 6 where we were standing the entire night (who all happened to be lucky dreamers!), whereas across the street, though it was further away from the red carpet, was getting ticket after ticket after ticket (some of the uofdreams staff got in from being over there!)
But, quite honestly, I didn't really care as much about seeing this particular movie as I would about some of the others that are premiering this summer. Plus, if I wasn't in the area that I was, I wouldn't have seen Shawn Johnson get out of her car right in front of us and wave at me when I (and a few others, it wasn't just me thank you very much) yelled her name out! That was way exciting for me per my DWTS obsession! Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of her - you can't see her face in either of them - but I'm sure I'll spot her at more events this summer...she seems to be going to a lot of them lately. And the whole yelling thing? Yeah the "seasoned veterans" who were there explained to us that a lot of stars aren't likely to come over and pose for pics, sign autographs, or even look your way at premieres unless you're making the most noise yelling their name out. So it was a necessary measure.
Other celebs I saw - some I got pics of, some I didn't thanks to my location - Shia LeBoeuf and Megan Fox (obviously as it was their premiere!), Josh Duhmel, Vanessa Minillo (she actually was wayyyy close to us!), Nick T. (I can't remember his last name but he was in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"), Jon Voight (actor and Angelina Jolie's dad!), Lala Vazquez (from MTV), Kristin Cavalleri (from "Laguna Beach" and "'The Hills"), and Ciara from a distance. I also heard Reggie Bush, Linkin Park, and Kim Kardashian were there, but I didn't get to see them.
Oh, and they had some guy dressed up in a lifesize transformed Bumblebee suit walking around and that was pretty cool to see.
All in all, it was a fun premiere and now that I know the ropes, I will know how to play it just right next time to get into the movies I want. Not to mention to get there super early to get good positioning to see my fave celebs.
After the premiere, we all headed back to campus and grabbed a last minute dinner at Covel Hall, which is the only hall open til 9 for dinner. Basically, it's the same exact concept as Fresh Food Co. at GVSU, so unfortunately for me not a ton of G-Free options, but there's always salad and there's always the option if I want to risk cross contamination of taking meats off of buns/sandwich breads/etc. And they had just plain rice you could add steamed veggies on top of so that worked out for me...salad, rice, and steamed veggies. No protein other than the boiled egg I had with my salad, but it worked at 9pm.
Wow. I am so so so tired now. I know I said I'm gonna talk about today too, but that's unrealistic at this point. So. Tomorrow at some point. I am going to do both. Plus i don't think tomorrow will be as eventful as it's the second day of work and all....i'm going to have much more to say about today than tomorrow I'd assume.
But anyways. Yes. 11:05 pm and i'm passing out for the night. :)
Muah! <3
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Day 1 in L.A.!
Ugh! I just wrote a huge long thing and totally accidentally deleted it all....I'm so pissed!!!!!!
I'm too tired to write it all again so to sum up:
Hitch Suites (where I'm living) = Bigger than Robinsion, but not as nice.
I thought I was done with sharing bathrooms, bedrooms, crappy twin sized mattresses, and no privacy after freshman year. So,while I can survive for 8 weeks, I will definitely be jumping into my big expensive full sized bed and sigh at the privacy when I return home.
Roommate/Suitemates - I originally posted a long thing here, but I decided in the name of ethics, it's not right to post a huge long description with my opinions of 3 people who don't know they are being written about for the world to see. So if you'd like to know, ask me personally. I saved what I wrote. :)
Okay. so that's basically what I'd written before, believe it or not, in a shorter version.
I'm going to recount the rest of yesterday and then hit the hay, so look for today's update sometime tomorrow. I'm starting to fall asleep at my computer...it may only be 11 pm here, but i'm still on michigan time and that makes it 2 am in my poor body.
So after I got settled yesterday we had a welcome reception. The view from where we ate on campus is absolutely gorgeous...I will have to take a picture of it to share. Unfortunately, gluten-free options were slim to none. My dinner consisted of an appetizer plate full of corn chips and a little guacamole. I was actually a little upset because I notified them of my condition well in advance, but I told myself since it was a catered thing it probably wasn't thought about. I'm one of 261 participants...I'm sure they are more concerned with feeding the masses.
Bryce, who was my internship coordinator and is the program director for the LA program, talked for a little while, welcoming us and outlining the next few days. (Um, he is way beyond drop dead gorgeous, in case anyone cares. We've secretly having a thing. It's so secret he doesn't even know about it...) and of course we had to partake of cheesy ice breakers. But because of the icebreakers I met this Sigma Chi who is really nice and I talked with today for awhile, Alex. Anywho, we broke from the welcome reception and stuff around 9ish. My roommates and I had talked about maybe going to see a movie, or just hanging out, but then we walked by this room full of guys. Who invited us to the local favorite bar (one of the guys participated in the program last year too.) He was an interesting character. He said he went to Vegas before coming here and woke up with $800 more than he started with in his pocket and no clue how it got there.Some of the girls thought he was hot...I thought he was very cute. Totally my normal type...very metrosexual. However, my radar went off multiple times, so I'm advising them to be on alert and steer clear. He was just too pretty boy and just too eager to have female attention to be legit if you ask me.
Anywho, long story short, a group of 10 of us head down to a bar (think second floor of McFadden's) called O'Haras in WestWood (about a 15/20 minute walk!) where I have a feeling I will be spending many a night at (rumor has it it's everyone's favorite Westwood bar). But we get there and this guy I was talking about pulls out a wad of cash and offers to pay for everyone's drinks! (i wasn't even planning on drinking but hey, who am i to turn down a free one? not to mention at a bar in a city that gouges you for alcohol and well, pretty much everything!). It got back to me the next morning that he easily spent $300 that night as he continued to buy everyone's drinks well after myself and a few others walked back. I was so tired by midnight because my body was on eastern time -3 am-still. But it was fun.
Oh, and did I mention UCLA's entire campus is built on hills? Specifically one very steep one at the entrance up to where I live? yeah, that part of walking back? not so fun. I don't even need to go to the gym...I get a workout walking off and on campus!
Okay. I seriously just nodded off. Today was incredible, but very packed and I'm so ready for bed. I'll tell you more about it...and my first day of work tomorrow....later!!! :)
<3
I'm too tired to write it all again so to sum up:
Hitch Suites (where I'm living) = Bigger than Robinsion, but not as nice.
I thought I was done with sharing bathrooms, bedrooms, crappy twin sized mattresses, and no privacy after freshman year. So,while I can survive for 8 weeks, I will definitely be jumping into my big expensive full sized bed and sigh at the privacy when I return home.
Roommate/Suitemates - I originally posted a long thing here, but I decided in the name of ethics, it's not right to post a huge long description with my opinions of 3 people who don't know they are being written about for the world to see. So if you'd like to know, ask me personally. I saved what I wrote. :)
Okay. so that's basically what I'd written before, believe it or not, in a shorter version.
I'm going to recount the rest of yesterday and then hit the hay, so look for today's update sometime tomorrow. I'm starting to fall asleep at my computer...it may only be 11 pm here, but i'm still on michigan time and that makes it 2 am in my poor body.
So after I got settled yesterday we had a welcome reception. The view from where we ate on campus is absolutely gorgeous...I will have to take a picture of it to share. Unfortunately, gluten-free options were slim to none. My dinner consisted of an appetizer plate full of corn chips and a little guacamole. I was actually a little upset because I notified them of my condition well in advance, but I told myself since it was a catered thing it probably wasn't thought about. I'm one of 261 participants...I'm sure they are more concerned with feeding the masses.
Bryce, who was my internship coordinator and is the program director for the LA program, talked for a little while, welcoming us and outlining the next few days. (Um, he is way beyond drop dead gorgeous, in case anyone cares. We've secretly having a thing. It's so secret he doesn't even know about it...) and of course we had to partake of cheesy ice breakers. But because of the icebreakers I met this Sigma Chi who is really nice and I talked with today for awhile, Alex. Anywho, we broke from the welcome reception and stuff around 9ish. My roommates and I had talked about maybe going to see a movie, or just hanging out, but then we walked by this room full of guys. Who invited us to the local favorite bar (one of the guys participated in the program last year too.) He was an interesting character. He said he went to Vegas before coming here and woke up with $800 more than he started with in his pocket and no clue how it got there.Some of the girls thought he was hot...I thought he was very cute. Totally my normal type...very metrosexual. However, my radar went off multiple times, so I'm advising them to be on alert and steer clear. He was just too pretty boy and just too eager to have female attention to be legit if you ask me.
Anywho, long story short, a group of 10 of us head down to a bar (think second floor of McFadden's) called O'Haras in WestWood (about a 15/20 minute walk!) where I have a feeling I will be spending many a night at (rumor has it it's everyone's favorite Westwood bar). But we get there and this guy I was talking about pulls out a wad of cash and offers to pay for everyone's drinks! (i wasn't even planning on drinking but hey, who am i to turn down a free one? not to mention at a bar in a city that gouges you for alcohol and well, pretty much everything!). It got back to me the next morning that he easily spent $300 that night as he continued to buy everyone's drinks well after myself and a few others walked back. I was so tired by midnight because my body was on eastern time -3 am-still. But it was fun.
Oh, and did I mention UCLA's entire campus is built on hills? Specifically one very steep one at the entrance up to where I live? yeah, that part of walking back? not so fun. I don't even need to go to the gym...I get a workout walking off and on campus!
Okay. I seriously just nodded off. Today was incredible, but very packed and I'm so ready for bed. I'll tell you more about it...and my first day of work tomorrow....later!!! :)
<3
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Airplane Musings
Sitting on a plane for a long time can be tiring. I forgot how much energy it takes to not squirm, to attempt sleeping in a seated position, and -perhaps most importantly- to hold in all the contents of your bladder for hours on end.
I, thanks to the lovely Ms. Pykor, am sitting with plenty of room to stretch my legs in the exit row. Unfortunately for someone who is a bit obsessive-compulsive, I am sitting right in front of the bathroom. I have seen exactly how many people have gone in and out, how many people have stayed in for extended periods of time, and how many sweaty old guys have emerged. My bladder is killing me, but I believe the captain just said only 20 minutes til landing, so hell if I’m going in there.
All in all, I think I’ve handled the “goodbye” events of today quite well. I will admit to sobbing through security. It’s not that I’m scared per say, I know I can do it as I’ve navigated airports and such many times before as well as survived on my own for 3 years at college, it’s just never easy to leave the ones you love for an extended period of time. It’s weird to think for the first time ever when I get off this plane and leave the parking lot, there won’t be a familiar, loving face waiting to envelope me in their arms when I arrive to my destination. I’ve cried multiple times the duration of this flight seeing the image of my dad standing with his crossed arms watching me through security in my mind thinking I won’t see him on the other side of this adventure waiting with the same stance.
Okay, gotta turn of electronics. More later!
******************************************************************************************
Kk, I’m back now. I’m all unpacked and sitting at my desk at UCLA, contemplating taking a nap before our welcome reception tonight. But I wanted to finish my thoughts from earlier, because they were good, and I want to be able to recall everything from this trip when it’s all said and done.
So my next phrase before I was told to turn off my laptop was:
The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. I know I’m not always the most steadfast in my faith as of late, but what happened today could only be explained as a sign for heaven.
I was seated next to a girl dressed slightly different (she had one of those weird hats on like Josh wore 24/7 when he got back from Germany) who I could tell was younger than me, but I wasn’t sure how much. I didn’t really say anything to her besides exchange pleasantries as I was still kind of going through my own feelings and schedule in my head, and she just launched into sentence after sentence after sentence about how excited she was to be going to California. I won’t lie, I was slightly annoyed at first. But as she kept talking and asking me why I was going I started to learn more about her. I asked her where she lived in Michigan and she said “Milford, but only for the past year. I’m actually from Germany. I’ve spent the entire last year here with a host family as an exchange student.” My mouth dropped and suddenly I was fully engaged in conversation with this girl. I found out everything, from how long it took her to speak fluent English (Josh, for reference, she said it only took 2 weeks to dream in English and 3 weeks to think in English…and she had studied English in Germany for 6 years…so I think you’ll be fine with your Spanish!) to how she survived an entire year with only 4 suitcases (God help me I still need more things and I’m only here for 8 weeks with 2 suitcases!) to how she’d always wanted to come to the US ever since she was a little girl and this past year was a dream come true for her. She was completely in love with our seasons…she said she’d never seen snow so beautiful before in her life and she appreciated how each season had a distinct feeling and you could physically see the changes happening (apparently it’s not like that in Germany and they only see snow 3 days a year). She was just coming to the close of her year here, her parents met her in New York a couple days ago (they wanted it to be like a movie, so they met in front of the Statue of Liberty instead of at the airport…how cool!) and from there they flew back to Detroit so her parents could meet her host family and now they are flying out west and they are going to visit California, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon for the next 2 weeks, then back to Washington D.C. for a couple days, and then she is going back home for good. She has been so well traveled since she has been here…she has gone all over to many different places, from New York to Chicago and more. She remarked at how big the United States of America is…she said in Europe you can visit another country in 3 hours and you’re kinda limited. Here we have all these states to go to and they are all so different and so far apart. Her eyes sparkled talking about going to see a Broadway show and so many things that just made me smile. Finally I asked her what year she was in school and she said “Junior” I said “College?” She said, “No, high school.” I blinked at her. This girl was only 2 years older than my youngest brother. Then she told me that she is going to have to repeat this past year of school again in Germany because they grade harder and none of the classes here count for the correct year in Germany. So this girl is going to graduate a year behind all of her friends back home. I said “wow, that kinda sucks.” She grinned and said, “It was so worth it.” She told me how her host family had become like another family to her and how she was going to miss her new “siblings” so much. And the friends she had made at school in show choir (she’s a soprano I, if anyone cares. Haha I thought that was interesting. But that’s me.) were all going to write her and stuff. Then she said what really hit home for me. “Saying goodbye to my family in Germany wasn’t nearly as hard as it was saying goodbye to everyone here. I always know I get to go back home and my family will be there and I will see them again. My family and friends here? Who knows if I’ll ever see them again.”
Basically, my point here is that the maturity of this girl struck home at just the right timing. As much as it is hard to leave home, you can always go back. And you can’t be afraid to go out and have new experiences and explore and take risks because they may be the most worthwhile things you’ve ever done.
It was definitely something I needed to hear right at that moment.
And just for the record, DTW is so much nicer than LAX.
That is all for now, as I’m exhausted. I want to be sociable tonight at our reception and my new roommate and suitemates, who all seem really nice and I’m excited to get to know, are talking about possibly going out tonight and exploring. And I want to be awake and ready to take that all in, as well as be fully coherent to get to know them as well.
But I will be updating again soon.
Love to you all back home!
<3
I, thanks to the lovely Ms. Pykor, am sitting with plenty of room to stretch my legs in the exit row. Unfortunately for someone who is a bit obsessive-compulsive, I am sitting right in front of the bathroom. I have seen exactly how many people have gone in and out, how many people have stayed in for extended periods of time, and how many sweaty old guys have emerged. My bladder is killing me, but I believe the captain just said only 20 minutes til landing, so hell if I’m going in there.
All in all, I think I’ve handled the “goodbye” events of today quite well. I will admit to sobbing through security. It’s not that I’m scared per say, I know I can do it as I’ve navigated airports and such many times before as well as survived on my own for 3 years at college, it’s just never easy to leave the ones you love for an extended period of time. It’s weird to think for the first time ever when I get off this plane and leave the parking lot, there won’t be a familiar, loving face waiting to envelope me in their arms when I arrive to my destination. I’ve cried multiple times the duration of this flight seeing the image of my dad standing with his crossed arms watching me through security in my mind thinking I won’t see him on the other side of this adventure waiting with the same stance.
Okay, gotta turn of electronics. More later!
******************************************************************************************
Kk, I’m back now. I’m all unpacked and sitting at my desk at UCLA, contemplating taking a nap before our welcome reception tonight. But I wanted to finish my thoughts from earlier, because they were good, and I want to be able to recall everything from this trip when it’s all said and done.
So my next phrase before I was told to turn off my laptop was:
The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. I know I’m not always the most steadfast in my faith as of late, but what happened today could only be explained as a sign for heaven.
I was seated next to a girl dressed slightly different (she had one of those weird hats on like Josh wore 24/7 when he got back from Germany) who I could tell was younger than me, but I wasn’t sure how much. I didn’t really say anything to her besides exchange pleasantries as I was still kind of going through my own feelings and schedule in my head, and she just launched into sentence after sentence after sentence about how excited she was to be going to California. I won’t lie, I was slightly annoyed at first. But as she kept talking and asking me why I was going I started to learn more about her. I asked her where she lived in Michigan and she said “Milford, but only for the past year. I’m actually from Germany. I’ve spent the entire last year here with a host family as an exchange student.” My mouth dropped and suddenly I was fully engaged in conversation with this girl. I found out everything, from how long it took her to speak fluent English (Josh, for reference, she said it only took 2 weeks to dream in English and 3 weeks to think in English…and she had studied English in Germany for 6 years…so I think you’ll be fine with your Spanish!) to how she survived an entire year with only 4 suitcases (God help me I still need more things and I’m only here for 8 weeks with 2 suitcases!) to how she’d always wanted to come to the US ever since she was a little girl and this past year was a dream come true for her. She was completely in love with our seasons…she said she’d never seen snow so beautiful before in her life and she appreciated how each season had a distinct feeling and you could physically see the changes happening (apparently it’s not like that in Germany and they only see snow 3 days a year). She was just coming to the close of her year here, her parents met her in New York a couple days ago (they wanted it to be like a movie, so they met in front of the Statue of Liberty instead of at the airport…how cool!) and from there they flew back to Detroit so her parents could meet her host family and now they are flying out west and they are going to visit California, Arizona, and the Grand Canyon for the next 2 weeks, then back to Washington D.C. for a couple days, and then she is going back home for good. She has been so well traveled since she has been here…she has gone all over to many different places, from New York to Chicago and more. She remarked at how big the United States of America is…she said in Europe you can visit another country in 3 hours and you’re kinda limited. Here we have all these states to go to and they are all so different and so far apart. Her eyes sparkled talking about going to see a Broadway show and so many things that just made me smile. Finally I asked her what year she was in school and she said “Junior” I said “College?” She said, “No, high school.” I blinked at her. This girl was only 2 years older than my youngest brother. Then she told me that she is going to have to repeat this past year of school again in Germany because they grade harder and none of the classes here count for the correct year in Germany. So this girl is going to graduate a year behind all of her friends back home. I said “wow, that kinda sucks.” She grinned and said, “It was so worth it.” She told me how her host family had become like another family to her and how she was going to miss her new “siblings” so much. And the friends she had made at school in show choir (she’s a soprano I, if anyone cares. Haha I thought that was interesting. But that’s me.) were all going to write her and stuff. Then she said what really hit home for me. “Saying goodbye to my family in Germany wasn’t nearly as hard as it was saying goodbye to everyone here. I always know I get to go back home and my family will be there and I will see them again. My family and friends here? Who knows if I’ll ever see them again.”
Basically, my point here is that the maturity of this girl struck home at just the right timing. As much as it is hard to leave home, you can always go back. And you can’t be afraid to go out and have new experiences and explore and take risks because they may be the most worthwhile things you’ve ever done.
It was definitely something I needed to hear right at that moment.
And just for the record, DTW is so much nicer than LAX.
That is all for now, as I’m exhausted. I want to be sociable tonight at our reception and my new roommate and suitemates, who all seem really nice and I’m excited to get to know, are talking about possibly going out tonight and exploring. And I want to be awake and ready to take that all in, as well as be fully coherent to get to know them as well.
But I will be updating again soon.
Love to you all back home!
<3
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Eve of a New Adventure
Well, it's actually here. In T minus 12 hours and 30 minutes, I will be in the air en route to Los Angeles, California to start what I hope will be the summer of my life.
Looking back, the first half of this summer has flown by so quickly...I can't imagine how fast the next 8 weeks will fly by.
I intend to update this blog often, recounting my experiences to share with all you...my loving family and friends...so you can all feel like you're there with me. You'll definately be there with me in my heart.
Looking back, the first half of this summer has flown by so quickly...I can't imagine how fast the next 8 weeks will fly by.
I intend to update this blog often, recounting my experiences to share with all you...my loving family and friends...so you can all feel like you're there with me. You'll definately be there with me in my heart.
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