The (UC)LA way of life: Life in L.A.

Here's my list of random things that I've learned about life in L.A. in these first few weeks here. (just a little heads up: you might want to read this in two or three times, it's LONG :) )
Driving: Angelenos tend to think that drivers here are incredibly rude. Although that is sometimes true, driving in Belgium is still more stressful to me. I think it's the spaciousness of driving here: there's usually a lane or two you can deviate to, whereas in Belgium, if you're stuck behind an obnoxious driver, you're stuck (and frustration tends to follow).
Celebrities: I'm sorry my friends, I don't have any exciting celebrity stories yet (I'm not counting the couple of B-listers I have seen, because I only recognize them because I'm addicted to pop culture), but it's only a matter of time till I bump into one. R., a girl I got to know when looking for an apartment and now one of my few friends here, works as an intern for The Ellen Show and sees them on a daily basis. My roommate dated Nick Carter's best friend (you know, the blond Backstreet Boy) and stood in line with Ryan Gosling a couple of weeks ago. But I'm not jealous. He's only my all time favorite actor. And that of course has nothing to do with The Notebook. Nothing.
Plastic surgery: Yep, they're definitely all around: the plump lipped, tight faced, orange tanned middle aged women. And men. There's no sexual discrimination here!
Cost of living: L.A. is expensive!! Everyone here on the westside shares an apartment, because you couldn't afford it by yourself, and it's perfectly normal to share your apartment (or even your room) with people you barely know. Going out to eat usually gets really expensive because you tend to forget that when you get the bill, they also still have to charge you tax and tip (never forget to tip in the US, it's terribly rude seeing the waiters and waitresses earn maybe 2-3 dollars an hour, everything else has to come from tips). Phone: ok, you usually get a free phone with your subscription, but when your monthly payment is at least 40 dollars (and that doesn't even include texts or internet), they better give you something free. Plus, here you not only pay when you call or text yourself, everytime you get a call or a text, you pay too. You can look at that from the bright side: no people calling you hanging up before you pick up, in the hopes of you calling back :) Gas is definitely a lot more expensive than what it was in Wisconsin in 2003 (yes I do know the concept of inflation, but still) but in the end it's still only about 0.6 euro per liter... Going to the movies is 12-13 dollars per ticket. And there's always the little issue of parking. Everyone in L.A. owns a car, so whoever got in the parking business is one smart guy. At UCLA I pay 7 dollars for 2 hours in the parking lot. In the end, all I can say is: thank god for the current exchange rate :)
Food: 'You know you're from L.A. when your comfort food is Mexican', R. told me. I'd have to agree, it seems that the only things I've eaten since I got here is Mexican, Middle-Eastern (gotta love that humus and falafel) and frozen yoghurt. Saturday we're going to have sushi, I guess I forgot about that one. I am not complaining though, Angelenos take a lot of pride in what they eat, they're obsessed with everything organic (from coffee to clothing to dog food) and the food is incredibly fresh. I get lost at the grocery store trying to decide on what to buy, there are so many options! However, I haven't found a decent replacement for vanilla pudding, cracotten, speculaaspasta, and slices of just plain young cheese. Visitors, you know what to bring :) To end this note about food, I'll throw in a bit of Belgian pride: there is a television channel here that's fully dedicated to cooking shows: the Food Network. They air a show called 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay' (or something) where this tv cook challenges someone who specializes in making one dish or one treat to a throwdown. Yesterday he challenged Thomas DeGeest, better known to us Belgians as "the Belgian who teaches Americans how to eat REAL Belgian waffles". His yellow "Wafels and Dinges truck" won the 2009 Vendy Award for Best Dessert in New York, and yesterday he also won Bobby Flay's throwdown! It was fun to watch, and to hear him explain Belgian waffles in the exact same way I did to my roommate (there's the Brussels waffle, and there's the Liège waffle, which is stickier and denser, and you don't eat waffles as breakfast, and...) :)
Nightlife: I guess it's mostly the same as in Belgium: there's bars where you sit down with a beer and talk, there's bars where you drink cocktails and there's more dancing, and then there's clubs. The clubbing experience in Hollywood is a little different. First of all: you make sure you're on some club's list by Thursday. Second: you dress up fancy. As a girl, you preferably show A LOT of leg (no matter how big you are). Third: you either go before 10 p.m. and go right in, or you go after 10 p.m. and stand in a crazy long line, where you a) try to find the person who got you on the list and hope he or she will pick you out of the crowd and lets you in, b) you try to sneak in with the person who knows the club people or c) you believe the guy who tells you "wait here for a sec, I'll go check" and end up waiting for the rest of the night. Then by 2 a.m. everything closes down and everyone goes home. Last unbelievably rude rule: don't look overweight, you won't get in.
Movie business: Everything in L.A. is about the movie biz. Advertising (huge billboards along the road, radio commercials, trailers on tv, direct marketing, ...) is 50% movie advertising. 80% of the people you'll meet work in the entertainment business (not that I know a lot of people yet, but that's what I've heard :) ). Right now it's "award season" (starting with the Golden Globes, then the Screen Actor Guild Awards, the Grammy's, ... ending with the Oscars in March), so the craze is even bigger than usual (not that I know what usual is here but that's what I think :) ). Whoever knows me well enough, knows I can't get enough of the big screen so I'm just living it up here! For example, you could go watch a movie screening almost every night if you wanted to. I personally already missed two I was planning on going to (premiere of Youth in Revolt (new Micheal Cera movie) at UCLA (we were too late) and a market research screening of Dear John (new Channing Tatum movie à la 'The Notebook') at the Sony studios (I RSVP'd too late), but yesterday I finally got to go to one! Unfortunately not a very glitz and glamorous one, but it was fun to experience one. The husband of my roommate's boss produced it, basically as a favor to a friend of his who wanted to put her daughters in a movie. The concept is simple: you invite all of your friends and family to a movie theatre, you introduce your movie, your director and your actors (Luke Perry "Jason from Beverly Hills 90210" was in the movie but not at the screening :( ) and show the movie. Afterwards there will be a Q&A (questions and answers) with the director sometimes but not in this case. After that everyone pretends like they like the movie :) and go out for drinks. The movie theatres these sorts of things are in are usually a little more 'theatrical':

Another 'movie' thing I love here: Netflix! The shortest way to describe Netflix is that it is a movie rental delivery service: you make an account online, you choose movies you want to see and you put them in your 'queue' and Netflix will send the movies in your queue to your home by mail, one by one. You can keep the DVD as long as you want, and as soon as you send the movie back (in the prepaid envelope), you get the next movie in your queue a day later. Baisically it means you could technically rent 30 movies a month for only 8.99 dollars a month! Plus, you can watch an unlimited amount of movies and series that they have in their online database on your computer too. I'm addicted :) Another funny thing: in LA people actually watch the credits after a movie is done because they usually know some of the people that work on the movies :)
Dogs: Angelenos love their dogs. At any given point in time, you'll see a couple of people walking a dog, a dog hanging out of a car window and a dog in somebody's purse. You can take them everywhere too, and if not, there will be a sign saying "We love your dog, but they are not allowed in this establishment". And people are willing to spend money on them! There is an amazing amount of doggie day cares, animal hospitals and animal shelters here. Being the dog lover that I am, I will be volunteering at a dog/cat shelter in Beverly Hills as of tommorow! I have to go through an orientation first tomorrow but after that I can come in whenever I want, 365 days a year, 7 days a week, to give the poor puppy some lovin'. Looking forward to it!
Healthcraze: A little anecdote about Jamie's employer: Jamie works for Wholefoods (an organic grocery store) so she gets a 20% discount there. Today she got tested for cholesterol level, BMI, blood pressure and a saliva test to see if she's been smoking, cause if she's all healthy, she'll get a higher discount! Only in America :) It's a good incentive though!
Voice recognition: A little anecdote about me calling the customer service of the website where I get my plane tickets:
Automated voice message: "Hi! Please state your name so we can access your account."
Through a voice recognition system they link the name you put down online with the one you say on the phone.
Me: in Flemish "Marijke Wouters"
Voice: "I'm sorry I didn't get that. Could you try again please?
Me: with a fat American accent "Meriszjkie Woetews"
Voice: "Thank you! We will redirect you immediately!"
:)
Rain storm: As a final remark I just wanted to reassure everyone the rain has not washed us away just yet. We're pretty close to the hills, so I just see the enormous amounts of water that have been coming from the skies these past days flow to lower levels. I'm definitely not going to the beach anytime soon. Here are some pics taken from my car and at UCLA.