Made it safely

Few skyscrapers
Originally uploaded by framboise.

And I'm back online... In dribs and drabs. I have access at work as well as in my temporary accommodation. I even bought a new PAYG mobile phone today, one which works on the odd frequency of 1900Hz, which the Americans insist on using, even though the majority of the world's phone manufacturers are based in countries using 900 or 1800Hz. This means I now own, or have owned, six different models of Nokia phones, starting with the banana that was popularised by The Matrix, working my way down the price scale to my baseline, bog standard 2115i.

I've only been here a couple of days, and boy is the culture shock setting in. It doesn't help that I'm here on my own. The surroundings are not as alien as I feared, and I'm slowly getting a hang for the money. What I need now is a wallet with different compartments for the notes; they're all green! The next step is to learn how to use public transport without annoying the bus driver with my slowness at picking out quarters from the other coins. Side note: They have four denominations of coins here: quarters ($0.25), dimes ($0.10), five cents (self-explanatory) and one cent. The odd thing is that the dimes are much smaller than the five cents, which confuses me when I'm digging about for change. I guess it's similar in the UK, where the 20p coin is smaller in size than the 10p. And apparently, five states release new quarters every year, which makes them collectible.

A few first impressions about LA, Westwood in particular, since that's the only area I've been in so far. There are far too many lanes on the roads. Really, the best way to keep cars off the road is to make them undriveable, like in Edinburgh! If you start out with good urban planning, then all you're going to do is encourage people to get in their cars. Any US city wanting to reduce its traffic problem would do well to look at medieval European cities: winding roads, cobbled to kill car suspensions, only two lanes per road with parked cars on both sides, potholes (also targeted at suspension systems), bus lanes, potholes filled with loose gravel that pings up from the road and smashes your windscreen... The list is endless. But I guess it's too late to reduce the number of lanes here. But there's always that killer application: road works! ;)

So far, it looks like most of the drivers in this neighborhood are pretty good to pedestrians, even stopping at "Stop" signs (which they're supposed to). In most parts of Europe, even zebra crossings aren't always a guarantee of a safe road crossing. Here, even though drivers are allowed to turn right even on a red light, they respect the green man (or as the Americans call it, the "Walk" sign). But on the downside, you can get ticketed for jaywalking here, something that another newcomer (from Poland) warned me about. Even if there is no traffic at a junction, if the "walk" sign isn't on, you can't cross the road. I wonder if that should be broadcasted on European flights to the USA, along with the video they now show about the fingerprint and photo-taking procedure at the immigration checkpoints.

The weather has been pretty constant since arrival, with a little fog/smog/mist this morning. Apparently, this is their coolest summer in a while (good for me), but things should get hotter soon (not so good for Miss Made-in-Edinburgh-Blubber). Amazingly, they have what look like deciduous trees here. I thought California, LA in particular, had a desert-like climate. But it turns out that there's an army of gardeners in trucks here, who attach their hoses to the water mains at midday to water the odd patches of grass and green leafy plants. Even I know that it's pretty useless to water plants at midday, but I guess you can't really ask them all to work in the evenings only.

I've also had several astonished responses to my announcement that I've sublet an apartment in Venice, as it seems too far from UCLA for my co-workers. Perhaps I've made a mistake here... It seems that most of them live around Westwood, and mainly within a 10 minute walk or short commute from work. I used to live very close to my work place in Edinburgh, and it wasn't very good for my real life. Whenever I left the flat, it loomed in the near distance, nagging me to go in and do some work, which meant I could never really relax and enjoy myself. But American labs are known for their workaholics, so maybe that's a sacrifice I'll have to make once my lease on the Venice flat runs out. On the plus side, I've met the person I'm subletting from, and she's really nice and full of advice on the things I should do and see while I'm in the Venice area. She's even offered to put me in touch with some friends who are in the know about flat rentals.

On the food front, I can see why a lot of people don't cook much at home. Those who live in apartments probably have tiny open-plan kitchens. But even if you had a huge stainless steel-clad stove, you'd probably be too tempted by the very many food outlets here. Perhaps it's just Westwood that's blessed with a multitude of cafes, burger bars, food shacks (oh yes, I was tempted, but I'll leave it a few days before I subject myself to possible food poisoning) and posh and not-so-posh restaurants. This won't go down as my most exciting culinary experience ever, but I had an "In-N-Out" burger last night, after watching a movie with my co-workers. It was pleasantly surprising to find a decent burger, with chunky slices of onion, verified tomato slices, and crisp lettuce leaves between two bready buns. (It'll never compare to my favourite burgers from Bell's Diner, who have an American-inspired menu, but top it with decent burgers made with recognisable pieces of meat. As it should be.) Quite how Micky-Dees gets it so wrong, I'll never know. My next piece of culinary experience will be to try an LA chilli dog. Something tells me my stomach will rebel, but for the sake of research, I'm willing to take the risk.

Now that I'm a little more settled, I'll try to take some photos. For now, here are a few shots of the LA that I've seen. Westwood looks a lot nicer than these shots show. It's been patchy today, with sunny spells breaking through that smog. It was also fairly pleasant this morning, with some sun and some breeze. And my desk at work is next to the window, which is a real bonus on the eyes. I won't be posting shots of my workplace, or writing about it, mainly because I don't know what their policy is. Learned my lesson about not having my camera with me at lunchtime when I walked past the Westwood Farmers' Market on my way to Radioshack to get that mobile phone. The number of peaches, nectarines, apricots, berries, figs, and so much else, astounded me. I could not make my mind up over what to get. And I had to remind myself that I had to eat everything I bought, without my "rubbish bin"/pet pig to help me scoff it all. Photo of weird peach that I bought will follow shortly.

Obligatory freeway shot	Smog	Korean dumplings

Anyway. I'm here now. And while it's going to be all work-work-work for my time here, I hope to be able to sample the delights of LA. On the food front, I think I'm really going to enjoy living so close to producers of fantastic fruit. It won't last all year, but that's part of the fun, eating seasonal produce. (Unlike in Scotland where nothing is exciting from the seasonal perspective, apart from strawberries, raspberries and bramble.) If we're savvy, when P gets over here, we will be able to afford somewhere between work and fun (for fun, read the beach!) that has a decent kitchen to cook some of the amazing veg I saw at the market. And if we're lucky, and careful with our money, we'll be able to take advantage of being in the city of the LA Philharmonic and their conductor-of-the-moment, the gorgeous Finnish Esa-Pekka Salonen!

:D

01 Jul '05 update: Uploaded photo of planetary peach on Flickr. And as for cars stopping at "walk"/stop signs, I saw my first case of pedestrain rage yesterday, when a car tried to bully its way past a bloke crossing legally on a "walk" sign. He slapped the car. Shame it didn't blush with embarrasment.

Offski

Well, as mentioned in the other blog, I'm off to LA pretty soon (first flight to Schiphol in 6 hours, as a matter of fact). As anyone who has done this before would probably tell you, the last couple of weeks are always the worst, however much planning you do. There have been nights where I've gone to bed at 3am, and woken at 7am just because I'm in a constant state of worry.

There's a lot to be worried about, because all I'm hearing at the moment is how difficult and bureaucratic life can be for newcomers to America. I was very lucky to have arrived in the UK as a student. The universities here are well set-up, with welcome packs that they send to you in advance, with all the pertinent information, like how to open a bank account, register with a GP, find the nearest pub with cheap beer. You know, the essentials. But this move to America, however aided with a couple of guide books, is highly unorganised and slap-dash.

Nothing's definite, it's going to be awkward opening a bank account straight away (which means no security of having money in the bank), the American financial system is different (not that I understand the British one anyway, but at least I have started my pension plan here), I've never been to LA (or America for that matter), the money is funny (it's all green! how do you tell them apart at a glance?!), and add to that the fact that I haven't properly "met" my future employer and workmates.

Although it's all too scary, I think I'll enjoy it once immigration has been cleared, the bags safely picked up (not holding out much hope for that), and transport arranged to my first night's stay. Then, hopefully, that double-hitch knot in my stomach will somehow loosen, and we can start preparations for P's move...

:D

Fingers uncrossed

Huge sigh of relief.

My passport was returned this morning, intact and bearing a new visa. The next thing to do is secure the Westwood studio with a deposit. But first, there's the final episode of Doctor Who to watch!

Fingers crossed

Feeling a little apprehensive. I've just booked my flight to LA, leaving Edinburgh on the 28th of June at 5.50am, with a 3 hour stop-over in Schipol before the flight to LAX. I'm feeling apprehensive about it because I've booked and paid for the flight without my passport in hand. Now, ordinarily, that would be the stupidest thing to do. But in my defence, tickets for the 28th of June via Schipol or Charles de Galle are fast running out. Perhaps it's the start of the holiday season, or there's some big event in LA around the end of June, but whatever the reason, 28th June tickets on Expedia suddenly disappeared, and those on the KLM and Air France sites have shot up to over £700. Also, that's the very last day I dare leave it to before my time's up on the visa (I have to report to someone within a month of my official start date, which was the 1st of June). So here's hoping my passport has been stamped and sent back without any problems.

On the apartment front, I've found one within walking distance to UCLA. With any luck, I can arrange to pay the deposit to secure the flat (still have to make a conscious effort to type apartment) within the next couple of days. For the curious, it's located here. Looking at the satellite version of the Google Map, it looks like a short skip and hop to UCLA and has the bonus of being close to some greenery. On the other hand, I've not seen any photos of the studio and am hoping it's as nice as described. But hey, there are laundry facilities in the building (that's an American oddity, not having washing machines in the flat), and the studio is DSL ready and furnished, which would save me a visit to IKEA so soon!

furieux

Fume.

I've been waiting all week for the US Embassy's preferred courier (SMS) to pick up my passport and application. Two days, they said. Two days. After a complaint this morning, I finally got someone to ring me back this afternoon. There were no apologies for the delay, nor explanation for why it takes them this long to even arrange a pick-up time. I could have walked to London and back in that time, guys!

Obviously, this has serious knock-on effects on my travel plans. Assuming the Embassy's Counsel grants the visa in tip-top time, I won't get my passport back for another week. At least. Meanwhile, flight prices continue to rise, and I'm fast running out of time to get to LA before the one month deadline runs out. I'm not a happy bunny, and am especially mad that SMS have such a monopoly as couriers for the US Embassy. It's alright for them if they're incompetent, the money keeps on coming in. They're not the ones who will have to explain to their new employer that a whole new application needs to be made.

And I paid an extra £4 to get the courier here before noon, only to be told after I'd paid for everything that it only applies to the pick-up. Delivery will still be anytime between 8am and 6pm. That just about rules out my leaving the house at all for another week. I have no faith in couriers and my passport; there are too many who don't give a toss, and I have only one passport with irreplaceable stamps and visas (well, replaceable, but it'd take another 3 months to negotiate with the Home Office here again).

Still fuming.

Share a flat with 4 girls? I think not!

Things are moving apace for D. The plan is to leave the UK after the final episode of this season's Doctor Who. (Can't imagine missing out the end of the Bad Wolf story!) I've not bought the flight tickets yet, but that's because there was a slight delay in the visa application. My parents, on the other hand, have been getting excited on my behalf, and have already found a place for me to spend the first few nights: Tiverton House. It looks and sounds alright, but is a bit on the pricey side for me. On the other hand, the first couple of nights are always worst, as the jet lag hits, and the last thing I want to be is disoriented in an unfamiliar place. Crossing the street sounds perfect for the first few confused days. (And they've offered to pay... Oh, joy for the bank balance!)

Trying to be realistic

I can't stay there forever though, so Craig's list and UCLA's own off-campus housing listing database have been a big help for getting an idea of rental in LA. Having gotten so used to not having to share living quarters, I'm aiming to rent an apartment all to myself (without going into torrid details, there are just some things you don't want to see in a bathroom first thing in the morning...). And seeing as LA is quite expensive, it'll have to be, at best, a one bed/one bath, and more realistically, a studio. At very worst, I'm going to sink to a bed-sit (called an efficiency in the US, I think) and eat in the very many ethnic restaus there. Not knowing the place well, my strategy is to take on a sub-lease for the summer months, when the students aren't there, and look for a longer-term rental during that time. It's not looking too bad, and hopefully, I won't have to pay more than US$1,200 per month. And should nothing come through on either of those two free listings, I could sign up with one of those leasing agents... But since you have to pay for that, I'll leave that for desperate times.

Neighbourhoods

I'm probably the wrong sort of person to live in LA, 'cos I love walking. Everywhere, and under all weather conditions (and if you know the weather in Scotland, you know how bad that can be). Since LA is too big for that, I'm going to try to live near the Big Blue Bus route that goes from Venice Beach, through Santa Monica to UCLA. That way, I have an under-one hour bus journey every morning (~40 min if before the peak hours begin), but live in a neighbourhood that I can walk about in. While I'm not a beach babe or a surf dude, the prospect of being a short walk away from the beach for a few months is very appealing. We spend many weekends in summer on the beaches of East Lothian, but even the sunniest days barely hit 20 degC (and that's not even taking into account the unique Scottish phenomenon of the haar). That's the ideal situation, anyway, living in Venice, Santa Monica or even Mar Vista. Until I get really desperate, that is. ;)