Los Angeles
This city is so huge. It takes 2 hours to get downtown on the bus. So far I've been downtown once and been to Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. I met Jack Sparrow, Elmo and Princess Fiona in Hollywood! I saw the Beverly Hills Hotel and the toilets outside it where George Michael was arrested. Also sneaked a peek at the outside of Hugh Heffners Playboy mansion.
The hills around LA go for miles and miles (and thats not even the Sierra Nevada). I've been walking in Griffith Park (way behid the Hollywood sign) and I biked up into the Malibu mountains behind Malibu and found a monestry in the hills. I am going western style riding in Griffith park at the weekend. Its only $40 for a 2 hour ride which is about £20!!! I know who is jealous reading this bit!!!
People here are more self centered than i've ever seen before in america. I dont mean self centered in an entirely bad way, everyone is out to get their little bit of the american dream and they dont have a clue about other people. Most shop keepers i spoke to and people who lived locally have no idea whats in the next street. They only care about themselves and are very very outspoken in a way that shocked me at first. Now i think that British people really do have a stiff upper lip and everywhere I go i see people being what I would call 'rude' but they are just leading their own lives and dont care for anything else as no-one would notice them being rude anyway! The more I stay here the more i realise there is never any sense of community anywhere and no-one really seems to notice anyone else. Everyone is too busy with their own lives. This is good in a way a no-one is self conscious as no-one pays them any attention but it feels very unfriendly at times. No-one notices or comments on the large homeless population raking through bins and sleeping on the beach. People all use their cars to get around 24/7 however public transport is very very good but very underused. Majority of people who use buses and who work in the lower paid jobs are black but also hispanic. There is a huge spanish population here and they dont speak english.
I met a guy on the bus the other day and we were chatting. He said he was from Memphis and he knew I was not from LA as I smiled at him and said hello when we were waiting for the bus.
I am working in the Hostel in LA in exchange for a free bed so i work for 3 hours and then my day is my own. The hostel is right on the beach, this is where they filmed baywatch and I am fitting in well as I have rollarblades for the boardwalk and spend some afternoons rollarblading up and down seeing all the street performers. Venice Beach (the area im staying in) is very like Brighton, lots of street performers and peace signs everywhere. Very big gay community as well. The people i work with in the hostel are nice. There is Shelly, an Australian girl and we are great friends. Then there is Crazy annd Morray (Kiwi guys) and then Matt (French) and Rodger (Sweedish). I could put in something here about how they all surf all the time when they are not working and put in something about what a surfers body looks like but I'm sure you can work it out (and im sure Linz knows where I'm coming from!!!)
I am staying here until the 5th. Derrick, the guy i met in the hostel in Nashville emailed me to say that his boss bought a caravan for the hostel, but he bought it in LA and asked Derrick and me to drive it from LA to Nashville!! Road trip!
We are going through Palm Springs to Joshua Tree National Park to Grand Canyon National Park. Then we are going to drive to New Mexico. We want to find some hot springs along the way (any suggestions Sue or Graeme??) Then Arkensas and then Nashville. I fly from St Loius to San Fransico after that and go to Yosemite National Park!!
This city is so huge. It takes 2 hours to get downtown on the bus. So far I've been downtown once and been to Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Hollywood. I met Jack Sparrow, Elmo and Princess Fiona in Hollywood! I saw the Beverly Hills Hotel and the toilets outside it where George Michael was arrested. Also sneaked a peek at the outside of Hugh Heffners Playboy mansion.
The hills around LA go for miles and miles (and thats not even the Sierra Nevada). I've been walking in Griffith Park (way behid the Hollywood sign) and I biked up into the Malibu mountains behind Malibu and found a monestry in the hills. I am going western style riding in Griffith park at the weekend. Its only $40 for a 2 hour ride which is about £20!!! I know who is jealous reading this bit!!!
People here are more self centered than i've ever seen before in america. I dont mean self centered in an entirely bad way, everyone is out to get their little bit of the american dream and they dont have a clue about other people. Most shop keepers i spoke to and people who lived locally have no idea whats in the next street. They only care about themselves and are very very outspoken in a way that shocked me at first. Now i think that British people really do have a stiff upper lip and everywhere I go i see people being what I would call 'rude' but they are just leading their own lives and dont care for anything else as no-one would notice them being rude anyway! The more I stay here the more i realise there is never any sense of community anywhere and no-one really seems to notice anyone else. Everyone is too busy with their own lives. This is good in a way a no-one is self conscious as no-one pays them any attention but it feels very unfriendly at times. No-one notices or comments on the large homeless population raking through bins and sleeping on the beach. People all use their cars to get around 24/7 however public transport is very very good but very underused. Majority of people who use buses and who work in the lower paid jobs are black but also hispanic. There is a huge spanish population here and they dont speak english.
I met a guy on the bus the other day and we were chatting. He said he was from Memphis and he knew I was not from LA as I smiled at him and said hello when we were waiting for the bus.
I am working in the Hostel in LA in exchange for a free bed so i work for 3 hours and then my day is my own. The hostel is right on the beach, this is where they filmed baywatch and I am fitting in well as I have rollarblades for the boardwalk and spend some afternoons rollarblading up and down seeing all the street performers. Venice Beach (the area im staying in) is very like Brighton, lots of street performers and peace signs everywhere. Very big gay community as well. The people i work with in the hostel are nice. There is Shelly, an Australian girl and we are great friends. Then there is Crazy annd Morray (Kiwi guys) and then Matt (French) and Rodger (Sweedish). I could put in something here about how they all surf all the time when they are not working and put in something about what a surfers body looks like but I'm sure you can work it out (and im sure Linz knows where I'm coming from!!!)
I am staying here until the 5th. Derrick, the guy i met in the hostel in Nashville emailed me to say that his boss bought a caravan for the hostel, but he bought it in LA and asked Derrick and me to drive it from LA to Nashville!! Road trip!
We are going through Palm Springs to Joshua Tree National Park to Grand Canyon National Park. Then we are going to drive to New Mexico. We want to find some hot springs along the way (any suggestions Sue or Graeme??) Then Arkensas and then Nashville. I fly from St Loius to San Fransico after that and go to Yosemite National Park!!
posted by Amy | 9:15 PM
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