The University of California, Riverside [UCR]

After a long the flight from Sydney to LAX, a few days at the houses of my cousins on both sides of the family, and a about a week of crying because I missed home, I moved into my apartment in Riverside.

Shots of my apartment - The bathroom, the kitchen, & my bedroom.

Riverside's not that bad. If you forget about the prostitutes down University Ave that don't wear any pants or underwear or anything below the line of their overhanging gut for that matter, the homeless people outside Rite Aid at 2am, and the constant faint smell of horse shit, then yeah, Riverside really isn't that bad. There's access to food, entertainment, the school, my friends, and a constant faint smell of horse shit! What more could you ask for?


Looking back on the last few months, Riverside has become my home away from home. I've gotten used to the 15-20 minute walk to campus [although we all still hate it], having the choice of getting my venti iced caramel macchiato under the code name Esmerelda from 2 starbucks located a 2 minute walk away from me and a 30 second walk away from each other, and the fact that besides the campus and starbucks I cant get anywhere else without a car. Such is life. Luckily, I have friends who have cars and are kind enough to give me a lift when I need to do grocery shopping or just feel like getting the hell outta dodge. Lord bless them.

On the school side of things, Americans do a lot more work than we do at home. Serious. The Fall Quarter just ended last Friday and all I can say is Thank God (You're Here). It was 10 weeks of constant work and study on weekly assignments and for weekly exams, midterms, and the overly hyped up Finals Week. I now have 5 grey hairs as opposed to the 2 I had before I left. I think that speaks for itself! The fast-paced university lifestyle here, although challenging and stressful, did give me a sense of accomplishment when, at the end of the quarter, i realised I was still standing and will recieve an A to A+ in 2 of my classes. I'm still waiting for the grade for the 3rd class but I'm pretty sure I'll pass it [To Clare: Siler or Bordner, where Siler has pubic lice?]

And yes, the university social life is exactly like in all the teeny bopper movies - there really are Frats and Sororities and it isn't out of the ordinary to be walking by the bell tower in the day and see frat boys sitting on sofas, frat girls handing out leaflets, and big greek letters standing tall on the brown grass. I was lucky enough to have my first Frat Party experience at "Jumangi" [really, Jew-manji], hosted by none other than the Jewish Frat. It was like a big house party with lots of people and red cups filled with "Jungle Juice", except it got raided by the Riverside authorities a.k.a UCRPD at midnight. WoOt! Sorry, no pics from that night. Have a cry.

ANYways, there's nothing much else I can tell you about UCR and Riverside except that, as much of a sorry excuse for a city that it is, I have grown to love it. And even though Brandon makes me carry my mace with me at all times (taking up room that could be used for more lipgloss), it's just a small price to pay for being able to spend a year here to study and have fun.


Hersheys,
The Spectacular xox

[Nah, it's not that bad. No matter what you hear on the O.C.]