"Don't do anything weird", says my boyfriend

OKAY so I am here. It has been interesting.

Thursday- Car was supposed to be picked up by shipper in West Bloomfield on Wednesday but they never showed and the driver said he wouldn't be able to make it until Friday. Frankly I didn't trust my family to take care of it to my liking so I went with another shipper at the last minute. Thursday morning I met them at a Costco and said goodbye to MyVR6 (my car)

Friday- Plane ride went smoothly, picked up my rental and drove off to get into my new apartment. I spoke to the lady who set up my rental last Sunday, also the lady I sent $1000 last month, and let her know I was coming on the 31st. She told me to talk to the manager on the first floor. 1:30 pm, I get to the place, which is in a eeeeehhhh so so area (borderline ghetto but I can deal with it). Knock on the manager's door, no answer. Call the woman, no answer! Walk around, talk to locals, get a feel for the neighborhood (more ghetto the more I speak to people) and still can't get ahold of this woman. WHERE THE HECK IS SHE??!!

So after a few minutes of panic I decide to go to the store and buy soap, shampoo and a couple other things. I'm starting to realize that I was mislead about the location of this apartment. It's not in a good area. I can't ride my bike or take the bus safely. This isn't good... 3pm still no answer from the woman. I decide to start looking for other apartments and drive around USC. 7pm FINALLY she answers the phone (I left SEVERAL messages).

I go back to the apartment for someone to let me in (the woman called the managers family) and they don't speak a lick of english. They have no idea I am moving in. "Today? You are moving in today?" YES TODAY, NOW!!! They dig through a bucket of keys for 20 minutes and finally find a key but can't find a bathroom key. At this point I am fuming and have already decided I don't want to live there. I call the lady back and throw a fit. Plus the apartment is even smaller than I thought and there is junk still in it like a bed and stereo. This place is truly a slum.

My head is spinning and I go stay in a hotel. I call the lady back and demand my deposit back and let her know what kind of inconvenience she's caused me. I probably won't get my $1000 back. I'm pretty sure I am going to die broke out here.

Saturday- Wake up, call the lady, who still doesn't know if she can give me my deposit back (yes I have been harassing her). I found a place on Menlo (map it) which is a couple blocks from school. It is a studio, and I met the owners and they are honest. I have a good feeling about it, but that doesn't seem to matter because I had a good feeling about the other place. It is 900 a month and I get a parking spot. It's close enough to walk!!! AND ITS NOT A SLUM. However, I can't move in until the end of the week becuase they were painting, cleaning, and repairing the place.

I am still unhappy about the way things are and am still convinced I am going to die alone and broke in the happiest place in the world. My stipend only really covers $600 bucks a month in rent and I still have to eat. I won't be able to get a job taking 4 classes.

Saturday night I end up at a hostel that's $25 bucks a night right near Venice Beach until Kris gets here on Tuesday and we can either go stay with his friends in Koreatown or go camping until my apartment is ready and my car gets here sometime during the weekend.

Sunday - I made some great friends during my hostel stay so far. There is girl who I am sharing a room with from the Netherlands. I took my rental car back and took the bus to the beach. There was a Hare Khrisna fest today.

So I always wondered how brilliant and smart producers and writers must be to come up with the kind of shows and movies that they do, but in reality, they are living in the Los Angeles area and there are enough freaks here to provide several lifetimes of good material.

After eating a bunch of free vegan food we walked down the beach and found a massive 300-400 person drum cirle. It was a big hippie fest with a bunch of high on's banging on drums. Actually it was very cool. Some drunk guy dressed up as an eagle was dancing on some platform and fell off. I'll post some pictures later.

I met some guy from Jersey and that was actually a breath of fresh air because frankly I miss the midwest/east coast. People here are actually pretty nice and most of them are from out of state so its easy to make friends. Maybe I won't die out here but I will probably still end up being broke.