Livin' it up in LA

I'm in LA!! Livin' up the sunny california life! and so far i'm liking it alot! haha.
Anyway, backtracking to the past few days... whoa. it's been kinda overwhelming. the flight here was alright, went by really quick. 7hrs to japan + 8hrs to LA. i slept a lot, was so tired. but of course watched movies also, being the kiasu singaporean i am. watched ghosts of girlfriends past, obsessed, coraline and something else i can't remember now.

And then i got to LA, lugged all my 3 bags around till i found the taxi stand, prayed hard that the taxi driver would be nice (and thank god he was), hopped in, and started toward Miracle Mile. it took us like an hour to get there, and i gave him google map directions that dad printed out the night before, and we still got lost several times. but he was nice and didn't charge me more. and at least i was only 5 mins late to registration. so i got registered, realized i didn't have enough money to pay registration fees, went to the bank, realized i only had a 200dollar limit to withdrawing cash from my debit account, went back and lugged my bags to my apartment with the help of a very nice guy.

So i'm living at this place called park la brea apartments, which is HUGE. it's like a town by itself! there's like 12,000 people living here, there are tower apartments, houses, cafes, a swimming pool, a gym, a small movie theater, everything! i don't even have to leave this place if i don't want to. (but of course i do). and there's Kmart right outside, with Ralph's and Trader Joe's and the 99 cent store and The Grove... omg. i'm in total paradise. NO MORE CORNFIELDS for the next 4 months! i don't know how i'll ever drag myself back to indiana after stints in NYC and LA.

Anyway, my apartment's pretty nice. HUGE living room, we call it our 'dance floor,' and plan to have many rockin' parties here. haha. nice kitchen, with everything from pots and pans to a fridge to a dishwasher. two bathrooms, two rooms. i have 4 other roommates, and i share a room with two other people. they're all SUCH nice people! i'm so glad this is a Christian program, because i was initially really apprehensive about moving to a huge, corrupted, cutthroat, money-minded city like LA, but it's been SO awfully encouraging having all these great people around me who share the same anxieties and offer good support. And yeah, they've talked about how our internships might be horrid, our bosses might treat us like the lowly unpaid interns we are, but it's ok, as long as we keep in mind who we answer to and who we are in God.

So yeah, they keep stuffing information down our throats. info about LA, about living in our apartments, about internships, about our 3 classes, everything. it's really overwhelming, but at the same time, really exciting, and i can't wait to get started. Although this really feels like an extended vacation. everyone agrees that this is TOO GOOD to be true! i mean, i get to spend a semester in awesome LA, with sunny weather, great people who love God, an internship in Hollywood... where's the catch??? -- as my roommate so correctly described it. we actually sat out in the sun by the poolside yesterday, absorbing sunny rays and doing our homework - reading a screenplay. THIS IS THE LIFE! haha. but i'm sure it'll get much busier and crazier as the semester goes on. And then we went shopping last night, at The Grove, which is RIGHT NEXT to my apartment complex. and OMG. it was SO COOL! it was like disneyland, but an adult version! quaint shops side by side with big brand names, a little trolley bus thingy going round the outdoor mall, shops by the side, shops everywhere, a farmer's market.. it was so cool i loved it :) Also, some guy told me Disneyland is FREE when you go during your bday, so i'm definitely gonna try!! even though my bday's on a tuesday.

Only thing is, our classes are held in this building, like 20 mins walk away from my apartment. which isn't so bad, but compared to taylor, where i walk 5 mins to class, it's far. haha. and under the hot sun, it's even further. now i totally regret bringing all my long sleeved shirts and jackets. sigh. it's SO HOT! but classes have been fun. the LAFSC offices are in this tower, and there's computer labs, edit suites, tons of camera equipment i don't know how to use, a tiny classroom/lecture hall, a lounge, TONS of DVDs and books we can rent out... oh and there's so much to do here! live bands, comedy clubs, broadway shows, it's like NYC again!!! only there's no public transport. i haven't seen a bus here. NOT ONE! which makes me kinda nervous cuz i don't drive and i'm sure i'll need to take a bus to my internship. sigh.

oh and there are these DEMON BIRDS (as my other roomie calls them), that SCREECH AND SCREAM every, single, morning. AT 5AM! it's insane! they go on for a whole hour, and all of us (except one, she sleeps through it all, lucky) have been getting up at 5am. also cuz our apartment's on the ground floor, so we hear all kinds of noises at ungodly hours. like the rubbish truck clearing the trash, random people talking in the morning.. it's really annoying. i might have to become a morning person this semester.
But other than that, everything else is good. ooh although.. people do get mugged here more often. my roomie lost her load of laundry the second day we were here. some idiot took all her jeans and shirts! and obviously she couldn't get it back. sooo.. i guess i'll have to sit there and WATCH my laundry go round and round in the machine every time. for 45 mins. and then the dryer. sigh. and the basement's creepy too.

Went grocery shopping to stock up our fridge. man, the 99cent store is a LIFESAVER! everything there truly is 99 cents OR BELOW! i got 6 packets of ramen for 99 cents altogether! so that was cool. and then Trader Joe's, which i was introduced to in NYC and totally love. there's tons of organic and natural stuff there, so i got lots of fruits/veggies/stuff that i don't have to cook cuz i don't know how to cook. haha. my roomie suggested we alternate cooking weekly for family-style dinners, and i was like.... uhhh i don't know how to cook. now i feel dumb. can't cook, can't drive. seriously!

Anyway.. i think that's about all. i just wanna say again, the people are so nice. and it's such a change from being around non-Christians in the New York program. and they're all so funny. we've only known each other for a few days, but we already have so many inside jokes, it's crazy! today my roomies and i were watching this show called 'Home Delivery' during lunch (yes, we have a TV and DVD player! YAY!), and totally laughing until we couldn't speak. it was meant to be touching and sappy, but we found it hilarious. the TV production was awful. it was like they were trying to squeeze 10 mins of actual footage into 30 mins for the show. so lots of repetitions and what not. totally lame. but so funny. and i fed them my dried mangoes. and told them about singapore and its no-gum policy -- that never fails to amuse americans. they're all like, 'seriously?? omg!! i can't believe this!! wait till i tell my friends about this!! how could you live without gum??'
and i'm like, it's really no big deal. and then i tell them about how we smuggle gum from malaysia into singapore. haha

oh i have my internship interview on friday morning... so pray hard i'll get a good internship that's suitable for me, and that i'll get nice people to work with and not crazy tyrant bosses. oh and LA's 15 hours behind singapore.
ok that was a very messy update but gotta go to class now. that's all! :)