Los Angeles - Santa Barbara

After a good night of sleep Sarah and I decided to wait for my bag to be delivered and have a lazy day. When I asked how the weather was she answered that it was pretty chilly. I stepped outside and it felt like I was in heaven. The sky was crystal clear, the air was fresh and I realized that I'd forgotten the feeling of the sun on my skin. Since Sarah lives right next to UCLA she was so kind to give me a tour of the  beautiful campus. Because of the holidays it was quiet, but something that I noticed is that about half of the people was wearing UCLA gear. After that we fixed an American sim card for my phone, a bank account at the Bank of America, and we had dinner at the famous burger place In 'n Out. (According to many people way better than any other fast food chain, but they never became big outside of California because they refused to use canned ingredients). I constantly noticed the tiniest cultural differences, like the fact that the stripes of the zebra crossing are very far away, so that you actually have to jump to reach them without touching the colour of the street. Sarah pointed out that the buttons you press to cross the street are placebos (but she still pressed them), I realized that the traffic lights are on the other side of the road from where you cross, and that there are no lines on a crossing to indicate how you should turn... These little things will probably captivate me for a while. After dinner we watched a movie and went to bed relatively early.

In the Netherlands this would read "bike your walk", but apparently Californians are used to reading from the bottom to the top.

On the 3rd of January we thought it would be fun to see some more of LA. We drove to Santa Monica, where the beach is absolutely stunning. A pier, the cold water, and mountains on the other side: it felt like a movie scene (and it probably has been, in more movies than I realize). Even the little life guard huts were present! Since many people told me to go to Chipotle, a fast food chain for American Mexican food. We ate a fat burrito on the famous Venice Beach, and after that we walked just one block from the beach into the area to which Venice Beach owes is name. It was really funny to see how the Americans tried to rebuild Venice, American style. Small detached houses along canals with footpaths and canoes, and the roads being able to reach every house, although they're out of sight if you're walking along the canals. I forgot to take good pictures of this but if you want to see more you should probably just google "Venice Los Angeles". ;)

My companion

The life guard huts! Isn't it a movie still?

Chipotle on the beach

This is probably my favorite photo untill now. Look at the smiley paraglider!

When we walked back to the beach sunset had just started, so we sat down in the sand and talked about geographical determinism and a certain unchaste spot where Sarah had done some unchaste business recently. When we drove home I realized that every time we'd been in the car I had heard Katy Perry, and also Bruno Mars was a favorite of the radio DJs. When we came home we watched Pitch Perfect (a movie about an acapella singing group at an American campus), so from now on I can finally join the conversation about that..

One of the canals in Venice

Sunset at Venice Beach

Later that night someone posted on a UCSB Facebook page that he was going to drive from LAX to Santa Barbara, so I messaged him and for 5 dollars I could get a ride! (I do also still have a shuttle bus ticket so if anyone is interested in visiting I can sell it to you for a low price my friend.) On Sunday morning he picked me up (half an hour late), and I had an emotional goodbye with Sarah. The guy was an alumnus who still worked in SB, and a friend of his was also in the car: a Danish exchange girl. They were pretty cool, so we talked a lot while we drove on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), so I forgot to take pictures of the BEAUTIFUL views during the trip. Halfway there we found out that the road was blocked, so we had to take a detour through the mountains! While the guy talked about renting a super expensive hotel room in Vegas and partying it up with Kanye West (real story), I looked outside admiring the view. I was running very late for my mandatory exchange student introduction at UCSB, and when we were finally almost there the two decided to get groceries at a supermarket.. (!?)

The PCH

Bikers have to ride on this highway as well? What the heck!

Oh well.. When I got to campus (about three hours late), it was completely deserted. I walked into the building, handed in my forms, and was led to the right room, in which about 100 other exchange students were listening to a two-hour speech about alcohol and sexual assault. In retrospect I am glad that I was able to spend my time at the supermarket instead of in there. When the talk was over we got a tour around campus, and the important part was not the tour itself, but the fact that the exchange students finally got to talk with one another. Here the basis was made for a friend group containing a few Spanish girls, a Greek guy, some New Zealanders, a German guy and us Dutchies (in the meantime I'd found Gilles and Maite, who also study at UCU). After the tour we ate at a burger place (I am already feeling fatter than when I got on the plane), where we properly got to know one another.

When this was done, Gilles and I had to walk 20 minutes to get to our residence hall, called Santa Catalina. They recently changed this name from Francisco Torres, which had been abreviated to FT and then been nicknamed "Fuck Towers", because the 1600 freshmen that live there apparently behave like rabbits. When we got to the huge flats and walked to my floor, we got a warm welcome in my room. About 15 Latinos had gathered in the room and were having their own little party. They all had been expecting me and pronounced my name with an English J: from now on I would be called "djip". My roommates are both first generation Mexican immigrants but have lived the biggest part of their lives in California. They are super chill and really social so I feel like we'll get along well this semester. I met a bunch of people whose names I immediately forgot, but the one thing I did get is that the floor is very vibrant and the people are warm and weloming. In my room we stayed up until 1.30 just chatting, so I have confidence in these two quarters!

My room upon arrival