NB! I've been writing this post for about half a year. But it has survived through all my laziness and low tides of inspiration and creativity. I hope y'all will find it witty and entertaining. Don't treat it too serious, I'm only about to get more professional about the drinks from this point xoxo
In this post, I wanna discuss one of my favorite things - PARTIES! You know, I'm a party pro and I wonder how I haven't come up with this genius idea yet.
But it's not gonna be just how I like to party, but about my party experience around the world (thanks to the US trips, I can call it 'around'). Of course, I can tell you only how native Russians party, and that's gonna be the fullest part. What about other countries that I'll touch (the USA, of course, Japan, China, and just some sentences about what else I know), so I'll tell you my personal experience only as a tourist/traveller and, what is also important, an underage tourist/traveller (sound illigal).
So let's start with my Motherland Russia. What I'll write is a pretty common thing, so you can believe me. Russians are good at partying at home. The most problematic thing is neighbors, and you may understand, neighbors are the problem everywhere. Adults like to gather if there's a serious celebration such as a birthday party, a wedding or an anniversary and so on. Teenagers put up a home party if parents go out somewhere for a weekend. Until you're in mid-twenties you drink just to get drunk, you see. Russians don't usually organize any themed parties. We like to dress nicely, but we don't put on anything funny as long as it's not Halloween and you're not going to the bar. Bars are a different story.
Almost all the bars and nightclubs are guided by the Western culture, so themed parties there are the thing. Halloween, New Year, International Women's Day, the Day of Russia - venues organize various events and promotions to get attention and attract folks. Once I went to a bar on the International Women's Day and received a free cocktail - it was plain champagne with grenadine, but man, it was free of charge! Plus, one of the positive things about the bars in Russia is that many of them are open till 4 am or so (at the weekend - for sure); moreover, there are bars that work 24/7. Isn't it a partying heaven?
Usually, you can't get into a bar if you're underage, but one always knows some places. Of course, if you're unlucky to look like 14 when you're 22, you might be asked your passport. But if you're a 17 years old guy who's taller than the President and has some awesome facial hair, you'll be welcomed. By the way, the Russian full age is 18. But as I said, the Western culture has influenced, and some venues, especially high-class ones, don't allow people under 21. It works with buying alcohol as well: you may buy beer and wine legally when you're 18, but spirits like rum, whiskey and tequila are forbidden unless you're 21 and over. Well, technically. Because I easily buy them in the shops and order in the bars. Usually, I'm not asked for my passport, but only the cashier told me to show my document when I was buying vodka. So I showed him, and everything was alright though vodka is like 40%, ok? Yeah yeah, make those Russia-vodka-bears jokes.
Also, Russians like to hang out in the country. You form a gang with a poor driver who can't drink while others party hard. Then you go to a lake, or a river, or a beach. The picnic can last for one day only or for the whole weekend or even longer.
So, Russia. Favorite party beverage: vodka, obvi. I mean, there are people who don't drink vodka, so they may drink wine, cognac, whiskey - everything the world can offer, even non-alcoholic stuff. Can you believe it? There are Russian people who don't drink alcohol! But it ain't no proper Russian party if there ain't no vodka.
You see, putting up a house party, young people don't usually
care about the fancy of the glasses and other dishes
The United States of America. As you know, I've been in the States twice, so I have something to tell you though I'm not 21 yet. And that's pretty strict in the USA. If you're not 21, you can't go to the clubs or bars, can't buy alco-beverage legally. But still, I gained some experience.
In 2013, my friends and I faced such a thing as a hotel party. Every weekend a very lively party was put up near the swimming pool in the hotel where we lived after Las Vegas trip. Parties started pretty early, at like 4 pm or something, because I remember we wanted to shoot some videos near the swimming pool for our task but couldn't get there because we were underage. Like they would've let us in only if we were adults! Probably, the parties were organized by the hotel. Once we returned from an excursion and on entering the hotel we couldn't breathe properly, our eyes got irritated, so we quickly went up to our rooms. As far as I understood, someone had pulverized some pepper spray - for fun?? Not sure, because another day my friend Christina and I went down to the vending machines for some snacks, and some partying men tried to pick us up inviting us to join them at the party. So maybe it was a woman defending herself who had dispersed the spray that day?
Still, we had a chance to have a pool party at the end of our American vacation. It was our last full day before the departure day, and it was Christina's birthday as well. All guys wanted to swim a bit after lunch, but we saw another party was being prepared, and we thought we wouldn't be allowed to the swimming pool. But just the reverse they let us swim and, moreover, the DJ had been already there, so he turned on some cool music shouting "RUSSIANS IN DA HOUSE!!", and the organizers threw us some huge air toys (I don't know their proper names). We had our best time indeed!
Try to spot me
But in 2015 I experienced American party in another way though it had one thing in common - the place. I lived in the hostel, so my parties were of a hotel kind, too. But this time, I was one of the participants although I was underage still. It seems like I'm never gonna be old enough for America. So, parties! Ho(s)tel parties are aimed to meet new people and have fun. If you aren't excited to talk to people, you'll be bored af. And if you make friends with the hostel workers, you'll find out they probably have their own mini-bars, so there's even BOOZE!
American favorite party beverage: beer. Of course, there are wine and whiskey, and vodka, too, but the beer is the thing. I tasted some Mexican beer, but it was total crap for me. Also, I drank some (read: a lot of) wine, both red and white, and it worked well. Very well.
An example of the room in the hostel where we could chill out
when the official party stopped
A disadvantage for people partying in the USA is that all night clubs and bars are open till 2 am only. I remember a Brazilian guy who wanted to go out somewhere, but it was already 1:30 am, and my friend said, "Sorry, mate, but I'm afraid everything will be closed soon". And the Brazilian burst out complaining like "WHAT?? In Brazil, all bars work until 5 am! At 2 am everybody's partying hard and no one wants to stop!" I agreed with him.
Also, we had to stop loud hostel parties by the midnight, because the neighbors could complain and call the police; so we hid in the rooms with low music and slowed down activity.
Once I chanced to get into a bar near my hostel. Guys took me there to dance though we all wondered if I'd be asked for my ID. Fortunately, we walked in freely and danced till guys decided to change the place. The bar was really tiny; I didn't notice much difference from the Russian bars I'd been to.
The United States of AMURICA!! Fav beverage: I'd say beer but anything you can afford will do. But can you imagine a proper American party without a beer pong?
The main people partying in Japan are men. It may sound anti-feministic but that's how it is as far as I know. I'm sure, young people party at the same level, both guys and girls. But talking about older ones, I know that men are most likely to hang out in big companies without their women in the evening. Even when I went to Japan in 2013 to work, firstly, we didn't have any woman in our Japanese crew, and when we had something like farewell parties, there were no women either. But I think, it's not a question about partying habits, is it? But I'm not about to make monsters out of the Japanese; they are such a nice polite nation!
The Japanese are no strangers to family parties. They like to go out with the whole family, have outside activities together and eat out somewhere. They don't need special occasions for that , and I think it's nice and cute.
What about me, so there was no problem for me (16 then) and my mate to buy some alcoholic bevarage in Japan as I wasn't asked my age 'cause I was a Westener, I guess. So, if you go to Wakkanai one day, I know where to buy a very decent mojito.
Let's sum up what I have for Japan. I'd say that the Japanese stick to their traditional sake, but I must admit their love their local beer as well.
When I think of China and alcohol, my first thought is Chinese beer!! Back in 2012 when my choir and I went to this country, the first bevarage we were served for dinner was beer. Only after some of us would ask for water or juice. And - oh man! - we drank so much Chinese beer! It even led me to a heavily sore throat and my first boyfriend; none of those was a good experience. So my experience of Chinese parties are all from that trip. Firstly, we experienced the Chinese hospitality during dinners with limitless beer (we even stole some bottles to our hotel). Then we put up kinda 'house parties' in our rooms in the hotel with that beer and anything we could buy at the hotel from the pineapple beer to already mixed whiskey and cola. Moreover, some of the choir participants including me, of course, once went to a local night club catering for the Russians. It was much fun, very drunk though. Sometimes I recollect some fragments from that night and am like "Why the hell did I do that?" - I mean, danced to the very odd tunes. Once again, there wasn't any troubles buying alcohol in China, and it was great.
I don't think I can be any positive about what people of China prefer, so let's stop at beer as their favorite drink. It seems like beer rule the world!
So guys, that's what I have in my mind for one of my favorite subject - PARTIES! Maybe I could have written even more if the information weren't drunk away.
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 ♥
...at the age of 19.
Hello, tout le monde! I know I've been absent for more than 2 months and the only thing I told you about was a crazy wedding I was this close to absolutely slay but flopped in the end.
Nevertheless, thoughts in my mind keep on flowing and I can't keep them bottled in. I still experience with the format of my blog and I liked the post I did about Q&A where the information was given in little items. I like this form myself, so give me a try this time too. I had some draughts and I made up my mind to unite them all under the theme I have stated in the title. (Oh my, I'm writing this like it's an official report. What an atta-girl)
So, commençons! Here are some things I believe in.
I believe in the chance.
Many things happened to me were incidents. They happened by chance or Fortuna helped, I don't know. On the other hand, I'm also aware of the fact that there are no accidents, all the incidents aren't incidental. But all these things are so mixed! I like the word 'fate'. Because in some cases I can see the system, the line, the process how I came from one situation to another. In other cases, something just happens and *boom!* I'm da boss.
For example, my second American trip (yes, I know, you're all fed up with it). It's clear how I got there - I still had a visa from my first American travel. But how did my parents agree to send me to the USA in 2013? Mystery. Luck. Fate. And in this 2015 adventure, how did I meet particular people? You see, I could communicate to them during my 9 Californian days, then say goodbye, shed a tear and that's all. But no! It's been about half a year since then and I still keep in touch (more or less) with some people I met there. How did I run exactly into those people? How on earth did one man decide to offer me a drink, and now he suggests me the greatest films and tunes? How? Mystery. Luck. Fate.
And only by this holy chance my bestie Cherry Lady and I sent our docs to the same university. We'd never talked about entering the same university, and one day we discussed our higher education's plans and went, "I'm sending my docs to FEFU" - "Hey, me too!" And here we are sharing one room and one specialisation!
Even back in the 5th grade of school, when my that time best friend kinda betrayed me and ditched me. I was walking to my music school all depressed when I accidently ran into Dasha who comforted me and said she was still my friend, and so we grew into best friends.
These are just a few stories from my life but I must convince you that accident things happen to me on a daily basis. Sometimes I feel like I live in the ancient Greek roman where a chance was da boss.
I believe in my country.
I'm a cosmopolitan, but it doesn't disclaim my warm attitude to my country. The more I travel, the more advantages I see in Russia, the better I understand my Motherland.
I'm not the person to talk about politics or economics but I can't deny the controversial situation in our world these days. But it's all about history. History always repeats. Russia has always had breakdowns but don't you know yourself it's always risen like a phoenix? I'm not a Slavophil but I totally agree that Russia has its own way of progressing.
After my long winter vacation on Sakhalin when I arrived back in Vladivostok, I took a train from the airport downtown. I was watching the outskirts and was thinking about how amazing my country is. Russia is different. Of course, the most picturesque views are in summer, but there is some special charm in winter. There's always something to see every season. One British friend of mine says that if he ever visits Russia, he'll come in summer. But seeing those little cottages covered with snow, I catch myself thinking I'd like him to see it, I want him to experience Russia in winter. Even though we both hate cold.
I admire other countries; you know I left my heart in LA, can't but dream about visiting France and Italy and etc. But when I'm abroad I feel Russian more than I do while practically in Russia. I don't think I'll live in Russia forever. I can see myself with a foreign husband and bilingual children (I've always seen). My idee fixe is to spend my old age somewhere near Marseille in the Côte d'Azur.
But deep down I've always felt proud of myself (and my fellow-countrymen) for one thing - people of other nations may only guess how it is to be Russian, how it's to live in Russia, and I know how it is.
I believe in love.
Not so long ago I showed one man my poetry and he asked if I had something, not about love. I wanted to protest in the beginning but then decided to keep silence wisely especially since I had a couple of poems not about love.
I don't remember at what age I realized that everything in this world was about love (earlier than I decided that I was a cosmopolitan). You love your parents, you love your sweetheart, you love your pet, you love your food... I'm not talking about the extremes when people are willing to marry a chair or something.
One song says, "What is this thing called love that you speak?" It's a good question indeed. Love is a feeling, that's for sure. Love is affection, love is an attachment. Love is trust.
My kids in the summer camp always giggled when I started talking about love and warm feelings we should have shown to each other. Then I explained to them that love was not only between lovers or spouses but between friends, and parents and their children, between me as their teacher and them as my wards. They understood.
For example, I'm bad at talking to people to whom I don't feel anything, in whom I'm not interested. But when I think the person I'm with is right, I can speak for hours, though the words may be nonsense. Because for my mind, talking, chatting is a way to show my feelings, to show that I'm comfortable with someone. Not all the information we share is important. It shouldn't be always important. If I tell you some silly things that have no value but I really want you to know, it means I value you and you're important to me and I trust you. I don't always pour out all the thoughts which are on my mind. But when I do, it means I think you're someone I can trust. And I already love you as a good human being.
So, I can discourse on the issue of love for hours, but one thing is clear:
Love can save this world, that's for sure.
I believe in art.
Because life imitates art, and art imitates life. You may suppose that I have such an opinion only because I study the humanities but it's kinda vice versa. I study the humanities because I know and appreciate the power of art.
The concept, the meaning of art is so fragile nowadays. I can pour the paint on my (or someone's) naked body, tie up some sentimental 'message' and easily call it 'The Art'. I can repeat "I love you" 83 times to a silly tune and call it "The Art". I can take a picture of a mug, add a couple of filters, again say that it carries a huge 'message' and call it "The Art". At the same time, a person may work for months on a painting and no one could appreciate it. Someone can have an amazing voice but cannot use it right because of lack of money, connections and etc. I don't mean that everything must be bought nowadays. I mean that the most of the things they sell or show are of low quality, that stuff is nonsense. Of course, there's is the true art nowadays as well. The world isn't totally doomed. That's why I believe in art and that it will arise and inspire.
My literature professor has told us that our days are like the Middle Ages. Those times, the most people didn't read (because they couldn't) so they listened to the ones who owned the knowledge. The knowledge was elitist. Nowadays people don't read too. Well, we do but not the same amount as people did a century or two ago. Many things have influenced why people gave up reading and self-teaching and enlarging their knowledge. And it's strange because today we have so many sources to educate ourselves: the same old books, e-books, the holy Internet, TV, masterclasses and video-lessons. I'm not talking about particular fields of knowledge like languages or science. I'm talking about general erudition! The art, the science, the phycology, the philosophy... There are so many things to discover day by day but not every person does it. And so the world is ruled by those who do discover the depth of human knowledge. The knowledge is elitist again.
Nowadays art isn't much about educating its observers. But it should be, it might have been. They always try to entertain us but they'd rather educate us. The world is overwhelmed with entertainment but it lacks art.
The year of 2015 is coming to its end, and I'd like to sum it up a bit. I still have some plans I feel like I must execute, but they won't change the main, you know, volume of emotions. I had such an amazing year, didn't I? It changed me pretty much, helped me to understand what I want from life.
Not so long ago I found a post on our Russian version of Facebook that included some interesting questions people may ask themselves about their lives (originally the questions are from the book "My 5 years. 365 questions, 1825 answers. Diary"). They say to answer privately and show nobody, but I think it's a funny way to share my thoughts about the year with you. Maybe there're gonna be the questions I won't want to answer, so I'll politely skip them. Let's start! 1. The best moment of the year is... My American trip, beyond doubt. I know, I worked in the children camp for the first time, I finished my 1st year at university this year and started the 2nd, but nevertheless my travel to LA was the most amazing and unforgettable for many reasons. 2. What inspired me the most this year?
Oh, difficulties have started. I can't help mentioning my mind-blowing travel again. People around me inspire me all the time. Participating in the contests with my student organization. Reading good literature, for sure; literature never lets me down. 3. The main news of the year.
I started working seriously. I became the English tutor in February and a teacher in the camp in June. Also now I can speak French! 4. The anthem of the year.
Man, you know, questions about music are HARD! Probably I could have pointed out one song the previous years, but not this one. I can't recall one song. Let it be Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood, the Eurovision 2015 winning song Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw, Style by Taylor Swift and Colors by Halsey.
5. The most important people in my life. (this year, apparently)
Well, I can't but mention my parents and best friends who are my most important people in my life forever. Also I'd like to point out the Australian man I met in LA. Nowadays, when several months have passed by, I understand that I won't exaggerate when saying that he kinda influenced my perception of the world and myself mainly. It's one in a million chance to get to know such a person, believe me. 6. What was the most difficult for me?
Umm, making up your mind is always difficult. Sometimes working with the children at camp was difficult; I even cried twice during the term. Urging myself to read all the necessary literature even if I totally don't feel like is always a challenge too.
7. What color was this year?
Oy, I could send you to Colors by Halsey here, too:) But having to choose the color of the year, I'd say red. Red is my second favorite color, and my 2015 has been so vibrant and energetic and full of unexpected things, so it was red. ("... but loving him was red")
8. What event of this year I'd like to remember forever?
Is it going to be another post about my LA trip or what?
9. What word I used most often?
Hmm, interesting. I'd probably be able to answer this question in Russian. In English I'd choose the word expression "on point", let it be so. 10. The most ridiculous purchase of the year.
I hope I learnt not to waste money this year as being a student. So I think I never bought anything ridiculous in 2015. Or I try not to remember. 11. I'd better experiment with...
Oh my, I think I've experimented enough this year. Perhaps, there's even nothing I'd regret. YOU GO, GIRL!
12. This year was great because...
I realized many plans and ideas, I tried and did what I hadn't done before. I met so many amazing people; many of them have become my good friends. I traveled all on my own abroad for the first time. 13. What intimate problem have I solved?
I don't know. Usually I try to avoid noticing problems including my owns. I still try to understand my nature, so I'll leave this question open. 14. Whom I hugged at night?
That's almost offensive. I hug my plush cat toy at night, you know. Well, I wasn't that hopeless this year, but they are more one night stand cases :c
15. At whose wedding I partied?
At no one's.
16. What average salary did I have this year?
*politely skipping*
17. Did I have a conversation that changed everything in my mind?
I don't think I'm capable of recalling one particular conversation. I try to extract something useful from every conversation I have. Talking to foreigners was remarkable; and conversations with my camp co-workers were always great.
18. What new business have I started this year?
Well, I've already written about my work. Though I don't earn much money, but I enjoy teaching my little students English, it's my own little serious business. 19. If I could become a super hero for one day, what would I do?
It might sound selfish, but if I were a super hero for a day, I'd fly to my guys in LA. Seriously.
20. What do I dream about?
Is it about 2015 or what? I have many dreams actually. Right now I dream to successfully pass my exams beforehand this semester and come to my hometown for a whole month. 21. What I consider to be my biggest achievement?
My successful American trip. Sorry.
22. Express this year (up to this day) in one phrase.
Off the hook.
25. Have I realized everything I planned for this year? Not yet. Only some chore stuff are left. But globally yes, I've done everything I planned. Well done.
26. How many new friends have I made this year?
I'm bad at counting. I guess there are about 4-5 new good friends I made this year.
27. Whom I helped this year?
Myself firstly. My Australian man. Cherry Lady. Tatyana. I like helping people if I'm sure I can.
28. What places have I visited?
OOOOHHH should I count my hometown? Besides, there are West Hollywood, Venice Beach, Downtown LA and all the other places I went to in LA. Most of them were new for me. Oh, and Tokyo! I've been to Tokyo for the first time! 29. What business have I put off till the next year?
Recording the songs that I wrote because I don't have any instruments here in Vladivostok (yet). So I wait for coming to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and creating some (I think) cool stuff there.
30. What do I want to achieve in the new year?
Discovering new aspects of my soul. I want to live happily in general. Earlier I'd absolutely send a wish upon a star for a boyfriend. Now I get it that I don't constantly need a boy to feel happy. Of course, I don't deny the need of somebody by my side. But unless I'm fully satisfied with myself, I won't be satisfied with anyone. Plus now I know I don't need a boy - I need a man ("who can do it like I can"). I guess I met someone who looked like my ideal this year, and now it's pretty tough to find somebody like him. But actually I don't look for anyone on purpose. I believe if I feel confident, my destiny will find me easily. So feeling constantly confident, being patient and attentive is what I want to achieve in the new year.
That's it! Maybe, my answers were pretty obvious and silly, but they are mine, don't you think? Try to answer yourself and see how amazing your 2015 was!
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"
