The first steps in California

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening.

Since I was a child, it was clear to me: I want to see the world!

After numerous vacations in my teenage years, it was also clear to me: just vacationing in these countries is not enough for me. Being just a tourist, spending 2 weeks in a hotel, doing 2-3 tours to the nearest places, and then boasting at home saying, 'Well, I have already been to (Morocco, Spain, Italy, etc.)!' No, you don't. You only know the hotel, the airport, and 3 restaurants in the nearest town. Some may do a little more and have maybe seen 4 restaurants and whatnot, but they don't really 'know' anything.

And there's nothing wrong with that! On the contrary!

Next, some people travel the world for weeks with their huge Deuter backpack. This already goes in the direction of what I understand as 'experiencing'. You see a lot in a relatively short time and get much more insights into foreign cultures and people than the typical tourist.

However, it was always clear to me that I want to be able to claim that I have LIVED in a foreign place for some time. And when in November, after what felt like 568 years of applying, I received the acceptance for 2 semesters abroad at California State University, it was clear: a new chapter will be opened, the chapter that I have wanted to write since I was a little boy.

After what felt like another 7465 applications, proofs, interviews, and registrations, in mid-August 2017, first the pilot of the Airbus A330 in Munich and then the pilot of the Boeing 777 in Istanbul gave full throttle to the turbines. The adrenaline rose as did the altitude, and on August 16th, exhausted and with bloating from flying, I stood at LAX with all my belongings, waiting for my Uber driver Che, who took me to Venice Beach.

Los Angeles itself is ugly. Anyone who claims otherwise has never been there.

The beach communities like Santa Monica or Venice Beach, on the other hand, are even nicer. Due to jet lag, I was already awake at 6:00 am on the first morning. So I took the opportunity and sneaked out of the room where drunk English and French people were sleeping off their hangovers. 50 meters away, the beach awaited me, and for the first time, I saw the scenery as you know it from numerous series and movies.

With my fellow student Pauline, who had arrived a day earlier, I rented a bike, and we cycled along the beach to Santa Monica Pier. The atmosphere and the weather were just incredible. Everyone on the beach was either a fitness model or a nutritionist. Hardly anyone didn't do sports, didn't look tan and fit, didn't have a sharp and stylish haircut, didn't have something healthy like raw food or a protein shake in their hand, and not to forget: hardly anyone didn't show off their flawless Colgate Super White smile. The atmosphere immediately infected you, and I decided to shine my body, which had been marked by countless liters of beer and tons of doner kebab, brightly again. And it will work, you'll see!

The next day, we took a 3-hour bus ride south towards Mexico to our home for the next 10 months: San Diego. Since I can only buy a friend's car who is leaving San Diego after an incredibly awesome year after about a week, I got a run-down, weak but cheap Hyundai for the first week and drove to the house of my landlord Matt (33), with whom I will share his house for the next 10 months. He's more quiet, but a super nice and cool guy, and his dog Maverick (a mix between Golden Retriever and something else, Matt has no idea either) is the sweetest and happiest dog that has ever lived on this planet.

That's it for now. Tune in next time for Stories from California...