News News News

Hellooooooo,

I've got much news for you- for example, that I finally have found a place to stay! It's a townhouse and I share the house with a woman called Andrea who is 39 years old but looks like she's in her late twenties. Acutally I wanted to insert a picture of her at this point but somehow i can't upload the pictures from my cell phone right now...aaarg :-/

Anyways, the house is really nice and safe (gated community) and there is also a spa and a pool included in the community which is really awesome :-) I can go to the spa whenever I want to which is really great! I think it paid it off for me to wait a lil bit longer but then make the right decision about the housing.

So this week I'll probably buy a car so that I don't have to call my friends all the time and so that I can be independent. At this point, I really want to thank Anika Long for her patience and her hospitality and for everything else she did for me...She helped me with many things and she was a very pleasant, altough sometimes intelecutally challenging, person to be around with. THANK YOU ANIKA!!! And yes, you're welcome for the flowers :-P

School will start tomorrow so I'm really excited about my first classes which are baseball, basketball and beginning Spanish I! I'm really looking forward to learning another language...(let's see how long this feeling lasts :-P ). I have to admit that it was sometimes hard to study English and French in school but now I'm proud that I can speak several languages. It's just a wonderful thing to speak several lanuages and it's always easier to get to know people if you speak their native tongue.
There's a joke which says: " If you speak several languages, then you're probably European; if you speak two languages then you'll be Canadian but if you speak only one language than you're American"

:-)

I think I found a way to upload the newest picture on my pc...here you go, I hope you like them! I love the sunshine state :-), did I mention that before?!





dmack, my basketball buddy

Me in the spa :-)













My new room

1 week left before school starts!!

...and I haven't found a room yet to stay in! And I'm also looking for a car to buy because you really need a car in Los Angeles! Without a car, it's so hard to get around and travel because the bus schedule is terribly bad. For example, I waited yesterday for more than one hour for the bus and then it took me 40 mins to get to Hermosa Beach which is only a 20 mins drive away from where I stay (carson).

But the good news is that I'm going to meet a mexican car dealer tomorrow and that I'm also going to take a look at another room located in Long Beach. The room is a lil bit expensive (but normal for the LA county) but all important utilities are included (wifi, private bedroom, cable+ hbo tv, parcing space etc.). Let's wait and see what happens tomorrow! I'm also very excited about the american cars which the dealer will show/offer me. I'll take a few pictures of them and then upload then so that you guys can get a authentic impression of those cars ;)

Besides, I have my first inoffical basketball practice tomorrow morning at 5 o'clock in the gym of the school.
I just walked to my school today and then I saw a few people with a basketball in their hands. I thought:" all right, lets walk over to them and ask them if I can play with them". That's exactly what I did and it even turned out that those guys were really friendly and nice people. So tomorrow I'll have my first real practice again---THIS IS FOR GRÖLA ONLY: The african-american guy I met in the gym also trained with a weight vest: So I'm not the only one who uses this training utensil----


Furthermore, I did the laundry today and I also tried to build a an IKEA bed. It didnt work out the way I wanted it to be so that's way I need to break it down tomorrow and assemble it tomorrow afternoon again. Believe me, it's not so easy to build something from IKEA..You should always use your brains!

me and a few ?mexican? kids at the Hermosa Beach pier.

Alright guys, as you can see I'm really busy but as soon as I have important news I'll update my blog and tell you what happened. I just want to give you one last tip: If you ever go to Los Angeles, try to stay one weekend in the surf city hostel in Hermosa Beach. That's one of the best hostels (and funniest!) I've every stayed in! And it's unbelievably close to the beach where you can find really good waves in case you want to try surfing.

See ya soon, and have a good one (that's what the americans always say)!

Flo

Picture of the week

I love it!
"roll-your-own-Pretzel"

(i took it in Franckenmuth, Michigan's little Bavaria)

Welcome to Los Angeles!

Hellu!

I arrived yesterday in Los Angeles and I was surprised how cold it is here...brrr, we have around 70 to 80 degrees Farenheit here which is, compared to Michigan, really cold.

I stay in a hostel called "surf city hostel" in hermosa beach. The hostel is really cool, it is only 30sec away from the beach ( see the link http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&q=surf%20city%20hostel%20hermosa%20beach&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl ) and it is surprisingly cheap for this area, namely only 30 dollars per night.
Another cool thing is that the bank of America is just around the corner so i dont need to go far to get money.
Her's a picture from the beach but dont be surpirsed that it's so cloudy because somehow its always like that in LA, every morning.
I'll try to get a good picture of the beach today between 12-3 pm because then it#s really sunny and warm, like its supposed to be in the city of angeles.

I lost my camera when I went camping up north in Michigan but fortunately my mobile phone can also take good pictures (i'm impressed by the quality of the pictures; i thought it would be worse)

My plan for today is to go to the beach, go for a run, do a few sprints on the "strand" and then get a surfboard or a smaller board and do some surfing in the water with a few friends from the hostel.

Speaking of the hostel, there are only young people there! And guess what, in my room are 3 Swiss guys, 1 Austrian girl and a German girl...how wonderful..

I also went to my university yesterday and found out that there is a bus running from my hostel to the university for only 1,50 dollars :-) When i took the cab the first time I had to pay 40 dollars. Its a nice difference, isn't it ;). Thats the entrance of my university there on the left hand side. I went to the housing office and they told me that they are really full and that they'll put me on the waitlist. Because of that, I decided to find Racheal, the study abroad coordinator, and she told me that she'll try to find a way around it and get me a place...let's keep our fingers crossed for me. I'm going to the college again on monday so I#ll probably post some news on monday again.
I'm going to take more pictures of my university but what I can tell you so far is that it is really nice and that there are only black and hispanic people :-)

Alright, it's time to get ready for the beach :-). I hope that you also have a good time back in Germany !

See ya later,

Flo

The next few days

Let my continue my story about my trip to Detroit, one of America's most violent and criminal city :-). On friday, we went to see the Tigers game against the Los Angeles Angeles. It was my first baseball game in my life and it was really impressive. I think the stadium seats 50-60.000 people and I don't know, it's just crazy if you see so many people on one spot.

The game itself was interesing (although I didnt understand a lot in the beginning) but thanks to Phil, Kristin's boyfriend, I slowly understood the idea behind baseball. I even saw a homerun for the Detroit Tigers but that didn't help in the end, the Tigers lost.
Another nice thing was that a guy in front of me gave me his brandnew baseball because I told him that this has been my first baseball match :-).

There were even fireworks after the game and you can't believe how long it lasted- I would say at least as long as the fireworks we have every New Year's Eve (but they have them every friday after a baseball game in summer).









Days 4&5

Weekend in Ann Arbor, the city where Kristin and all her friends study. You can guess what happend if you go on a weekend to a student city :-) Right, it was party time :-) We stayed in Phil's house for the two days but it didnt really matter in which house we stayed because Kristin's house is just one house away from his house. I think these houses are typical American houses. Let me show you guys a picture of the house so that you know what I'm talking about:

(I love the fact that there are porches in front of every house, so American!)





On sunday, Kristin and Phil showed me around in Ann Arbor and again, I can only say that everything is bigger in America. The buildings for the university are all in a very good condition and everything is really nice. In other words: The campus is really gorgeous, you can't compare it to Tübingen where all the buildings are spread all over the city.

This building on the left (it continues on the rifht) is a dormitory for a couple of thousand studens. Brandnew.


Today(monday), we'll go shopping (in need new cool sunglasses for the california gurls ;) ) and afterwards we'll go ice skating in the evening we will watch the movie Inception. Afterwards we will maybe play taboo with kristin's partens. This will be the ultimate English test for me :-) Let's see how well I'll cope with unknown words.

Cheers,

Flo

Things which are different in America

Hi all,

Instead of continuing with my "normal" story, I decided to write every now and then a little bit about the small differences between Germany and America. I think it is very interesing to see and notice those tiny little things because normally you expect that America and Germany have many things in common. Here we go:

1. In America, you are allowed to buy a gun when you are very young (the age differs in every state) but you are not allowed to drink alcohol until you're 21!#
2. You are not allowed to drink alcohol in public
3. In many cities, you cant find a sidewalk to walk/or run- it is not common that there are "gehwege" for pedestrians (you can guess why...)
4. 
5. One stereotype about the Americans is that they eat fast food all the time, especially Mc Donalds&Burger King. This is not 100% true. Let me explain this: OF COURSE, there are way more fast food restaurants in America but the fact is that the quality of those fast food restaurants if often really good. For example, I went to a place called "zingermans" yesterday where you can buy sandwiches. My sandwich tasted so good and it had a real "German" bread.
6. Everything is bigger in America! Cars, shopping malls, food packages, just everything! I saw the Michigan Stadium yesterday which seats more than 110.00 people!!!
7. Generally, fast food is much cheaper than in Germany with the exception of pizza...somehow you always need to pay at least 10 dollars for a pizza
8. You can find the house number at the side of the sidewalk
9. The police is..hmm..more strict and frightening- you don't wanna fool around with them
   
10. Clubs close at 2 am in the morning-waaa
11. In America you have mpg (miles per gallon) whereas in Germany you use l/100km (litres per 100 km)
12. The traffic lights are on the right hand side of the street and you're allowed to turn right even if the traffic light is red
    

That's it for the beginning. I think I'll add, from time to time, more and more things to this list. Do not expect my list to be exhaustive or to be correct all the time because I just write down what I see and experience.

Flo

The first few days

( I haven't figured out yet how to put the pictures in the right place so don't wonder about it)

Hi everybody!

Before I can't stop praising my first impressions of America, I'd better start from the beginning of my trip:

Well, the funny part began right back in Germany back at the airport. My flight was overbooked so it wasn't sure whether I'll get a seat in the plan. On my ticket, it said:"seat request" and I was so angry because I paid quite a bit for my flight to Michigan. But fortunately, everything worked out well and I even managed to get pass the mean and strict police border guys at Michigan airport. I cant tell you, you don't fell comfortable if someone keeps asking you questions for about 5 minutes when your entry to the US is at stake. Anyways, as i said, everything worked out and Kristin picked me up at the airport and her parents drove me to their house.

Kristin's parents, Mike and Karen, are really really friendly peolpe and they are sooo hospitable! It's always fun talking to them and I'm so glad that Kristin's parents are just as nice and friendly as she is. I'm a lucky bastard :-).

So what did I do during the first day? After arriving in Michigan we went to a town not far away from their place and we went shopping because I needed to buy a mobile phone. I bought a samsung cell phone with a good monthly contract ( a lil bit like a pre-paid phone) which means that I can send unlimited text messages and call other people for free who also have a Verizon contract. I also uploaded a picture of my "handy" :-). Again, i hope that I can put the pictures in the right place, if it's not working, then someone should explain it to my beacuse otherewise my blog will look like shit :-)

In the evening we just talked a lit bit,watched UFC hardcore fighting (hehehee). It was really relaxing for me because I was still a little bit jetlagged (i hope this verb exists, felix ;) ).

Day 2

The second day was so much fun! We went to lake st. claire where with their boat and then we drove in the middle of the sea where we stopped and anchored. I lied in a tube and floated around but then Mike suggested that he could tie me to the boat and then go really fast! That was so crazy, unbelievably! The second time ( i fell down pretty quickly the first time) he went nearly 40 or 50 miles per hour which is really really fast if you try to hold on to handle of the tube. Check out the pictures and you can that this was a real challenge for me :-)

Afterwards, we picked up Phil, Kristin's boyfriend, and then we went to a restaurant to fill up our hungry stomaches ( it was nearly 5 o'clock when we ate and we hat breakfast at 10!). After that, we drove again a little bit on the sea and then Phil, Kristin and I went to celebrate the birthday of one of kristin's friend in a place called "cheesburger paradise" :-D.And do you know what then happened to me? I wanted to order a cocktail but then I forgot my ID so I couldn't buy a drink because EVERYBODY had to show his ID even though some of the guys there were easlily older than 30...Stupid Americans :-). When we went home I went straight to bed because I only slept 5-6 hours during the first night so I was really tired and I slept until 9.30 the next day, Friday.

Day 3

Right now, I'm writing my blog but later we'll go to a Baseball game (Detroit versus Los Angeles) and then we'll head over to Mike's place where we'll celebrate his birthday again. We'll also sleep there. By the way, Kristin gave me a Detroit baseball cap as a gift so that I can wear it during the game. I guess I already look like a real American ;)

That's it for now.

Bye,

Flo

Going to America..

Dear all,

wir schreiben den Monat August im Jahre 2010....bald ist es so weit!!!

Amerika!!! Eureka! Das haben die Siedler gerufen, als sie auf der Suche nach Gold in Californien waren und ich werde wahrscheinlich das Gleiche rufen, sobald ich meine Füße aus dem Flugzeug setzen werde.

Doch zuerst werde ich einen kleinen Zwischenstopp in Michigan, Detroit machen um meine liebenswürdige Ex-Mitbewohnerin Kristin Lang zu besuchen. Während ihres Auslandssemesters in Deutschland haben wir uns kennengelernt und sind gute Freunde geworden...Ich konnte sie sogar überzeugen, mich auf der kalten schwäbischen Alb zu besuchen und mein kleines Heimatdörfchen Nusplingen zu besichtigen . Als Gegenleistung lud sie mich zu sich nach Hause ein und da werde ich auch am kommenden Mittwoch hinfliegen!

Danach werde ich dann in das gelobte Land, Kalifornien, fliegen um mein Auslandssemester an der Cal State Dominugzes Hills in Los Angeles (man beachte den typischen englischen Namen) zu absolvieren

Doch was verbindet man mit Kalifornien? Sommer, Sonne, Strand, Meer, Silicon Valley, Google, iphone, Apple, Facebook, Death Valley, Yosemite National Park, Las Vegas(auch wenns in Nevada ist, ist es nicht soo weit weg), San Diego, Los Angeles sind nur ein paar Begriffe die mir spontan dazu einfallen, und ich bin mir sicher, dass die Liste jeden Tag wachsen wird, sobald ich dort bin.

Ich freue mich wirklich auf dieses halbe Jahr in Amerika und für mich selber wird ein kleiner Traum wahr! Ich möchte euch mit diesem Blog immer auf dem akutellsten Stand halten und verspreche euch, dass der Blog mindestens genau so spannend wie meine eigenen Erfahrungen werden wird! Also let's go Cali!

Florian