Hi from Cal States Channel Islands, and from California, everyone!
California still does justice to its reputation. Especially the weather – if no one had told us it was mid-November, we’d still write August in the top-right corner of our papers. And that’s the thing: we found that everything you have ever heard about California is true.
A small selection: The weather is beautiful, the beaches are amazing, they drink a lot of Starbucks coffee, public transit is really not great, high school works exactly like in Mean Girls, it just takes a pinch of luck to make it in the entertainment industry, and people love Disney.
The semester is winding down slowly but surely. Being in California really messed up most people’s perception of time: even though it has been three months, it feels like an eternity – and like a week at the same time.
From time to time, you catch yourself thinking about what you are going to tell people from back home about your semester abroad. About the pictures you’d show them, and about the stories you’d tell them. About the memories you made with your German and American friends that one night at the beach, or that one time when all of you made a trip to Target because you had a bad day and you raced in the shopping carts, or that weekend when you went to Vegas/San Francisco/San Diego/Los Angeles with no plans and just bucket loads of adventure running through your veins. Because this is California. And things happen here.
That is what you think about over a cup of coffee at the Student Union Café Freudian Sip when you should be getting started on your final projects. Naturally.
If a picture says more than a thousand words, then videos speak whole volumes. That is why we are in the process of shooting a little video about Cal State Channel Islands, and California in general, to give people an impression of what it is like to be here. While the final video is nowhere near finished, we already put together an outtake compilation of the day when we shot a couple of scenes with an American student. To steal a quote: they just “really love living with Germans. It’s the greatest experience ever.” Why thank you; Californians are pretty decent, too.
Dec 14 marks the last day of final week, and after that everything is fair game: some MHMK students will make their way back in December – just in time to be home for Christmas –, others chose to stay in Cali for a while longer, and the rest will be traveling the world until March, when our summer semester starts in Germany.
But we are not thinking that far ahead, at least not right now. We are still perfectly fine and busy exploring the different facets of Californian life: Why has In-n-Out Burgers not yet dethroned McDonald’s? How much cheese is too much cheese on Mac’n’Cheese (trick question: there is no such thing)? What exactly is going to happen at Thanksgiving when you are invited over to your friend’s house? How exactly does American football work? How can a nation with an estimated attention span of 40 seconds love a 4-hour-per-game sport like baseball so much?
Speaking of sports: CI is still in the process of establishing college-professional sports leagues, but until then they just play dodge ball. And they get really into it – Tuesdays are for fighting.
So much for a quick status update from the Golden State.
Make good choices, Germany!
Cheers,
Chrissy
christine.carolin.pollithy@mhmk.de
