As soon as I've just turned 20 (TWENTY! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?), I'm ready to publish some lists I've been making for some time. I must admit it hasn't been easy to recollect 20 mistakes I've made or 20 books that have impressed me enough so I would recommend them. Of course, these lists can easily be edited, but that's what I've got by the age of 20 so far. Hope you'll have fun reading them! 20 mistakes I've made:
1. Didn't go out with that one boy at school
2. Had too many expectations for my graduating party
3. Didn't book a hostel in Tokyo beforehand
4. Didn't read enough this summer
5. Wasted a day in LA on walking with the most boring guy in 2015
6. Scored 83 points for the Russian final test at school
7. My first boyfriend
8. Half of my would-be boyfriends
9. Ate that cheesecake in Khabarovsk in 2014
10. Do everything in the last minute
11. Didn't talk enough with all the kinds from my teams in the camp
12. Didn't put on my sunscreen on the Tobizina cape
13. Didn't put on my sunscreen in Santa Monica in 2013
14. Didn't take any photos with the people I hung out with in LA in 2015
15. Ruined my biological clock
16. Didn't ask about the 3OH!3 album Omens in Amoeba
17. Don't say right answers louder during the classes when needed
18. Drank too much at my unofficial matriculation at university
19. Wasted some money a couple of times when I could've saved them, ok
20. Didn't get along with my elder sister during our childhood
20 lessons I've learned:
1. Always think about where to stay during not only trips themselves but also stepovers in advance
2. Let things go
3. Take your time, don't forget to relax, always arrange some me-time
4. You aren't to like all the people around. It's ok to have someone you don't approve
5. Have some money in the bank as some kind of a back-up
6. Upload the photos you take to Google Photo or iCloud or anything like that. You never know when your device can get broken or lost
7. Being nice is a rule, but being petty and bitchy isn't always a bad idea
8. "If you can't love yourself, how the hell you're gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen here?" RuPaul
9. Love your parents and make sure you call them often enough. They deserve it, they love you
10. Trust your friends but rely on yourself first
11. Lovers come and go, friends stay. Cherish them
12. Better be alone with someone you don't care of
13. Don't care what they think. Put on as much make-up as you want while you're young and beautiful
14. Don't care what they think. You can be young and beautiful till the end of time
15. Don't know what color you should choose? Choose black
16. Be helpful - and for yourself first
17. Take risks - they tend to pay off!
18. Take in some vitamins, take care of your health
19. Read more
20. Enjoy the moment, don't miss living
20 songs I adore:
1. Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"
2. The Neighbourhood "Ferrari"
3. Beyoncé "Diva"
4. Marina And The Diamonds "How To Be A Heartbreaker"
5. Beyoncé "Partition"
6. Ariana Grande "One Last Time"
7. Lana Del Rey "Backfire"
8. 3OH!3 "Love 2012"
9. Halsey "Colors"
10. The Common Linnets "Calm After The Storm"
11. Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé "Telephone"
12. Gem Club "Twins"
13. The Beetles "Strawberry Fields Forever"
14. Anna Margaret "Something About Sunshine"
15. Lady Gaga "Born This Way"
16. Postdata "Tobias Grey"
17. Joss Stone "L.O.V.E."
18. Arctic Monkeys "505"
19. Ryan Adams "Firecracker"
20. Natalia Kills "Problem"
20 books I recommend:
1. George Orwell "1984"
2. Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"
3. Yevgeny Zamyatin "We"
4. Jane Austin "Pride and Prejudice"
5. Dante Alighieri "Divine Comedy"
6. David Nicholls "One Day"
7. Joanne Harris "Chocolat"
8. Joanne Harris "The Lollipop Shoes"
9. Dan Brown "Angels and Demons"
10. Goethe "Faust"
11. Francesco Petrarca's sonnets
12. Alexander Blok's poems
13. Daniel Keyes "Flowers for Algernon"
14. J. K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
15. Mikhail Lermontov's poems
16. Ivan Bunin's short novels
17. Robert Rozhdestvensky's poems
18. Joseph Brodsky's poems
19. Charlotte Brontë "Jane Eyre"
20. Patrick Süskind "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"
And I certainly couldn't leave you withough the Queen B in my B'Day! Here's something relating to the title and all the jazz ♥
It was a lazy evening in January. I spent my time on vacation in my hometown. That evening I was doing nothing special when I received a tweet from Dasha saying that soon enough I'd have a great time working. I was confused, so I picked up my cellphone and saw a text from my former classmate asking for my help. He was about to get married in several days (my classmate!!) and he was desperately looking for a photographer. At first, I wanted to refuse. Me? A photographer? What? That classmate and I, we weren't even friends at that level for me to take photos of his wedding. But once Dasha tweeted something like "I wish I was able to go to his wedding!!" and I couldn't resist. (Dasha couldn't be present at our classmate's wedding because she had been sent to a business trip) That's why I agreed on being a freaking photographer for food and drinks though I noticed my classmate shouldn't wait for professional pictures. If I only knew how things would turn out...
Suddenly I feel the need to change real names. Let my classmate be Logan (though it's very unlikely to meet someone named Logan in Russia), his wife will be called Alicia, and all the other names won't be real ones too. Well, I've already mentioned Dasha, but you know her, don't you?
It's gonna be a story not fully about my photographing experience but rather about other things happened to me.
Part I. Roman Comedy
The last Saturday of January 2016. 6:20 am. I was up inspired to get dressed and filled with coffee asap to have enough time for making an excellent hairstyle. And so I did.
At 8 am, I was picked up by Logan and his grandpa and was taken to Logan's soon-to-be wife Alicia's place. Logan couldn't come to them and he only told me the apartment's number for the door phone. When I rang, I heard a female voice, "Yes?" - "It's your photographer," - "So what? Call where you need, you're mistaken". Then Logan came up to me and called the damn same number and the story repeated. Only then my classmate remembered the right number of Alicia's apartment and I was let in. I felt so sorry for the women we'd been calling by mistake! Being woken up at 8 am on Saturday isn't the best thing, is it? But when I finally got into the right apartment, I was welcomed with coffee and had all the freedom to take photos of everything. I'd never done anything like that before in my life. But the bride and her family were friendly with me; Alicia even made me a compliment about my hair.
By 10:30 am a motorcade of 4 cars had arrived, I was set with Logan's best man Serge and their another friend who was the driver of our car; after the ceremony Alicia's two friends joined us. Solemnizing nuptials was at 11 am. There were about 15 people at the ceremony. The room was neat as well as the lady who made Logan and Alicia a husband and a wife. I was the one to legitimately capture that moment. It didn't take a long time, so after taking photos outside the hotel where the ceremony took place, we went driving around the places where newlyweds usually take photos. Everything was fine if we forget about the fact that it was FROSTY AF! It was the reason my camera's battery got exhausted so fast. Of course, we got a bottle of champagne or two in our car, so everyone drank except the drivers for sure. We visited all the city's squares. We also drove to a statue of 2 deer which is located outside of our city. Usually, newlyweds put a ribbon on it and make a wish. But when we got there, the path to the deer was covered with the snow and it wasn't rational to reach them in all the fancy dresses. So the fresh husband decided to put a ribbon on a bottle of champagne and throw it in the statue. The first two times he flopped; his friend and our former classmate from a parallel class Xavier (lol don't even ask, I just like the name) went through that deep snow to get the bottle back. At the 3rd time, Logan came closer to the statue and I was an unbelievable god to capture the moment when the bottle was crashing in the statue. What a shot was it!! Everyone was impressed with the picture and Logan was like, "Ha, and you said I shouldn't wait for professional photos!" Also, we went to the park where Logan drove Alicia in her large white on a sleigh borrowed from a random park visitor. Btw, did I mention that Alicia was pregnant? 'Cause she was.
All the motorcade went to a neighboring town to take pictures there. But in fact, there weren't any fancy things to be photographed with and the newly-made wife was cold like everyone else. So the only thing we did in that town was visiting the restroom. We went to another town just to visit a freaking restroom!! Nevertheless, another reason to go around those places was to spend time before coming to the restaurant. All newlyweds in Russia do that.
The restaurant was average. Our party had a separate room. All in all, there was about 24 people including the relatives - a pretty little company for a wedding. Probably, due to my working for food, Logan's mother often came up to me repeating "Olga, eat! Eat, please". And hell yes I ate and drank a lot. I sat at the end of the table for friends; Xavier and Chloe (Dasha's co-worker and our former classmate Max's girlfriend) sat to my right and left. Other girls were at the other side of the table. Chloe and I drank red wine served by Xavier. The boys drank vodka, oh yeah. When the red wine was finished, we drank up white one from the other side of the table. Then we drank red again. Then the fate was for white wine. I still wonder how I didn't end up throwing up that night. During the party, Logan's mother organized some entertaining competitions. Of course, between gulping down another glass of wine and gobbling something delicious I didn't forget to do my job. But for one competition I handed my duty over to Chloe because she didn't want to participate anymore. I paired up with her boyfriend and my friend Max. My task was to dress him down in a particular way: Logan's mother would name a piece of clothing (a left sock, a belt, for example), I had to take that piece and put it into a mutual basin. After taking the things off, I needed to put everything on again. There were about 5 pairs in general. We were the 1st to finish the task though no one noticed that. I even tried to catch the bride's bouquet but I failed ("Of course", you would think, "You don't have a boyfriend even, why should you talk about a wedding?"). The bouquet was caught by Chloe, I was happy for her. Catching the bride's garter was way funnier. When Logan threw the garter for the first time, all the guys... moved aside from it. No one seemed to feel like getting that garter. But when Logan threw it another time, it was Max who caught it! Well, it was logical and romantic at the same time. I know Max and Chloe think about their potential wedding from time to time, so now they have stronger reasons for it. But it wasn't them who stole the show in the end...
At 8 pm live music started, and the singers performed the same old restaurant songs. I danced to fast ones, but when the slow music started I had no one to dance with and left the dance floor to have another drink. Once I was fed up with that, I straightly made Xavier aware, "The next time a slow tune is one, you'll dance with me, ok?" As a true gentleman, Xavier couldn't refuse. But when we got on the floor, we danced to the slow version of the song I hate the most. Then we and other guys ran dancing to almost all the songs. And during one track Xavier and I made the crowd jaw-drop when they saw us kissing! The thing is Xavier and I had never spoken to each other before. I mean, when we were at school, we knew about each other existence but we studied in different classes, so we weren't friends or something. We ran across at big parties but again we never talked. And now, that January night we were slow dancing to a lively song, lip-locking, making everyone stop. I felt that it was kinda awkward, so I suggested going out. It was certainly freezing outside, but man, we were so hot. I can say only one thing: I'd kissed only one man who did it better than Xavier. I sorta have a list in my mind and Xavier's placed second. Good for him, I guess? Around 1 am, one guy, Xavier and I decided to go home. When Max and Chloe told us good-bye, Max was like, "I'm so shocked with you, Olga! Don't do a mistake" and my answer was something like "Never mind, all the mistakes have been already done". Xavier and I got off the taxi near my house, and that other guy continued his way home. Xavier took me to the porch but we couldn't let each other go that night so we headed to his place. We went to the shop where we ran across... the husband and the wife! We didn't talk to them much. But when Xavier and I were walking to his home, I told him everything that came up to my mind. During the party, we learned that we were both Libras, and now we figured out that he was 8 days younger than me lol.
I came back home at 8 am, right in 24 hours after I had gone. How crazy was that! The last thing I said was "Has a girl ever left you at 7 am?" I caught Xavier thinking but I quickly made it easy for him continuing, "Now one has".
Part II. Greek Tragedy
When I returned home, I sharply retold my parents what had happened to me (except for the last part), had a life-giving shower and had a 3-hours nap because later I was expected at my music school to watch the musical instruments' contest. After the contest, Logan called me inviting to go on partying but I was definitely not up to it. Then he got interested in the photos and asked to send him the coolest ones. When I finally arrived home, I uploaded photos from the second microSD on my laptop (we had to use 2 microSD's 'cause we ran out of memory. We even used 2 cameras because we ran out of battery). But when I took the first microSD which had been used from the very morning of that day until the start of the wedding, I saw it was a little bent. I fitted the adapter but the laptop couldn't read it. I lightly pressed the memory card and it... literally broke in two halves. The world stopped that moment. The connections looked saved, so I tried to put that part into the adapter but it never worked anyway. I ran to Chloe's work thinking maybe she could help me. She also tried to use some adapters but all was in vain. A couple of guys told us that was it and no information would be saved. I was in panic. (And typing it in almost a month I still am when remembering about that) I called Logan to explain everything to him. He calmed me down a bit though I burst out crying speaking to him. The next day I went to some tech services and they only laughed at me. I was as full of grief as the newlyweds were because all the amazing photos I took including the ceremony, riding the sleight and crashing the bottle in the statue, everything was gone!.. GONE!!!
Logan asked me to give the microSD to him. He said they had found someone who was ready to look at that mess. I felt so awfully. As I hadn't given them any present, now I felt the fault and the need, so I gave them a money present. To tell the truth, I was afraid to face Alicia again because a) she could be furious because of the loss of the photos; b) she was pregnant so she could be twice as furious. But when we finally met, the both of the guys weren't that happy, of course, but they were fine. They were going to put some legends on their rings and they even asked me what they could write.
But it didn't go for good - that morning I woke up with a sore throat, it hurt so bad. Mom said it was because of that huge stress. For sure, it may have happened because I drank a lot and probably didn't zip up the coat when we went to Xavier but I don't remember that fact, tbh. I got over a sore throat only in a week when I was in Vladivostok already.
Prologue
I don't know if the guys found a way to restore the photos. I should ask for the news. I still feel really bad about that situation, so I didn't publish any photos from the wedding party which were from another microSD (except for one picture I published on Facebook and that's gonna appear in the end of the post).
I never met Xavier after that night. We aren't even friends on any social network. And you know what? I feel extremely fine with that! It was like a true one-night stand. I'm known to easily get attached to people but I don't feel anything about the guy this time. You may think, "Of course, you don't feel anything, you spent only one night with him!" Oooh, you don't know me then! So I followed all the heartbreaker rules that time without breaking hearts, I hope.
That's probably how karma works. Only I thought how great everything had been, then the shit happened.
lol
I really like the photo perhaps because it's me and all the boys. Mom didn't recognize me here. I'll leave it to you to guess who's who. So yup, write me your guesses about who's Xavier, Max, Serge and the guy we went home with on this photo.
Russian Student Organizations (or Brigades as Wikipedia says) (RSO) is a big all-Russian youth non-governmental organization founded in 2004. It was created to provide college and university students with different jobs, mostly during summer holidays. Once you join one or another organization, you can become a teacher in a children summer camp (as me), a constructor, a conductor on a train, a worker on a fish-processing plant or somewhere else. At least these four professions are available in our Primorsky region. I'm not sure that you can be a worker on a fish-processing plant somewhere in the central Russia.
Such Student organizations originated in 1959 at the Physics Department of the Moscow State University as student construction brigades. They built new railways, buildings and etc. to 'create communism'. From the mid-sixties, they became an all-Union movement with all the camp teachers, plant workers, conductors, ecologists and so on. One of the main aims was to grow the feeling of the unity, pride, love to work. And of course even back then people earned money this way too. Actually, you can make pretty much working as a constructor or a plant worker. To be honest, teachers have the smallest wages but it's more about loving children, nice time with your mates and summer, I think.
Coastal Cluster of the Winter Olympics venues which were built with the help of RSO
So, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union the tradition of student organization continued in some Russian regions. The main center was in Yekaterinburg, so it's exactly where the modern Russian tradition of student organization started. RSO has done many awesome things in modern Russia. The construction brigades helped to build the venues of the 2014 Winter Olympics, our two fantastic bridges in Vladivostok and the latest project Vostochny Cosmodrome which is still being built. The conductors go on trains from Vladivostok to Moscow for 7 days and back. Well, guys from other cities have other routes, but I don't know much about them. People joined fishing organizations come to my home island Sakhalin to work at the fish-processing plant.
Almost all the members have special RSO jackets as the uniform. The jackets can be khaki, dark green (or even blue in rare cases) that resemble the constuctors' uniform in the USSR. Only the teachers don't receive the jackets as they start working because we don't do any 'dirty work', we don't need such kind of uniform. A teacher must deserve, earn this jacket, it's kinda a symbol that your organization trusts you and present you a jacket. Teachers' uniform usually is a t-shirt and a neckerchief of significant colors.
Every organization has its commander, commissar, methodologist and master. RSO, as one huge organization consolidating the organizations from the whole country, has its own commander, commissar and master. And regional departments have too.
Different student organizations of Vladivostok on the Tiger's Day. I wasn't there :c See the khaki jackets? Also you can differentiate one organization from another by the colors of the uniforms
Some of us posing for the photo session due to our being the best pedagogical organization in our region in 2015
Personally I am a member of a student teaching organization (or as it's called a student pedagogical organization). Our organization's called "S.T.E.P." which is deciphered as Student Teaching English Program. Our organization has the bias for the English language (nowadays we're the only organization in our region with the bias for English) therefore all the members have made-up English names. Mine is Leslie, obviously. We work in the children summer camp called - you won't believe - "English Camp" which is situated right on my university campus. There are 3 terms during summer; also this camp has terms during fall, winter and spring holidays.
"S.T.E.P." is the biggest pedagogical organization in Primorsky region as far as I know. Formally, there are more than 100 members, though only about 70-80 teachers worked during the last summer. Anyhow, it didn't prevent us from becoming the best pedagogical organization in Primorye in 2015!
I worked last summer during the 1st term, it was my very first time. Of course, during the previous academic year we had been trained, but I faced the real children only in summer. Thankfully, my co-worker was an experienced teacher, she became my good friend. And our helper was so amazing though she was a fresh blood too.
Me and the teacher from another team (on the left) as the hosts for the evening event with our boss Francis between us
But being a part of RSO isn't only about work and earning money. For me being a part of such a huge organization awakes some proud feelings inside like "Hell yeah, I do something good! It's useful and something you can be proud of". Apart from direct work student organization originate various social events. For example, our organization provides free English lessons in Vladivostok's libraries for kids. Unfortunately, I don't have time to teach there this year, but last year I willingly gave some lessons in the libraries as well.
Each year Primorsky Department of RSO arranges the event or the contest called something like "The Worker of the Year". At this event the best workers, the best organizations are announced. There are some criteria for that, but don't ask me about that. So, as I've already mentioned, our organization became the best!! We were so happy and proud!
But what can you see? I'm wearing The Jacket on the photo! Unfortunately, it's not mine (yet!) - I had to borrow one to perform on stage! I was honored to sing our national anthem, the RSO anthem and the theme song on stage with 5 other coolest singers of Primorsky Department of RSO. Although, it wasn't me who participated in the contest as a worker of the year, I felt so proud to represent my organization during the musical performances.
I'm actually happy that I joined RSO last year. I can't wait to see new guys coming to our organization, getting its craziness and awesomeness. Some of them will stay, some of them will go; but the process itself, the experience is priceless.
I haven't written silly things for awhile. I've noticed that my recent posts about the accents and the role models turned out to be pretty successful, and it can't fail to be pleasant and motivating! While writing them I might not have done any researches, but I did put much more knowledge in them, more smart thoughts, less unnecessary information. I've been reading various writing tips, so focusing on one theme is one of them. I don't think I'm ready to focus my whole blog on one theme, but I should do for one certain post at least. For example, I did a post about being a role model - it was only about that, nothing else like "Hm, btw also, I bought new jeans a couple of days ago, and the weather isn't so fine, yeah". But I'm aware that I'm about to break this rule right here right now - I do want to put my latest news and little thoughts and emotions and notes here at once. One famous Russian YouTuber Kate Clapp shoots videos every Friday in which she talks about everything that comes to her mind and happens in her life, just many little facile topics she'd like to discuss but that aren't worth a separate video. That's what I want to do too! Yes, I might tell myself not to write about worthless stuff, but I feel the need, I feel eager about that. So haters gonna hate - even the heater inside myself - and I'm gonna do whatever I do in my own freaking blog. Period.
So haters gonna hate - even the heater inside myself - and I'm gonna do whatever I do in my own freaking blog. Period.
Oh yes, you might have noticed that my blog became wider and I have just used that strange quotation feature. One more yes. I don't only develop my writing skills but also experiment with the site itself. I try to make it more readable and more interesting. And not so long ago I found the source of my inspiration - Mark Manson's blog. Mr. Manson puts himself as "Author. Thinker. Life Enthusiast.", and he is indeed. I found him with one of my Facebook friend's sharing, and now I can't help appreciating this blog. I like Manson's style of writing first of all - it's so easy-going and sarcastic from time to time, and still serious enough. He opens subjects I'm interested in such as traveling, the crux of relationships or procrastination. Moreover, Mr. Manson is very attached to his readers and frequently makes us, readers, happy with e-mails with new material or asking about something. The most amazing thing is that the author isn't too busy yet not to answer the letters from his fans. I would answer too, if I was written, though. A long-long time ago I used to do such a tag as VERY INTERESTING BLOG. And I think this paragraph is a very good example. So go, read Mark Manson's blog and learn some lessons!
Yesterday Tatyana and I went to a yoga class held on our campus. We tried one class last year, but we didn't like it. Usually, we practice yoga ourselves with the help of YouTube videos. While the temperature was warm enough, we did yoga outside, now we practice it inside conformably. We do it for our own pleasure only, nobody forced us. My friend and I really find joy in doing yoga, and we can see our bodies change for the better. But of course, we can't be totally sure if we do the poses right, and we always search for new ways of developing our physical skills. That's why yesterday we went to that yoga class - to try something new. And we liked it! First of all, I liked the instructor. Our local yogi was a young man, 3rd-year handsome student, who immediately made a good impression by reaching out his hand to me, as I walked into the room, saying, "Hi, I'm Vanya, what's your name?" No class can be bad with a charming teacher, especially when you came to that class on your own. There were not so many of us: the instructor, 4 other girls, Tatyana and me. The room was all white, and I paid my attention to that right when I came in - white is my favorite color, you know (and red). The practice itself was intense enough for my body to hurt today, and that hasn't happened for awhile. But it means that I had some really nice training. So Tatyana and I agreed on attending that yoga class once a week and be great with it.
I think I never wrote about what I bought myself as present for my birthday! I received a couple of gift cards to my favorite shops from Cherry Lady and Andrew, so I bought the presents on them though I had to pay in excess anyway. So my main purchase turned out to be... the latest Beyonce's fragrance Heat Kissed! The funny thing is that I bought it without even trying it because there was no tester. But when I opened the box and finally smelled the perfume, I loved it! And Cherry Lady loved it too because her own fragrance smells very similar.
Another gift I treated myself with was a plush cat toy, the famous Internet Pusheen the cat! Yes, that's what being 29 is like - you buy luxurious perfumes and plush toys. So, talking about Pusheen, I'm so into this character! I enjoy scrolling the pictures - isn't it funny and cute? And when I opened the official online store, I was shocked - so many items with Pusheen the cat! But I'm not sure if my cat toy is an official one. And, by the way, to defense myself, this Pusheen in my only plush toy in the dormitory. Now I can't help joking about me being a cat lady. Not so funny, tbh, you know.
Cherry Lady took a photo of embarrassingly happy me with my new toy
AND to finish this amusing post (and to let me finish my homework, frankly speaking) I feel like sharing the song of the day. Let it be... 3 songs! Because I haven't put any songs for some time and I'm known to always have something to listen to. My recent discovery is a bilingual track by the Australian singer Josef Salvat called Open Season (Une Autre Saison). I've known this singer before, I still like his song Hustler. But Open Season is much more positive, though. This song has the English-only version, but I like this English-French mix. Sometimes you can't even tell when Josef changes the languages, the track sounds so good. And the title of this post is one of this song's lines! Check it out!
Another choice is Papercut by Zedd featuring Troy Sivan. I heard this song on the plane to LA while listening to the whole Zedd's album True Colors, so I associate Papercut as well as all the other songs from the record with the city of angels and my great travel.
Not a fan of club music? I've got something for you too. The last song is going to be a slow, melancholic track Over You by Ingrid Michaelson featuring A Great Big World. It's so beautiful and sad at the same time. And I say no more.
Oy! I've turned nineteen! Actually I don't know how to feel about this age, because you know, 18 - you're fully adult in Russia, 20 is such a beautiful jubilee, 21 - you're fully adult everywhere (legal drinks!!). But 19, what the hell is 19? Well, to say the least, it's the last year of being a "teen", and I definitely don't feel like a teen. Of course, lots of my problems, my diffidence, my 'beloved' seasonal depressions are so typically teenage things. But I don't want to act like a teenager! I study at university, I have a job, I'm a part of a big student organisation, I travel the world by myself! I freak out every time Cherry Lady says: "What do they want from us? We're basically still children!" What the hell are you talking about? Woman, you're nearly 20, get your shit together! Thankfully, my parents haven't treated me as a kid since I was like 14, and somehow I managed to be independent enough (or at least I think so). I'm not talking about money, I still rely on my parents financially very much (though I try to help myself as you know), but talking about life as it is, I think I'm doing pretty well.
All in all, I don't have much of an opinion about the age of 19. Being a pretty receptive person, I'm used to think of different ages by the way they are shown in culture. For example, I know many popular songs about 17 ("Well, she was just seventeen, you know what I mean...", "Only seventeen, but she walks the street so mean..."). 21 is the point you're not underage anymore. I really like the movie "21 And Over", so hilarious! But what about 18? 19? I'm sure there are many songs about that, but I can't recall anything from my music knowledge. I did a little research to find something lovely about being 19. Indeed I found some good songs, but the most famous person was Billy Ray Cyrus. Well, Mr. Cyrus' song isn't about being nineteen though, but I like it. Ah yeah, there was also a song by The Rolling Stones. But the fine thing is that I found some really nice new stuff. So here's "Seventeen" by Billy Ray and another one I really liked - "Not Nineteen Forever" by The Courteeners straight away.
And now it's time to describe my super party! This year I decide to arrange a house party, 'cause it's def cheaper, but it's more dangerous because don't forget we live in the dormitories where alcohol is forbidden. But we're usually lucky to but some liquor and carry it through in our backpacks without being checked. This time we were kissed by God himself, because when we bought the last batch of beverages on my BDay's eve, right after we carried everything through, the security started checking everybody's bags. HOW LUCKY WE WERE! Because I carried tequila, vodka and bourbon in my backpack, and it would be incredibly disappointing to lose it all. To put it mildly. All in all we had two bottles of wine, two bottles of vodka, a bottle of Olmeca Blanco and also a bottle of Jim Beam. Yeah, there ain't no my birthday party if there ain't no tequila! You might think "If you had so much alcohol, you must have had many friends there". Hah. 5. There were only 5 of us. Must have been 7, but my groupmate came down with a sickness, so she and her boyfriend couldn't join us. To my surprise we skipped wine (though we opened one bottle) and started right with Jim Beam, everyone! Only Anton, our group leader, drank the whisky purely, the rest of us mixed it with Coke, it was kinda our long drink. Then it was the turn of vodka, we mixed it with Schweppes, but took it as shots. And so when tequila came, Anton forbade us to mix it with anything, so we all drank tequila purely, but with salt and lemon (I forgot to but lime in town, and there weren't limes in our campus' shop). It was the first time Tatyana tried tequila, and she liked it. Actually, everybody liked everything. We played forfeits, danced, had so much fun! Cherry Lady, who had been responsible for food, worried if the guests would like what she cooked, but everything was delicious. All guests and I enjoyed the party so much! We all were pleased by the company of ours. A little trouble appeared when we went out, but I hope everything'll end up well. And if you want to jump in the atmosphere of that night, turn on "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake, the second album by "Run the Jewels" and Rachmaninoff.
One of the forfeit was to become an extravagant photographer and create a cool photo. Cherry Lady picked out this one, and the photos came out pretty dramatic indeed.
I also couldn't miss taking some selfies. I learn not to be a fool :D
The whole squad: Cherry Lady at the bottom (only her eyes mostly),
Tatyana on the right, Anton on the left, me in the pose of queen
and Cherry Lady's boyfriend Andrew in the background .
Being selfish, I really like my face here. Cat eyeliner's so on point!
And look at Anton! If I'm a tequila lady, he's absolutely a whisky man.
In the end we found ourselves sitting at the beach, discussing things, making the conclusion that my party came off so well.
There're gonna be two songs of the day. The first one is "Acquainted" by The Weeknd. I used a line from it as the title. Originally there was a song called "Girls Born In The 90's", but it was leaked, so the Weeknd decided to rerecord the song with different lyrics, but he left a part from that original track in quite new "Acquainted". The girls born in the 90's are dangerous because many power girls who are highly famous nowadays were born in the 90's indeed: Ariana Grande, many models like Kendal Jenner, Gigi Hadid and others... Me, in the end of it all! It's our time now, girls! We're in our prime, time to work shit up and rule the world! 'Cause "you're from the 70's, but I'm a 90's bitch!"
Baby you're no good
Cause they warned me bout your type girl
I've been ducking left and right
Baby you're no good
Think I fell for you, I fell for you, I fell for you
You got me puttin' time in, time in
Nobody got me feeling this way
You probably think I'm lying, lying
I'm used to bitches comin' right 'way
You got me touchin' on your body
You got me touchin' on your body
To say that we're in love is dangerous
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted
I get you touchin' on your body
I get you touchin' on your body
I know I'd rather be complacent
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted
Baby you're no good
All my niggas think I'm crazy cause I'm thinkin' 'bout us lately
But really if I could
I'd forget about you, 'get about you, 'get about you
You got me puttin' time in, time in
Nobody got me feeling this way
You probably think I'm lying, lying
I'm used to bitches comin' right 'way
You got me touchin' on your body
You got me touchin' on your body
To say that we're in love is dangerous
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted
I get you touchin' on your body
I get you touchin' on your body
I know I'd rather be complacent
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted, we're acquainted
Momma caught me cryin', cryin', cryin', cryin'
I won't find somebody that's real (she wants somebody that's real)
Cause every time I try to, try to, try to run
The fast life keeps gaining on me, shit
But ever since I met you
I couldn't believe what you did
So comfort me babe, ain't no rush from me babe
I keep on touchin' on your body
I keep on touchin' on your body
To say that we're in love is dangerous
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted
I got you touchin' on your body
I got you touchin' on your body
I know I'd rather be complacent
But girl I'm so glad we're acquainted, we're acquainted
I'm not trying to talk at all
Cause I'm trying to love you crazy
Put some more inside your cup
And drink till you numb the pain
I got you touchin' on your body
These girls keep touchin' on their body
They got accustomed to the life we live
These girls born in the 90's are dangerous
I got 'em thinkin' that they want me
Although they know they not the only
I got 'em wanting to embrace their sins
These girls born in the 90's are dangerous
Another song is "Girls Your Age" by Transviolet. The song has interesting story, check it out here. The song's so my style, and the lyrics is on point.
17 runnin from innocence, like it's a lion
Nipping at my heels, but I'm young so I out run 'em
Jailbait baby hunting men in their 20's
Cupid's shooting arrows, but I'm cold so I outgun 'em
Bad boy talking fast, talking dirty
He tells me that I'm hot, so I tell him that I love him
And he says girls your age,
Never mean what they say
I've got a renegade heart,
And it's screaming his name
But then it beats like
You've got time to kill baby
Don't go jump the gun
Live fast while you're young honey
Don't go chasing love, chasing love
21 thrown back revelry, like it's morphine
Thought I knew what I wanted, I never saw you coming
Black suit, looking sharp with your dark eyes
He loves my imperfections, so I tell him that I love him
Bad boy talking fast, talking dirty
He tells me that I'm hot, so I tell him that I love him
So it's time to write something (read: "all the stuff") about my CRAZY AMERICAN TRIP! YEY! In the end it'll get messy af, so stay tuned. In this post I'll use dates and days, because it'll be easier for me this way. Oh, I'll even make it like a diary!
2nd of August: It was the longest day I'd ever had! I took a plane from Vladivostok to Tokyo (it took about an hour and a half), then I had a 3-hour transfer in the airport, and only after it I had my flight to fabulous Los Angeles that took about 10 hours. It immediately seemed so easy to me, because two years ago we had a 12-hour flight from Beijing to LA. Many people asked me "Why Los Angeles? You've already been there!" The main purpose of my trip, or to be more correct, my main excuse was to see the leader of my group Denis again, and he lives in LA, you know. I thoughts he would help me and host me. And of course I didn't see the whole city of angels on our first time. Also I wanted to use my US visa until it expires. So, here I go, Los Angeles!!
Talking about the place of my staying, it's another story. As I've just written I wanted Denis to host me, but his wife was tired of guests, so I was like "Ok, I'm gonna find a host on Couchsurfing!" Denis didn't approve it ("How will you live with a stranger?? It's dangerous!"), he said he would ask his friends to host me. So I waited till July, he didn't find anything, and I did open Couchsurfing and even found a couple of hosts there. They confirmed but... none of them wrote me their addresses! Whaa? All my thoughts were: "Man, I'll have a flight in two days, where will I live? Am I going to sleep on the beach?" And one night before my leaving Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk for Vladivostok, I found some hostels in LA and chose the best variant I could afford. I made a reservation for a bed in a dorm room in Banana Bungalow Hostel in West Hollywood. Later Denis wrote me that it was a good safe district (I've just learnt that it's a city, actually) and close enough to their home (in the end of it all, I've never been to Denis' home). Days after I understood that the hostel was the best decision I could ever made. One of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, and I'll always be proud of it! *AMURICA!*
One of the things I adore - the view of clouds from the plane
The food I got on Japan Airlines plane!
When I arrived at the city of angels, it was about midday, but still the 2nd of August. I had my record 4 hours of sleep on plane and was anxious about meeting Denis. But first of all I had to go through the US customs. And the line before it. But one of the reasons why I like the USA is their customs officials. Because when you go through Russian customs it seems you ought to be afraid of the customs officials, they are way serious. But the American ones always calm you down and everything's fine. My customs official Rodrigez noticed my Batman t-shirt (it was hard not to) and asked if I played video games, shared his current video game and strongly asked me to be careful. "Olga, I'm serious. Take care." And of course I did my best to be careful because HELL it was my first time abroad all by myself, all on my own, me, myself and I. I knew that if that travel went well, I could run the world.
When I finally went through the customs, I met Denis! And also his brother Oleg and wife Margo, they're all Russians (Oleg came just to visit the guys too). All gang took me to the beach right from the airport! Unfortunately I didn't get the name of the beach, but it took about 40 minutes to get there from LAX. The beach was beautiful, and there were a lot of people, because it was Sunday *obviously* I'm not good at swimming at all, especially in the ocean waves, so two attempts were enough for me. But I can't help appreciating the temperature there - when I stepped in the water, I didn't have to get used to it SO HOT *HOT DAMN*
So when we spent some hours on the beach, the guys brought me to my hostel. What was my first impression of Banana Bungalow? I don't even remember. I was like "Ok, just a hostel". How could have I known back then?? But that evening I still had some time to have a walk, and I went down the street to see the area intended for me. I'm actually pretty easy to impress, so I liked the district at first sight. So Amurican!
Famous "Farmers Market"
And, btw, a plance at my hostel. It's one of the halls
Anf the view from a little balcony. Well, everything my phone camera could
take
You can understand that I was hella exhausted that day, so I went to bed at about 10 p.m. (how do I still remember that?) - I never went to bed so early after. But it wasn't so good for me actually, because...
3rd of August: I woke up at 7 a.m. Breakfast started at 8 a.m. I was already wandering around the streets at 9 a.m. Almost everything opened at 10 a.m. Do you get my pain? Well, as a traveler, I enjoyed walking around, but as a shopaholic I wanted to Beverly Center, but it was still closed. So when the Center finally opened, I spent some marvelous time there almost without spending money (I couldn't resist new sunglasses only).
I found lots of really cool graffiti on the streets of LA actually.
Only because of photos I recalled what else I did that day. I just went to Hollywood-Highland, the place I'd had my eye on since my first trip to LA. So get some videos - I hope they'll work.
And then in the evening my crazy part of the travel started.
It was free food night at my hostel - I couldn't miss anything free! So I got my burger and came up to the table with beverages - they got beer. A guy asked me, "How old are you?"
"18," I said without any hesitation. The 21+ fact slipped from my mind.
"Oh, sorry, we can give you a beer only if you're over 21", a girl next to the guy answered.
"Don't you have anything else?"
"Nah, beer only"
I was ready to go to the automate to buy a juice or something there, when suddenly the girl said, "Ok, today you're 21!" and she put a pink paper bracelet around my wrist, and then I went:
"Well, in Russia we can drink since 18..."
And the girl yelled: "WHAT? You're from Russia? You drink vodka there! Of course give her a beer!"
They also had a stand up show that night. It was my first true American stand up show with that filthy American humor, but it was pretty nice. Also I got acquainted with some guys who made my whole vacation: a British guy (he worked in the hostel) and his friends: a Japanese guy and a Philadelphian guy. We even went to a neighbor venue to dance right after the stand up show finished, and it was kinda strange and a bit mad for me. You know, I knew that people for like an hour only, but I went out with them in a strange bar in a strange city. And it was only the first crazy thing I did. But actually everything went well, I enjoyed the evening and the whole day in total. Also that evening the British guy (I'm gonna use nationalities to present my friends, I don't wanna overwhelm you with the names; and I think it's even more interesting to show the 'geography' of my new acquaintances) told me that on Wednesday (5.08) they would have a karaoke night at their sister-hostel in Hollywood and knowing that I'm sort of a musician he offered to sing something together. Wasn't it cool? Karaoke night in Hollywood! So I already had plans for Wednesday.
To tell the truth before that night I was worried that everybody in hostel talked to each other, always had fun, and I was like a ghost sitting alone, walking around, But then I met the guys, and everything became just fine. I'm still shocked how just in one evening I chanced to meet people from all over the world: the UK, Brasil, Japan, Mexico, German... That's what America is!
4th of August: Due to my awesome night I thought I would sleep well. Hell to the no! I woke up at 5 a.m. FIVE!!! And I couldn't sleep, no, no more. All I had to do was just browsing the Internet and reading. But when I was ready to explore the world, I headed to the most controversy place of interest the cemetery Hollywood Forever. Actually it was the first time I took a bus in LA. In Vladivostok you pay for the ride after you've actually had the ride, so you give your money to the driver when you get off the bus. In LA you have to put your money in a special machine near the driver when you only get on the bus. I didn't know that. So when I got off the bus, I said to the driver, "I didn't pay for the ride, can I pay now?" and he was like "That's alright" and waved me to go out. It was so strange for me! In Russia a driver would definitely demand the fare. But that free ride had been just a pleasant thing before what I faced later. The purpose of my visiting Hollywood Forever was seeing the graves of famous people, Hollywood actors and directors of Hollywood's Golden Age... But all I saw was graves of Russian jews. TOO MANY RUSSIAN NAMES! Damn son, I felt like I was visiting a Russian cemetery, though I hate doing it, to be honest. I made an exclusion for Hollywood Forever, but it turned out that I'd only had great expectations. I'll
Just a squirrel at the cemetery
The view of Paramount Studios from the cemetery
And a PEACOCK at the cemetery. *LOS ANGELES*
All my reaction in one photo
So after facing all that mess I went to a more pleasant place, especially for my soul - one of the most famous music shop in the world "Amoeba Music". According to our holy Wikipedia, "Amoeba Music is an independent music chain with stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California". I'd heard of it several times before, so I couldn't miss the chance to visit it myself. And yes, "Amoeba Music" is all you hear about it. Billions of CD discs, vinyls, tons of merch, lots of thematic books and many many many other things related to music industry - that's all "Amoeba Music" about. I loved that place, though I was a bit tired after senseless and pressing hot weather and the Sun. I even tried to find the latest 3Oh!3's album "Omens" there, but I failed, and I was awkwardly shy to ask someone to help me. Never mind.
After that fabulous music paradise I went back to the hostel to have some rest and... fell asleep till 8 p.m. Man! I slept half pf the day away! It was my first Wasted Day (I had two Wasted Days in general). But hopefully the value of that day was saved my a man who wanted to host me in LA through Couchsurfing, but his schedule didn't let him. He wrote me and suggested hanging out, and I agreed, because why not? And it was another right decision I made. The man took me to In-N-Out Burger, and the place was incredibly crowded, though it was about 11 p.m. The burger I got was really tasty - national American food, isn't it? Then we had a stroll around the Walk Of Fame - my first but not the last night out in Hollywood. Due to the late time Hollywood/Highland area wasn't crowded much, so I finally could examine the stars on the pavement. After that the Couchsurfing man took me to the place I definitely should have visited. He drove us to one of the Hollywood hills, there was kinda an observation platform, and by now you might have understood that I was struck by the view. Los Angeles at night!!! All the lights, that view, jaw dropping! Say no more! Emotions only!
The camera certainly couldn't catch the whole atmosphere. And for sure I couldn't get the picture of the whole city of angels: there still were some districts of LA behind us, far away on the right, on the left and beyond what we could see. So I'm so grateful to the man that he showed me the type of city view that I simply adore. Feel so rad with that!
5th of August: That day of my day of museums - or at least the first part of it. That day I decided not to go out too early not to come back to the hostel at lunch, only by the time to go to the karaoke night. When I had my breakfast, a hostel guy came over to write my name in the karaoke list, and when I said my name to him, he tried to guess my country. Good God, he named everything but Russia. He even mentioned Liechtenstein and Luxembourg! But when I said I was from Russia and named my hometown, the man didn't know the city, but he knew that Sakhalin belonged to Japan between the two World Wars, and he knew where Vladivostok was. That was so strange to me that a foreigner was so versed in Russian geography. He said he was really interested in Russian history. Somehow I was clumsy enough not to ask about his nationality, though I found out some days later.
I looked forward to the karaoke night as a chance to feel the stage and the audience and enjoy singing in English. As well as the karaoke, I looked forward to visiting the museums - I was a tourist anyhow, and generally I like exploring art. Moreover, one of my main goals in LA was to see a big metallic head of Vladimir Lenin near Ace Museum. Exactly that place was the first spot where I headed that day. And yey! Dreams do come true!
There's little Mao Zedong balancing on his head
But the museum itself opened at 1 p.m. only, so still I had plenty of time to visit other museums. Hopefully I found enough of them soon. The first museum I got in was Temporary Space LA. When I was passing by, I didn't even realize it was a museum, I thought it was just a cafe, but I noticed some big paintings inside and decided to walk in. So I was really glad to figure out it was a gallery (and I didn't have to pay for it). There were works of two artists, and I must admit the works were decent ones. I'm not much into modern art, but I really likes those pictures.
Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when the guy working there gave me some free museum gifts! The Jewish part of my soul was like "YOU GO, GIRL!" Waved to that museum, I went to the next one down the road - Craft & Folk Art Museum. People there believed my word that I was a student, so I could buy a student ticket without proving it with a student card or something. And so there was one of the oddest museums I'd seen (by now I've seen so many weird museums, I almost feel the need to go to the classic art gallery). The first exhibition was, well, shoes by the shoe designer Chris Francis. You may think, "It sounds cool, what's wrong? You like shoes, c'mon". So just check it out.
Enough? So Chris Francis makes shoes out of everything he can find, even out of shoes themselves, he puts some meaning in every pair, and ok, well done, man, that's your work. I was even ingenious enough to find a pair of shoes I would wear, but I didn't take a close photo of them.
The next level of the museum was dedicated to the American soldiers fighting abroad. I won't discuss this theme much, just remember that all I put below is modern art. Don't take it too seriously.
Probably, my favorite
I swear you it's all about soldiers fighting abroad! Don't know how they do it, just take it as it is.
After that museum I went to La Brea Tar Pits without knowing what it was. The smell of tar (no surprise) around, the Sun hitting my head, but the park was nice actually. And there was a building with something like garden inside, but one had to pay to get it - guess whether I did or not hehe. But I could walk up on some kind of a roof and watch in from above.
There you can watch scientist working with the tar
After having lunch with another true American food - a hot-dog, it finally was time to return and discover Ace Museum. It was a fail. When I found their entrance (it was a hard task) there was only one room with 10 screens on the tables showing the views of the roads. You know, I like roads, so well, it was the only good thing for me there. The girl guarding that stuff told me that right then they didn't have proper expositions, but they would have something big and cool later in fall. Sorry, girl, so sorry.
Actually it weren't my only museums in LA, I visited some more later, but with that experience I totally got that all museums in LA (and probably in the whole US) are modern art museum - or they make any art look like modern.
Still it wasn't the end of the day, remember? I came back to the hostel to prepare for the karaoke night, well, morally mostly, though I'm always ready for a good party. So many guys and I were delivered on a shuttle to a 'sister-hostel' in Hollywood. While driving I got to know people from my hostel, so funny folks! And once again I can't help being delighted with the fact of meeting people from New Zealand, France, China, Canada, Britain, Australia and other countries sitting next to each other, laughing... All the same - how wonderful world is!
How Hollywood Vibe Hotel (or Banana Bungalow Hollywood)
looks inside
So, when we arrived to the place, first of all we were given tacos, and I realized tacos wasn't my food at all. Hopefully no one asked my age then - at least when I took my beverage. I waited for the British boy who had promised to sing with me, but he never showed up. My heart was almost broken or at least it was highly unpleasant for me to be left like this. So I didn't give up and decided to sing a song all by myself. In the beginning I wanted to sing "One Last Time" by Ariana Grande, but the girl who managed all that stuff, said the song shouldn't be released later than 2009. Well, it took me some time to think over a 2009-or-earlier song, and I was blessed with a brilliant idea - "Single Ladies"! Finally I got an awesome chance to perform it! Unlike men, Beyoncé never lets me down. Moreover, I was left by a guy, I was single, I was a diva - what else do you need to sing "Single Ladies"? They gave a shot of vodka to every performer, and I was a bit thrilled about it: though being a true Russian, I'd never drunk pure vodka before, but in the end I only had great expectations once again. But I'm running ahead.
The room where live gigs and karaoke events were held
My company at the karaoke night were two French girls, a Chinese girl and a Canadian guy. But when I settled in the karaoke room, I was surrounded by unknown people, though I tried not to think about it and have fun. I saw my girls, but they couldn't hear me. People sang well, some were really good. I didn't feel too nervous - somehow it's easier for me to sing in front of strangers than in front of my parents or friends. Even though there was a trouble in the beginning of my song and I had to restart singing, I think my little gig went pretty well. When I was on stage my Japanese and Philadelphian friends came, they watched me singing. Well, I messed up the line "Don't treat me to these things of the world", but generally I did my best. So, when I finished, people applauded to me, I was given a shot of vodka, but when I looked at it, it wasn't pure vodka! They mixed it with juice, and I still don't know why - whether they drink it this way or they decided to lighten things up for me as a girl. Done with that, I went to say hi to my guys hoping to see the British there too (you know, just to let my indignation off on him), but the boys didn't know where he was either. Well, it wasn't the end of the world, so I just started walking around, talking to people, all that mingling stuff. I went down to the bar to look for my people, and there were a barman and the shuttle driver at the bar, and the driver went like "Oh, and that Russian girl, she crushed everything in my bus, fought with people..." I found it funny, and actually I don't know how he knew I was Russian, I didn't remember that I'd told him. Also I was introduced to the Russian guy Ivan who worked in that Hollywood hotel. It was nice to talk to someone in Russian. I learnt that he was from Moscow and had been living in LA with Green card for 2 years or something. Somehow we didn't find much to talk about, but I found many things to talk about with people from other countries. You know, when you're from different countries, the difference between them is always a subject. It took me some time to understand a joke of one British man there, something like "Russians, they're always rushing around". I'm still not that good at playing on words, man. Usually when people found out that I was Russian, firstly they asked if we really drink vodka everyday, then they asked me to teach them some Russian swearing. But there I was at a cool party in Hollywood. I don't remember how I found myself in the company of two Brits and the barman who gave us food, and he offered me some wine. I learnt that people working at hostel had sorta their own mini-bars, so we figured out that we both liked red wine, and the man had it. He turned out to be a cute Australian guy, and with a bottle of red wine in his hand we went to a couple of French girls who were sisters actually and an odd silent man (only typing that I recalled he was American). So that was my company for the night. I poured all my French knowledge (Je m'appelle Olga, je suis russe...), and the French girls said my pronunciation was rather good! The Australian guy said he was a musician, and we even played the guitar and sang to each other. You know, as long as I don't have a guitar in Vladivostok, every guitar experience is valuable for me, and I can recall I was good enough with my hit cover "Friends" by Aura Dione - the only song I remember well. Then I was a fool misunderstanding what my new friend sang about. He sang about a firecracker 'burning hard and bright', and somehow I thought of a keeper - an absolutely opposite thing. Buy hey, I was drunk, ok? Still I cleared my character by quoting one of Ariana Grande's songs ("It doesn't have to be forever just as long as I'm the name on your tattooed heart"). And I'm not gonna describe you how I ended up that night, but I returned to my West Hollywood hostel at around 7 a.m. by Uber car the Australian had ordered to me. I had a great night. Questions?
6th of August: Wow, believe it or not, but I had plans for that day beforehand! I had a meeting with one Peruvian guy who had found me in our Russian network and asked me for some help about Russian food. In return he suggested eating out somewhere in LA (I told him I'd be in LA), and I thought why not? Free food! He arranged meeting not so far away from my hostel, so it was easy. Due to my little hangover, I didn't want to eat anything serious, but still was curious where the guy would take me. And when we finally met each other, I realized that it was a mistake and that I should just get it over with. The boy had a strong accent though he'd been studying in LA for 4 years. And I didn't know what to talk to him about. Even the countries' theme wasn't enough. How come that with some people conversations never stop, and with others they're just crap? So the Peruvian led me to a typical American cafe, not so neat, but pretty lovely, very atmospheric. I took a vegetarian sandwich and coke - a lot of coke (hangover, 'member?), but I ate only half of the sandwich and took the other half with me with the hope to make it my dinner. Then he walked me back to the hostel, and that's all. That was my another Wasted Day. Being usually grateful, I found that day really boring, and it was pretty upset, wasn't it? Oh yeah, I met the British guy who had failed to sing with me the day before. He said he had overslept! That was crazy, but with my weird sleeping habits I could understand him. Though frankly speaking I almost hate people who "go to sleep for 30 mins and wake up in some hours!" What are alarm clocks for?? If you have plans, why not to set up an alarm clock? Anyhow I found a way to get benefit from that Brit - he kept my company on a walk around the streets. We went up Sunset Blvd, reached Beverly Hills, nearly got lost. Once again - I wasn't bored with him, we had plenty of things to talk about, though many of them boiled down to parties and alcohol. How do all that psycho things work? Why can I talk with one stranger so freely and can't talk with another still equally stranger? Also that night I understood I have to learn how to cook Russian food. I mean, I don't know how to cook borscht or our thin pancakes. I can chop a salad, cook half-finished products, but it's not enough. I definitely should learn some traditional Russian dishes.
When we came to this point (see the pic), two women sat at the bench talking and I recognized the Russian speech. It was embarrassing, because they were about 40 and talked about men, but not in a very good way, rather like about boy-toys. It wasn't pleasant for me as a Russian and as a girl, I found it pretty awkward. When I let the British guy know the women were Russians, he suggested me talking to them, but it was totally inappropriate. Talking to middle-aged women about how silly and weak men are? Are you kidding me? So we sat at the neighbor bench and agreed that if you're ever homeless, LA is the best place to be homeless (later I broke that decision). Here come some other photos.
Sunset Blvd
That night I understood I was definitely in love with Beverly
Oy, Pride sign on the crossroad
We also found some giant guitars on our way
7th of August: That day Denis and I wanted to meet up, but I ended up to spend the day with the French and Chinese girls I'd got to know at the karaoke night. Firstly we went to Beverly Hills, because the Chinese hadn't been there. I was glad to be back, because I've already mentioned I fell for Beverly Hills. I like that place because it's so neat, everything's green, you can smell luxury in the air! Now I suggest you comparing photos from Beverly Hills of 2013 and 2015.
2013
2015
You can see that they added a pond by the Beverly sign, I've no idea why. The trees are the same, the same clear blue sky - only my camera isn't as good as Denis'.
The French girl and I took our Chinese mate to Rodeo Drive. Should I explain my excitement? Rodeo Drive is the heart of my shopaholic soul, though I'm not such a shopaholic nowadays. I don't pray on that richness and expensive things, I just can't help admiring it. Isn't it simply beautiful? So lush, neat, jaunty.
Then we had to take a ride or two from Beverly to... Venice Beach. Oh, and it's such a story - and not a funny one. Google said we had to take two buses to reach Venice Beach, and one man helped us on our first bus, he even pointed out where we should have got off our second bus, and saw us to that second bus. It was a pretty long road, Venice beach was like the last bus stop. The man said we would know that, because then the bus would turn around to its way back. The map with the man's prompts was in the Chinese girls' hand. When we saw Santa Monica, we knew Venice Beach was close. Then the French and I heard the Chinese saying, "I'll go ask the driver where we should get off", she stood up and went to the middle of the bus, and she sat there to take some pictures. The French gal and I thought she might go later. Then the bus started turning. What? Did we miss our bus stop? We ran to the Chinese girl, but she said she had never mentioned the driver, she didn't want to go to him. We decided to get off the bus, though we had to go about 30 mins to reach desirable Venice Beach.
So we started walking along the beach, and soon the Chinese said she wanted to walk right near the water, but the French and I didn't want the same. But the Chinese mate asserted that she would be fine, we would go parallel to each other and meet up at Venice Beach itself. I mentioned that it wasn't a good idea, still she went on her own and the French pal and I continued walking on the street. When we reached the beginning of Venice Beach, we decided to connect with the Chinese, thankfully the French and the Chinese had each other's phone numbers. But the Chinese girl never picked up the phone! And there wasn't free Wi-Fi (unlike on Santa Monica beach), so I couldn't use my telephone at all (you know, during my trip I used Wi-Fi only).
We went further and further in hope to find some Internet connection or just till she picked up the phone. And she did! But she was somewhere near the ocean, taking a lot of photos, probably. So we told her to come up to the shops. The French and I stopped near some Freak Show, so we could explain to the Chinese where exactly we were. But the girl never understood! We kept on waiting. We waited. And waited. We phoned her again trying to explain our location and got hers. The Chinese sent us a photo of where she was, but it seemed to be the beginning of the road for me. Then in an hour she texted us that she was sorry and that we could return to the hostel without her, even though all of us had to return there. Of course, we were shocked; the French was even furious, if I can say so. We spent another hour on the buses to our hostel.
Me and the police of Venice Beach
I hurried back to the hostel, because that Friday night another cool event was about to happen. Banana Bungalow celebrated anniversary, and the party was held in Hollywood again. I really looked for the party, because: 1) it was a party, 2) all the guys from West Hollywood said they would come, 3) the Australian guy would definitely be there, I'd love to see him again if there was such an opportunity. But nevertheless that unpleasant situation affected on us, so I felt a bit down. Due to an important event all the top brass was there, so of course I couldn't get any alcohol beverage being underage. The funny thing is that one boss asked for my ID when I wanted to take some Sprite. But anyhow I was sneaky enough to get a beer: I was wearing a jacket, so my wrists were hidden. Then people who knew me went like, "How did you get this beer?" - "I just came and took it!" That's just how we do, girl! So, I played some table football with the guys - the British guy had taught me well enough the days before. Later I even won a one-on-one round with the Australian guy, and he said he didn't lose on purpose to please me or something. But to tell the truth, other days I quasi lost the skill and lost all the games. But that evening table football seemed to be the thing I was good at.
Oh, also there was a cool moment. I was walking through the crowd to my buddies from West Hollywood, when suddenly I was stopped by some guys: "Hey, are you that girl who sang "Single Ladies" at the karaoke night?" - "Yes, it's me," I was confused a bit. Then the guys burst: "OH GOD YOU'RE SO AMAZING! IT WAS THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT! SO AWESOME! AND THOSE DANCING MOVES, SO COOL! YOU'RE SO GOOD!" I stood stunned, my month closed with my hands. I got four fans in Hollywood! I said jokingly: "Subscribe my channel on YouTube!" but they took it seriously and asked for my YouTube nickname. I'd never felt so successful before.
There was a band singing and playing live. I don't know their name, but they were pretty good.
Then almost all of my acquainted guys from West Hollywood left me, while I decided to stay in Hollywood. The Australian made my night - he offered to have a bike ride! A bike ride in Hollywood! Can you believe me? I was so surprised, I seemed not to understand it: "A bike - you mean bicycle?" - "Yes! Say yes!" How could I resist? As well as the situation with the guitar, I don't own a bike, so every bike ride is a joy for me, and now you know. I rode a bike on the Walk of Fame. I even had an accident: couldn't manage the bike trying to avoid a group of people, so I fell down, but nothing serious happened. It was so nice and generous of the Australian man to take pictures of me riding the bicycle - so I have the proof! We even ran into fancy sailors.
As you noticed I used this photo in my new design
Though it's blurry, you can feel the awesomeness of it. I almost
look like one of them, don't I?
But silly of me, I didn't take a photo with the Australian. I didn't take pictures with anyone of my people. Stupid girl! Thankfully we all became 'friends' in Facebook, Instagram and... oh, that's all, Facebook and Instagram. And YouTube.
So after the precious bike ride we were back at so-called after party, where I met another Slavic soul. I was talking to two British guys, mentioning the fact that I was from Russia, when a guy jumped onto the sofa by my side asking: "What did you say? Where are you from?" - "Russia. I'm from Russia". And the boy started talking in Russian with a strong Ukrainian accent: "So you can speak Russian?!" And our conversation went on in Russian. He was surprised that I guessed it right that he came from Ukraine, but it was easy because of his accent. And although our countries have some troubles nowadays, the Ukrainian pal and I had no troubles talking about various stuff, even singing some weird Russian song by the Ukrainian artist.
Though I drank less that night, I can't recall what else can I tell you, you know, like permitted stuff. The only thing I can say is that I do talk a lot. In spite of the fact that currently I find myself really reserved and taciturn, if I meet a right person, I seem to be unstoppable. I talked and talked. I hope that I didn't talk too much, and didn't say too much.
Nowadays I wonder when I meet such a right person in Russia. Or if I ever meet such a right person in Russia.
8 of August: My 8th of August started in Hollywood. It felt like the perfect morning so far (can I let myself be sentimental in my own blog?). My Australian friend saw me off down Hollywood Blvd a little bit, and that was it, we had a long goodbye and I went on alone. I came over one of the gift shops, afforded to buy t-shirts for myself and my best friends. Then I went by a 'bronze' statue of Marilyn Monroe, saw ads that promised real dresses from "High School Musical" if I walked in a building that turned out to be Hollywood Museum. So "High School Musical" bought me, and I was glad I stepped in. And it was yet another fabulous decision that I made! There were real costumes used in the famous movies during filming. There was "Star Wars", "The Hunger Games" and other movies that I didn't know or only heard of. It all was highly interesting! I didn't see anything about HSM, but this was quickly forgotten as the first level of the museum was dedicated to Max Factor and his cosmetic inventions. There were special rooms for blonds, brunettes and so on. I was enchanted by the exhibition. It had the 20s style, everything was so stylish. I loved it!
The next level was my dream come true. The whole room was dedicated to one and only... Marilyn Monroe! You must know that I'm a big Marilyn's fan (I love only Beyoncé more, probably), and visiting the exhibition about her with her signature dresses, information about her and her works was something I'd never expected!
There was one more level about Hollywood actors who came out about their sexuality. The only one I knew there was Caitlyn Jenner. I didn't take photos there, but I enjoyed the dresses presented.
When I finally came to my hostel and had a shower, I decided to explore more of the city of angels. I wanted to go to China Town, but I found that it was near Hollywood. Again! So that's why I chose Korea Town - it wasn't too far and it wasn't hear Hollywood. So Korea Town didn't impress me much. Well, just a district in LA. We got more Korean vibe in my hometown than they do. There were many beautiful cathedrals, yes, they were cool. But nothing much actually.
Birds in the traffic lights!
Then there was a party at my hostel, but! You had to pay for it to be in. What? Pay? 12 dollars? I'd live for a week with that money! And all that drinking stuff was official - 21+ only. So what the hell would I do there? So I just grabbed my e-reader, poured some tea, took out some Russian snack I'd kept by accident and went to the balcony, so I could watch the party going and enjoy reading at once. By the way the last days I felt cold in the evenings. I had to wear my jacket if I went out or wrap myself up in the blanket if I sat on the balcony.
But in the end of it all my guys didn't let me be bored. And by all I mean my people around the world - Dasha made a call on Skype, and I told her about what had happened to me if I hadn't written it to her earlier. And while we were talking, my British pal came over and butted in: "What are you doing?" - "I'm talking to my Russian friend," - "Me too!" That's what I called 'British humour'! Then he started saying something in English of course, and Dasha were saying something in Russian, and my mind was like "STOP IT PLEASE I CAN'T HANDLE IT". So when the Brit asked me something, I answered: "Don't interrupt, I'm talking to my Russian friend!" IN PURE RUSSIAN! He was definitely struck, and only by my laughing friend on Skype I understood I did something wrong, and we all bust out laughing. If I hadn't got it, I would've gone on talking to Dasha in English, I bet you.
So when the official part was over, everybody who didn't want to stop went down to the basement, and I was invited too! That Mexican beer were given, but something didn't go well, it wasn't really rad there. So while the hostel guests were leaving to bed one by one, the hostel workers decided to take some wine. And I decided to go to bed too, when one girl said "NOOO! Stay with us! We don't stop the party! Everybody's gonna be back!" And I returned. And - bang! - another good decision!
They do have enormous bottles
in the USA
There were about 4 or 5 hostel workers and me, the only guest (and the youngest, I suppose), we all went outside, so some guys could smoke, and we stayed there till the end. There were Russian me, two Englishmen ("in New York"), one Irish guy and one German-Greek girl - such an international company! We talked about quitting jobs for travelling, some cultural-political tricky jokes, something else, I don't remember. I was so drunk that night. Like really. Oh, that night I found out that the guy interested in Russian culture was Irish (I've already mentioned him). I couldn't guess his nation, but only days after I noticed that he was red-headed - how couldn't I tell it? He tried to give me a hint saying that people of his nation swear a lot, and I was like "Hmm, you swear a lot and you're not Russian - that's interesting". So the Irishman and I talked a bit about Russian history, and he even sang a little of the Russian national anthem! Without words, melody only, BU STILL! Personally I can sing the melody of the French anthem only and still I'm not sure about that. But he remembers the melody of our anthem even being drunk! (Well, I do too, once my groupmates and I sang the whole Russian anthem at 2 a.m. at one square in the city being drunk af) All in all we had a very crazy and hilarious time there. The Irish guy expressed a deep idea that it was good that we traveled alone. If one comes with a friend, they are stick together. Yes, they may be friendly and open but still they're bound together. If you travel all alone, you are free, you can chose whoever to talk to, whoever to be with, whenever only you wanna go. I remember eating up some Chinese food 'cause one of the Brits was full and gave it to me. Honestly, I wouldn't remember literally anything if I hadn't taken photos or videos then. That time I was smarty! But I don't think I should share them with you. Only the bottle and flowers on the tree.
9th of August: I don't remember how I felt when I woke up that morning, but must be well, because I came up with a good idea. I made up my mind to explore Downtown. Man, I was really genius that August! So I planned what I'd like to visit and went out. I also decided to take short videos to compose them together once I'm in Russia, so still I have the work to do. But let's get back to my Downtown trip. And it was marvelous! I got off on the last bus stop that brought me to the core of Downtown [I guess] and just started wandering around as I like it.
Angel Flight funicular railway. There's a funicular in
Vladivostok too, and I wanted to try out LA's one, but I didn't
figure out how it worked
Los Angeles Central Library
There were a lot of fancy buildings, and I understood I could walk like this for a long time, so I chose an aim. In the beginning I had two targets to visit: the GRAMMY Museum and Walt Disney Concert Hall, but they turned out to be pretty far from each other, so I made a decision to be leisurely and visit only one place - and I chose the GRAMMY Museum. The teller didn't believe that I was a student and insisted on showing him some student document, but I had nothing but my passport, so I paid for a full adult ticket, and then NEVER REGRETTED IT! The GRAMMY Museum turned out to be one of the best museums I'd ever visited. Everything you want to know about the music history, the GRAMMY's history, unique exhibits - everything is there! What a wonderful place! I don't know how much time I spent there. I explored each of 4 levels for about 30-40 minutes (well, there was nothing but a worker on the first level, but the second floor took more time, and I'll explain why), and time passed like it never happened. An interesting fact is that in the GRAMMY museum you should start exploring not from the first level, but from the last - the forth in that case.
So the first two levels were about general history of music and developing of the GRAMMY's. It was fascinating, especially for a musician I am (even if only in my soul nowadays). I was really interested in the displays and the articles. There were even clothes which some artists wore at the latest GRAMMY's, and Beyonce's dress was there too! Can you imagine me?
Beyonce's dress!
The second level is used for temporary special exhibitions, and I chanced to attend The Taylor Swift Experience! It was a total surprise for me, because I had read about it in the magazine some months ago and never thought I'd happen to visit it myself. I didn't remember that the exhibition was held at the GRAMMY Museum. I may not be a huge fan of her, but I enjoy listening to her albums from time to time; Taylor's music is known to be the choice when feeling downcast. So it was rather a pleasant surprise for me to examine her exhibition, especially it was likely to be of high quality, informative and entertaining.
Totally shook that place off
Only when I came back to Russian, I read on the ticket that taking photos was forbidden. Oops!
Generally I fell for Downtown. Such a fancy lovely place! I took all the pleasure in walking there.
I can't recall what I did when I returned to the hostel, because there's no photos of that day after the GRAMMY Museum. I probably had a laidback evening, that's all.
10th of August: Ooh, my last full day in LA. But it wasn't full of crazy events. That day I finally had a meeting with Denis. What an absurdity! I had arrived in LA to meet and spend time with Denis, and in the end I met him only twice - on the first and on the last days of my travel. So we agreed upon meeting at lunch not too far away from my hostel. Denis took me to a sushi restaurant called "Crazy Rock'n Sushi" - he thinks it's the best sushi place around. And indeed I liked their rolls! Well, I let Denis order 'cause he knew the stuff, and I felt myself to be a guest, so may the man decide. He ordered delicious rolls, but still so many, that I had to take some with me. Denis told me about his curremt life and some plans for the future, I told him about how my trip had gone. He said he was proud of me, and we both admitted that it was the best decision for me to stay at the hostel. Denis and his wife were busy all the time, so I would have spent most of the time alone. But instead I was likely to meet a bunch of cool new people and spend an amazing time partying and practicing my English. We reminisced how we had rocked during our camp American vacation, discussed how other guys live now. Then Denis took me to a 99 Cents Only Store. I guess such stores exist in every country, here in Vladivostok we have a price-point retailer chain where everything costs 35 rubles. But still the Japanese version 100 Yen Shop is the best for me. Talking about the American one, I found an interesting soap making kit there. It would be extremely weird to find a cross soap in Russia, but my former group leader said it was okay for the USA.
And in the end I offered Denis to take a photo, so my girls from the American trip 2013 would envy me (lol sorry, girlz). Honestly, I just wasn't a fool that time and asked for a photo to save the memory. Should've been that quick-witted before!
Don't even ask about 'Furniture' sign - have no idea
On coming back to the hostel, I gave all my restaurant rolls to the hostel girl, so I provided her lunch. Somehow I got to know the female part of the hostel workers only at the end of my trip.
After checking the time of my flight the next day, I called and booked a shuttle to LAX. It was the first time I had to spell my last name in English, and it wasn't funny. Perhaps it was one of the most difficult thing that summer.
In the evening there was a free food party, like the first one I'd attended there. The Brazilian guy even joked: "Olga, come here tonight! It's FREE!" Ha ha. Thanks. I know. But yeah, that was amusing that even local pals got my thrifty mood during that trip. People from the Hollywood arrived, and I wished the Australian would come too, but unfortunately he couldn't make it. Well, that's life! I didn't party hard that time, I didn't want to be hungover on my flight the next day. A couple of new [for me] people came, one of them was from Serbia, so we were quite a Slavic gang.
The Japanese guy suggested taking a pic with that monster
They brought a bottle of vodka, and you should remember what I mean by their bottle. They offered me some due to my roots and were surprised by my denial - once again I wanted to feel well the next day. I was ready not to sleep enough - that would be only good, that would make me sleep more during the flight. But anyhow something in me didn't want to party hard; I felt rather sentimental. You know, at the beginning of the travel, when I didn't know anybody, I thought, "Hmm, probably the second time here won't be the same cool as our first one". But then when I got to know all those incredible people, soaked into the atmosphere, the lifestyle, I fell for Los Angeles even more. Nevertheless mama was right - we fall for the people, not for the places. There's actually one place for me where I don't have any acquaintances, but I'd love to return to - it's Pavlovsk, a little town near St. Petersburg. But right now I'm showing all my feelings to the city of angels, right? I absolutely got it that all my trip was about communicating with different people from different countries, and through those conversations understanding and discovering myself. And Los Angeles is such a laidback place where I felt so good, just right. And also I came up with a witty idea that if I couldn't make it with my professional education, I would work at a hostel. When the workers finish their duties, they go around and entertain guests. Parties everyday! Yes, I know it might be exhausting too, but hell! We're young and beautiful! So it all looked for me like a camp for adults! Sometimes I caught myself at thinking that when the guys went for a walk with me, hang out with me, I was just a work for them... But then I cut it and went on partying - because I'm worth something too, aren't I?
I decided I'll definitely be back one day. Now I want to travel to Europe, I've never been to any Europe country. Ilya has already invited me to Prague. Mom wants to take me to Peru with her friends as an interpreter. So I think it's gonna take not less than another 2 years until I'm back in the USA. If so, I'll finally be 21, so I'll be fully legal!
But that evening I was only thinking of how I would pack everything in my one and only backpack and how cool my travel was. My company and I agreed upon meeting once again in some other countries. That would be awesome!
My farewell vanilla photo of a private balcony of the hostel
11 of August: Pack&go. Don't regret. Don't look back ("...you can never look back"). I'd woken up a couple of hours before my shuttle had to arrive, so I could organize my stuff and get ready for the trip. There were only a couple of hostel girls and the Irish guy and one guest from Germany downstairs who I knew. The Irish man pronounced 'goodbye' in Russian [do svidania] and said it felt like a submarine was plunging and people stood saluting: "Do svidania!" That couldn't but make me smile. I asked him how 'goodbye' in Irish was, but I quickly forgot. For me t sounded similarly to the Russian one actually. Knowing his interest in Russian history, I showed the Irish guy a little badge with Lenin on my rucksack, and he asked me a little bit about the USSR and my parents, how they lived in the USSR and how they live now in modern Russia. I couldn't explain properly why my dad liked the USSR. Just because it was?
I expected my British buddy to come and say goodbye to me, but he never showed up. Later he wrote me explaining that he'd had a pretty wild night. Well, I was glad to still have some acquainted people to say farewell to.
My shuttle came and took me to LAX. The driver was a talkative one. He was surprised in an amicable way that I was from Russia. He said he came from Azerbaijan, and then it was my turn to be surprised that he didn't try to speak Russian.
So there I was in LAX. I had been worrying if I'd be in time, and yes, I had enough time and even more. I even had time to exchange the rest of my money into yens and have lunch.
Aaaaand... THAT'S IT! I think this should be the end of my American story of 2015. It's actually not the end of the whole trip - I had a hella another mad adventure in Tokyo, but it absolutely deserves yet another post. I hoped that you liked my retelling, I tried to recall every little thing, though I skipped some intriguing parts on purpose. Now I still wanna add some words, because I didn't know where they belonged in the story.
*INTERESTING FACTS AND STORIES*
Once I paid for my purchase, and the teller asked something about the parking I didn't understand. He asked where I was from, and on hearing my answer he started talking in Russian! Though in wasn't a Russian district and he was definitely not Russian. His pronunciation wasn't perfect, I couldn't tell some words, but his grammar and vocabulary was on point! That was amazing!
By the way I lived close to the Russian district (if I can say so about a little part of Santa Monica Blvd), so it was so odd when I first saw Russian titles and letters on the windows. So crazy! I didn't even wanted to walk into the shops. And even if I did, I didn't know in what language to speak to them: Russian or English? Anyhow I didn't come to the USA to speak in Russian (Denis is an exception).
Denis and the Australian guy are the same age.
Once I spotted 3 Lamborghini's in one day.
The day I met with Denis I faced a Rolls Royce covered with the leather or something like that.
I bought something in Starbucks only twice.
Talking about fast food spots, I ate mostly in Subway.
Here're some fancy photos I also took:
California rolls in California. Got it?
The Mexican beer we drank at every party. I didn't like it frankly speaking
I passed by CNN once!
Just a selfie of a squirrel and me appreciating how my front camera makes my skin even more paler
The view from my bed
Straight outta
Batman ice cream van!
The time when I got fully American
One of the pieces of art the hostel workers created every morning
Hollywood High School
C'est bien la fin! Thanks for your patience! And now... wait for the Tokyo part!!
Ah! Nearly forgotten! Music! Ok, I could drive totally crazy and put some sentimental stuff from the trip here, but I'll (almost traditionally) share something including such words as "America" and "California" here. And "Miss America"
