So travelling around California has officially started, and over 1500 miles later, I am back here in our apartment in LA, kind of thankful I don't have to go anywhere for another 36 hours or so.
So just over a week ago, fresh from a mini trip to Santa Barbara (very quiet & chilled town) and a mini hike to nearly getting to the Hollywood sign (kind of got lost, and then it got dark), we went to our first American football game, a college football game between UCLA Bruins (Sonam's adopted university) and ASU Devils (Arizona State, the university of our friend Marissa who lives here). Anyone who went to University outside of the US probably sees university sport pretty much the same way as me - who gives a shit? Seriously, my parents probably wouldn't even turn up if I told them I was playing football or cricket for LSE first team. I imagine their first question would have been "But are you getting job applications sent? Make sure this doesn't impact your studies". No, I'm kidding, they aren't really the stereotypical Indian shoe-waving types. But I imagine me telling them about university sport might not even make it into the highlight of the phone call, never mind be on the highlights reel on TV. Anyway, I had my first experience of 'tailgating', and thankfully it isn't as creepy or predatory as it sounds. Its basically a piss up/pre-game lash, which instead of meeting at the pub, people meet in a garden near the stadium, and park up, open up their barbeques and get drinking for about 4-5 hours before the game, and 4 hours later, drive home (sounds safe). The stadium packs in around 90,000 people, and it certainly looked full to me. The parking area where the tailgating was going on was probably more packed than some Premier League football matches. I was totally blown away by a) how much drink driving must be happening, and b) how much these Alumni of these universities care, driving 6 -7 hours to have a barbeque and watch a game of football. I mean, it's amazing how much they still identify with their school, how proudly they still sing their university songs, and how much of a shit they seem to give about their school. It sort of fits in with the 'USA! USA!' stereotype of Americans, the incessant beaming pride they have when being part of anything. There is a real feeling of belonging to any University you end up going to, and 15 years later, people are still supporting their school, still have the university sticker on their car, and still buying memorabilia for the University for their kids, encouraging them to go there and carry on the tradition. It's so odd, because I personally didn't feel any of that, not even while I was there, but certainly not now. I have zero opinion on what LSE is doing now, perhaps not being a campus uni, and in the centre of the city doesn't help, but I know no one back home harping on about their university, and how it was amazing, and how they really hope the guys do them proud and win the season this year, or whatever else crap the Alumni should care about. It was a means to an end, and that's all it has ever felt like. Sure, some of my best friends were made there, but we bonded over things we had in common, not really through our pride for this amazing establishment that we call University. I imagine University is probably a means to an end in the US, but when you're charging up to $60K a year, you have to sell the 'experience', and that's what they do. Very, very well. And not being that way makes you kind of an outsider, I imagine. In the same way as not being a 'USA! USA!'-chanting-America-is-the-greatest American can raise a few eyebrows, I imagine the same is true for university pride. And that is just marketing genius. Schools have developed a brand, not necessarily with employers, but definitely with Alumni, and that Alumni will consistently validate their experience through chanting, buying merchandise and cheering on their College teams, doing plenty of marketing for them. Ok, ok, that was an incredibly cynically British way to look at American Unis, and the truth is, even if it is all a load of hype and unwarranted enthusiasm, it certainly provides a much more memorable and, I imagine, tale-worthy university experience. Sure, I had a great time at LSE, and have stories to tell, but that Alumni feeling and connection these people still feel towards their university and their ex-classmates is unrivaled in the UK, and is certainly something I'm envious of.
So, back to the football. Now that part, really, who cares? Apparently Arizona won which was a huge shock, blah blah.. We saw about 5 minutes of the game, took some pictures and proceeded to Uber it home.
One funny thing about being at an American college happened during my first tour around UCLA. It was freshers week, or whatever the equivalent is called here, and there is a road of 18-20 year old kids were handing out flyers for Frat/Sorority houses, handing out flyers for other clubs, trying to entice the cool & good-looking crowd into their house. You could see as you walked down the road, people in the group eyeing the other kids up, and then if they see someone who seems to fit their bill, they would approach and hand them a flier. Sadly, I was not approached by any group, and I can only take that to mean one of two things; I did NOT look cool enough to be a part of their group, OR I looked like one of the parents dropping off their kid. Either way, not great.
So, on to talk about our travels, and we have been far and wide over the last few days. From our humble home in LA, we drove to Death Valley, a beautiful landscape of dusty hills and yellow rock, and from there to a little town just outside Mount Whitney. From there we drove to Lake Tahoe, which is a ginormous lake, roughly 190 square miles, and made for a peaceful and relaxing day. After that we went to Mammoth Lake, a little skiing town where we stayed for two nights while we explored the Yosemite National Park. This park, although a little touristy now, was breathtakingly beautiful, and followed the common theme of this road trip; the vastness and scale of nothingness, intertwined with very simple yet elegant parts of nature, make for an extremely picturesque and breathtaking sight. Of course, 1400 miles of driving later, I'm not sure I am ready to take another picture of a rock next to some sand for a while.
Another thing about road trips, other than being really cool to look at, and having that fresh air blowing in your face as you drive, convertibles really aren't all that for long road journeys. Not only can you not really hear your music without blasting it, you can't really hear each other talk even before you start blasting the music, and its either baking your skin from the heat on a long drive, or its too cold to have the roof down anyway. Not to mention the annoyance of accidentally leaving some paper out when you lower the roof. So yeah, not the greatest of long journey accessories. Saying that, it looks like a dream compared to motorbikes. I mean, that just looks like a complete ball ache. Not just literally - you have to get into some sort of space suit to get started, you can't listen to anything on the radio or talk to anyone, not even the pour soul clinging on to you. And if you have headphones, I'm not sure theres an easy way to change the music. If you thought bugs on your windscreen were bad, I imagine they're even worse on your viser/body, and if you drop anything at all, that's pretty much ruined/broken. Plus there's the whole 'death' risk thing. Just sounds rubbish.
Here are some of the pics from out trip, but off to Chicago early on Wednesday morning, hopeful that something job related gets finalised..
So just over a week ago, fresh from a mini trip to Santa Barbara (very quiet & chilled town) and a mini hike to nearly getting to the Hollywood sign (kind of got lost, and then it got dark), we went to our first American football game, a college football game between UCLA Bruins (Sonam's adopted university) and ASU Devils (Arizona State, the university of our friend Marissa who lives here). Anyone who went to University outside of the US probably sees university sport pretty much the same way as me - who gives a shit? Seriously, my parents probably wouldn't even turn up if I told them I was playing football or cricket for LSE first team. I imagine their first question would have been "But are you getting job applications sent? Make sure this doesn't impact your studies". No, I'm kidding, they aren't really the stereotypical Indian shoe-waving types. But I imagine me telling them about university sport might not even make it into the highlight of the phone call, never mind be on the highlights reel on TV. Anyway, I had my first experience of 'tailgating', and thankfully it isn't as creepy or predatory as it sounds. Its basically a piss up/pre-game lash, which instead of meeting at the pub, people meet in a garden near the stadium, and park up, open up their barbeques and get drinking for about 4-5 hours before the game, and 4 hours later, drive home (sounds safe). The stadium packs in around 90,000 people, and it certainly looked full to me. The parking area where the tailgating was going on was probably more packed than some Premier League football matches. I was totally blown away by a) how much drink driving must be happening, and b) how much these Alumni of these universities care, driving 6 -7 hours to have a barbeque and watch a game of football. I mean, it's amazing how much they still identify with their school, how proudly they still sing their university songs, and how much of a shit they seem to give about their school. It sort of fits in with the 'USA! USA!' stereotype of Americans, the incessant beaming pride they have when being part of anything. There is a real feeling of belonging to any University you end up going to, and 15 years later, people are still supporting their school, still have the university sticker on their car, and still buying memorabilia for the University for their kids, encouraging them to go there and carry on the tradition. It's so odd, because I personally didn't feel any of that, not even while I was there, but certainly not now. I have zero opinion on what LSE is doing now, perhaps not being a campus uni, and in the centre of the city doesn't help, but I know no one back home harping on about their university, and how it was amazing, and how they really hope the guys do them proud and win the season this year, or whatever else crap the Alumni should care about. It was a means to an end, and that's all it has ever felt like. Sure, some of my best friends were made there, but we bonded over things we had in common, not really through our pride for this amazing establishment that we call University. I imagine University is probably a means to an end in the US, but when you're charging up to $60K a year, you have to sell the 'experience', and that's what they do. Very, very well. And not being that way makes you kind of an outsider, I imagine. In the same way as not being a 'USA! USA!'-chanting-America-is-the-greatest American can raise a few eyebrows, I imagine the same is true for university pride. And that is just marketing genius. Schools have developed a brand, not necessarily with employers, but definitely with Alumni, and that Alumni will consistently validate their experience through chanting, buying merchandise and cheering on their College teams, doing plenty of marketing for them. Ok, ok, that was an incredibly cynically British way to look at American Unis, and the truth is, even if it is all a load of hype and unwarranted enthusiasm, it certainly provides a much more memorable and, I imagine, tale-worthy university experience. Sure, I had a great time at LSE, and have stories to tell, but that Alumni feeling and connection these people still feel towards their university and their ex-classmates is unrivaled in the UK, and is certainly something I'm envious of.
So, back to the football. Now that part, really, who cares? Apparently Arizona won which was a huge shock, blah blah.. We saw about 5 minutes of the game, took some pictures and proceeded to Uber it home.
One funny thing about being at an American college happened during my first tour around UCLA. It was freshers week, or whatever the equivalent is called here, and there is a road of 18-20 year old kids were handing out flyers for Frat/Sorority houses, handing out flyers for other clubs, trying to entice the cool & good-looking crowd into their house. You could see as you walked down the road, people in the group eyeing the other kids up, and then if they see someone who seems to fit their bill, they would approach and hand them a flier. Sadly, I was not approached by any group, and I can only take that to mean one of two things; I did NOT look cool enough to be a part of their group, OR I looked like one of the parents dropping off their kid. Either way, not great.
So, on to talk about our travels, and we have been far and wide over the last few days. From our humble home in LA, we drove to Death Valley, a beautiful landscape of dusty hills and yellow rock, and from there to a little town just outside Mount Whitney. From there we drove to Lake Tahoe, which is a ginormous lake, roughly 190 square miles, and made for a peaceful and relaxing day. After that we went to Mammoth Lake, a little skiing town where we stayed for two nights while we explored the Yosemite National Park. This park, although a little touristy now, was breathtakingly beautiful, and followed the common theme of this road trip; the vastness and scale of nothingness, intertwined with very simple yet elegant parts of nature, make for an extremely picturesque and breathtaking sight. Of course, 1400 miles of driving later, I'm not sure I am ready to take another picture of a rock next to some sand for a while.
Another thing about road trips, other than being really cool to look at, and having that fresh air blowing in your face as you drive, convertibles really aren't all that for long road journeys. Not only can you not really hear your music without blasting it, you can't really hear each other talk even before you start blasting the music, and its either baking your skin from the heat on a long drive, or its too cold to have the roof down anyway. Not to mention the annoyance of accidentally leaving some paper out when you lower the roof. So yeah, not the greatest of long journey accessories. Saying that, it looks like a dream compared to motorbikes. I mean, that just looks like a complete ball ache. Not just literally - you have to get into some sort of space suit to get started, you can't listen to anything on the radio or talk to anyone, not even the pour soul clinging on to you. And if you have headphones, I'm not sure theres an easy way to change the music. If you thought bugs on your windscreen were bad, I imagine they're even worse on your viser/body, and if you drop anything at all, that's pretty much ruined/broken. Plus there's the whole 'death' risk thing. Just sounds rubbish.
Here are some of the pics from out trip, but off to Chicago early on Wednesday morning, hopeful that something job related gets finalised..
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