I've officially been in Southern California for an ENTIRE WEEK!! The adjustment from -2 to 75 degree weather was definitely a welcome one! I'm staying here with some friends who I met in Nebraska a few years back. They live in a cute 2 bedroom condo in Long Beach (which I'm slowly learning to separate towns from L.A.) It is literally a 5 minute WALK to the beach and there is a running/biking/blading/segwaying trail along the harbor. It's funny to see the people on the segways, especially coming from NE weather and thinking it is heaven to be able to run along the beach in January. If you're not familiar with the term segway, it's the 2 wheel stand-up personal vehicle that Paul Blart mall cop uses to protect the mall from heinous criminals!!
The vegetation around here is so much different than back home, it's truly remarkable. The grass looks much different, and is kept very short. There are palm trees all over, but none are actually indigenous to this region. Yeah...funny isn't it? My favorite flower that I've seen so far is the "Bird of Paradise." Click here to see a pic:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkQe4Wohd3yhblNaDf7IesvmPOdw591oLDk7N6Z8dKWGnNZEWYyKl42fqklGZEV1jN1sO1mHt8KTnc28PBZO5sE_at6OZDWK1V_I-S211IWXo0IncbzitUmRNWGxGnmILLOE30_0Zd1mk/s320/bird_of_paradise.jpg
These flowers are commonly seen among the gardens on the short walk from the condo to the beach. It is one of my favorite things about the scenery so far!! I went for a jog yesterday, and I seemed to feed off of the energy of the ocean as it was more enjoyable than it was work. I'm hoping to get my body back into shape out here, and with weather like this there is no excuse for me not to!!
Classes just started at "The Groundlings" school and theatre. I'm taking the "Intro" class right now, which meets once a week on Mondays from 10-1p. I've only had one so far....and it was a blast!! It's about a 30-45 minute drive from Long Beach. The people that I'm taking classes with are very talented and seem to be some good prospects for new friends. Our instructor, Sean Hogan, is a down-to-earth goofball who has plenty to teach us. His ability to work with the beginner is superb and I'm excited to be as much of an absorbent sponge as possible. (yet without that nasty smell that sponges acquire after a few uses)
The Hokes (my host family,) took me to Big Bear Lake for a few days. It's about 2 1/2 hours North of Long Beach. We stayed in a friends cabin that resembled more of a 4-5 star resort!! The scenery there is very similar to the mountains of Colorado, but it's crazy that we went snow sledding in almost 50 degree weather!! I'll try and put some pics up on facebook. Of course we forgot our cameras, so the pics are on our phones. The windy drive up and down from the mountain was not so fun on the guts, as I had to have Anthony (papa Hoke) pull over a couple times so I wouldn't lose my lunch in the car!!
Well, that's about it for now!! I'm excited to see what next week has to bring!!
-Rob/Bob/Robert/Bobby
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