Not jokes have a tendency to fail in written text. It's OK though, because this one wasn't really meant as a joke.
At first, I thought my first few weeks in America would mark the end of my amazing 3,5 month hiatus from my favorite daily drama in Utrecht city. In other words: play time is over, back to school. After epically failing to organize a train trip through Europe, a most extraordinary time in the UK (something with gardens, clubs and the countryside), the 4 most retarded days in the history of the UIT-week and some decisive blows to my immune system (the Lowlands-Introweek cocktail on the rocks, heavily shaken and stirred with an expert touch of nailpolish and krunk juice) I passed out with a 39,6 degree fever. I knew I deserved it, somewhere. Anyway, this is an old story, I said my goodbyes, I prepared for the states, and with a faint cough I landed in Chicago. What I was told by many, and what I kept telling myself, was that I could happily look forward to a long and healthy stay without a lot of bullshit.
"Yeah right" is what I uttered as I woke up next to a pineapple, September 26th, 364 days short of legally getting trashed in California.
Since I have been pretty tardy with updating the home front on my ventures into this Disneyland of opportunities and blatant legislative retardation, I will try to reconstruct the past few weeks day day/week by week in keywords and pictures. Right.
So uh. I landed in Chicago.
I don't have a lot to say about my time there, except for the fact that it was beautiful. I've been learning a lot about American politics, pop culture, high-school football and more typically American things. I went out shopping a lot, got fresh new gear, ate a lot of roast beef sandwiches, and enjoyed a crazy weekend downtown Chicago. I decided to stay a bit longer because my connection in San Diego had fallen through - I wasn't really planning on winging it for a full week before I could move into my dorm @ UCSD. Plus, I was having a pretty good time in Chicago, and my host family was the most generous any traveler could wish for. Then again, I was treated more like a cousin than some raggedy, confused and unorganized traveler - which is what I saw in the Chicago mirror every day I woke up. I thank them with all my heart for having me there and showing me such an amazing time, including Oprah's 24th season Opening Party. Yes, I was there at the flashmob, no, I wasn't part of it... Truth be told, the BEP performance was pretty horrible, except for that huge flashmob.Time flew by, and before I knew it (came kind of slow, my flight was delayed by 3 hours) I was on a plane to Californaye-ay. The flight was uneventful, I read my book, drank a milkshake when I landed and got my hostel set up in a matter of minutes.
Wow, wow, WOW!!! SAN DEE-AAAAY GOOOOOOOO!!! My suitcase was dying under the weight of 3 months worth of living, my beloved guitar wailing in its case to get out, the laptop and books heavy on my back, and I was on the bus on my way downtown. I just realised I didn't take any pictures at the hostel... Then again, who would want to see pictures of me completely geeking it up on the couch with a Feist book, a sociology paper and a footlong Subways sandwich. I bet you all would, huh.I checked out Ocean Beach, played with my diabolo's, bought some more books, dropped a slice of pizza on my shirt, and made frequent eyecontact with other hostel guests. On my very exciting last day, two European ladies got very tired of my inclination to stay mute (there are very few occasions that I don't open my mouth, and after this summer's interrailing, being in a hostel with girls has become one of those) and came over to offer me a bowl of strawberries.
I am not kidding when I say that this simple bowl of strawberries sparked a series of events that could have fueled at least two succesful soap operas, a sitcom and a high budget Hollywood action movie. I'm discussing the script(s) with the friends I made after the strawberries and we should have the first draft(s) in a few weeks - if the craziness ever stops.
Anyway, these two gorgeous women go by the names of Julia and Adriana, and I think it's very fair to say that they were the deciding factor in the start of my big San Diego adventure. You know that if you find yourself in the trunk of a car back from the Blink show while being circled by cops on the second day of meeting someone, you've either made very special friends or you will never eat strawberries again.
Since these fair ladies had other plans in store for their great journey through California and San Diego, we wouldn't see them for a couple of days following the Blink show. I had just moved in on campus, Wednesday the 16th. It's not even two weeks ago, yet it feels as if half a year has passed. The weekend would prove to be a tough one. See the pictures below and let your imagination fill in the blanks.
Pictures courtesy of my SD homies :)
I have class early in the morning, but will definitely continue this story. Stay tuned!
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Now playing: Explosions In The Sky - A Poor Man's Memory
via FoxyTunes
