Daily Life and Crazy American habits
I like Wednesdays. I have class from 8 to 9 and from 10 to 11, and then I am free until my Human Genetics Discussion Section at 3. Somehow this makes me spend my afternoon much more effectively. Last week on Wednesday I did the laundry, and this week I went grocery shopping (I succumbed to the Wheat Thins again...They are just so good, and they were 2 for 5 this week. Oh, and I bought Oreo's, but with three girls on their period, that's allowed), called grandma, made soup for lunch, chatted for a while and read over the paper for Human Genetics once more.
It turned out, actually, that I didn't make the test last week so badly. 8 out of 10! And I feel like I did better this time, so who knows.
But, of course, I promised I'd talk about crazy American habits.
Take toothpicks. You know, big boxes of little chips of wood you use to take things out from between your teeth? Well, I have looked and looked, even asked a couple of times, but they seem to be unaware of the concept. Oh, there are toothpicks. But they are electric, and only that. Even then, it's not common at all: 4/5 of the dental care rack is filled with floss (also electric). So, I shelled out the 8 bucks, and I am now the proud owner of an Oral-B electric toothpick/floss combo. I just hope it works.
Another thing here is traffic. I don't know if it's just the automatics, but driving here seems to be constituted mostly of accelerating and braking. Even on the freeway! Needless to say, it's rather scary when you're in the passenger seat and see that the car approaches the one in front of you with less than a meter in between, and because of the automatic, every time you accelerate it sounds like you're in too low a gear.
Then, there's Bruin Walk. I've said it before, but just in case you forgot: Bruin is pronounced "Broo-in" here. It's a stretch of camous filled with those triangular advertisement boards and with small desks, full of people trying to get you to join their club. There's ethnicities: Chinese, Latino, etc. There's the religions: the Christians, the ones from the church of Latter Day Saints, the ones representing the Bahai faith, the Muslims. There's combinations: the Chinese Christians for example. There's the UCLA Democrats, and ten meters further the UCLA Republicans, there's the "Queer girl" association, the Tour Guides, the Unicef people, and so on. There's people making music (I think those were the Hindus. They were bald and wore robes, in any case), people trying to shake your hand, people handing our flyers. It's crazy really, but I kind of like it. It makes the campus feel alive.
Bruin Walk; every ethnicity, every religion, every major, every hobby and any combination of the above: you'll find your club on Bruin Walk.
Of course, there are more differences, small ones. Some of them I really like, like for example the fact that in Ackerman Union you can just sit down on the floor with any magazine or book they sell (or of your own) and read it. I like that there is such an incredible selection of interesting magazines (I even saw one with a translated story by Maarten 't Hart). I like the strange combination of bagels and cream cheese, I like that people are much more inclined to smile, I like that it's not considered dorky here to walk around with a big backpack. And then there are the less pleasant things. Vegetables and fruit are ridiculously expensive (peppers (i.e. paprika's) cost 2 dollar a piece, grapefruits, freakily big, the same), there are soda and snack machines everywhere, and you need a car to be a babysitter. I don't like the cheese, and I don't like the tea.
Overall, I'm still having a blast. The weather is so warm that you actually feel one of those blankets of warmth descend upon you when you step outside of a building. I mean, I can see the top of some palm trees when I sit on my living room couch, how cool is that? Also, despite the fact that the amount of money I spend on groceries scares me, I really like the independant feeling I get here: despite my sharing the room with a roommate, it feels like I really am an adult now, someone with her own apartment who pays her own rent, cooks for herself, and basically takes care of every single element in her life. I'm sure it's a feeling that bores quickly, but right now, it's exhilerating.
One last note: Happy Birthday Birgit!
H.
It turned out, actually, that I didn't make the test last week so badly. 8 out of 10! And I feel like I did better this time, so who knows.
But, of course, I promised I'd talk about crazy American habits.
Take toothpicks. You know, big boxes of little chips of wood you use to take things out from between your teeth? Well, I have looked and looked, even asked a couple of times, but they seem to be unaware of the concept. Oh, there are toothpicks. But they are electric, and only that. Even then, it's not common at all: 4/5 of the dental care rack is filled with floss (also electric). So, I shelled out the 8 bucks, and I am now the proud owner of an Oral-B electric toothpick/floss combo. I just hope it works.
Another thing here is traffic. I don't know if it's just the automatics, but driving here seems to be constituted mostly of accelerating and braking. Even on the freeway! Needless to say, it's rather scary when you're in the passenger seat and see that the car approaches the one in front of you with less than a meter in between, and because of the automatic, every time you accelerate it sounds like you're in too low a gear.
Then, there's Bruin Walk. I've said it before, but just in case you forgot: Bruin is pronounced "Broo-in" here. It's a stretch of camous filled with those triangular advertisement boards and with small desks, full of people trying to get you to join their club. There's ethnicities: Chinese, Latino, etc. There's the religions: the Christians, the ones from the church of Latter Day Saints, the ones representing the Bahai faith, the Muslims. There's combinations: the Chinese Christians for example. There's the UCLA Democrats, and ten meters further the UCLA Republicans, there's the "Queer girl" association, the Tour Guides, the Unicef people, and so on. There's people making music (I think those were the Hindus. They were bald and wore robes, in any case), people trying to shake your hand, people handing our flyers. It's crazy really, but I kind of like it. It makes the campus feel alive.
Bruin Walk; every ethnicity, every religion, every major, every hobby and any combination of the above: you'll find your club on Bruin Walk.
Of course, there are more differences, small ones. Some of them I really like, like for example the fact that in Ackerman Union you can just sit down on the floor with any magazine or book they sell (or of your own) and read it. I like that there is such an incredible selection of interesting magazines (I even saw one with a translated story by Maarten 't Hart). I like the strange combination of bagels and cream cheese, I like that people are much more inclined to smile, I like that it's not considered dorky here to walk around with a big backpack. And then there are the less pleasant things. Vegetables and fruit are ridiculously expensive (peppers (i.e. paprika's) cost 2 dollar a piece, grapefruits, freakily big, the same), there are soda and snack machines everywhere, and you need a car to be a babysitter. I don't like the cheese, and I don't like the tea.
Overall, I'm still having a blast. The weather is so warm that you actually feel one of those blankets of warmth descend upon you when you step outside of a building. I mean, I can see the top of some palm trees when I sit on my living room couch, how cool is that? Also, despite the fact that the amount of money I spend on groceries scares me, I really like the independant feeling I get here: despite my sharing the room with a roommate, it feels like I really am an adult now, someone with her own apartment who pays her own rent, cooks for herself, and basically takes care of every single element in her life. I'm sure it's a feeling that bores quickly, but right now, it's exhilerating.
One last note: Happy Birthday Birgit!
H.
posted by Hedwig @ 4:56 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:43 AM,
Anonymous said…
wooopz verkeerd gecomment hij staat bij de foto van hollywood ipv hier (A) kuz bir
At 9:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
Without toothpicks, how would we put yummy olives in our drinks? That's really all we use them for though.
Try the kitchen gear aisle? - near paper plates, napkins, utensils - that stuff.
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