It's been a long, full, hectic week - make that nearly a week. I've been in California for 5 full days now, and everyday I've learned something new about the place and people. It's funny how you can have so many people telling you so many different and same things about one place and you never really get to prove or disprove those things until you're actually there. I'm actually here now and the weather's meh, the people are rarely beautiful (I definitely prefer Texans), and the shopping...it's better than I imagined!
So, there's good news and bad news to report from the west coast. The good news is that Gui and I finally found an apartment and I signed the lease yesterday. It's in a pretty nice area of Long Beach with beach and shops within walking distance. It's incredibly tiny (well, by Guillaume's French standards, it's standard size), the stove and fridge are tiny, but the closet space is ample (thank God). It's completely empty at the moment, so I'm making a trip to Target to pick up some essentials this afternoon before Gui gets back from San Fran [to update: he left on Monday and is in San Francisco until Sunday for work].
Now, to the bad news. I haven't had as much luck with the job search as I'd hoped. I went to a job interview on Monday with a placement firm, and they were completely pumped about getting me into a job. I had an interview with a hedgefund yesterday in Beverly Hills, which was an enlightening experience. I've never seen so many Bentleys, Benzes and Beamers on one level in a parking garage before in my life! I definitely felt sub-par driving around Santa Monica Blvd and Rodeo Drive in Guillaume's little, beat-up Saturn. :) But, the interview went well. I don't think I'd be up for such a long commute (about 2 hours each way) every single day, which brings me to another point. As much as I hate traffic, I defintely don't mind LA traffic. It's fast, full-speed traffic that only exploits the crappy, slow drivers. And, everyone uses their blinkers (indicators, for you Brits reading this)!!! That's certaintly a very welcome change to my commute.
I'm realizing that the strangest thing about where we're living is the very obvious mix of people - youngsters and old folks alike are all going to the same places. Example: during our St. Patty's celebration, we found that at every bar, there were people celebrating that were our age with folks my parents' ages! It was a little different, but defintely a fun time [will post pics soon]. This little coffee haven I found a few blocks from our place is another example; about half are 20-somethings and the other half late-fourties and older. It's another change that I think I'll start to get used to. Everyone's rather friendly here, too, which is a relief.
So, off for more exploration. Updates to be forthcoming!