life at college

After traveling for 18 hours yesterday, I finally landed at LAX, in heels. I'm home baby! Haha! I honestly feel a sense of belonging here, even though this still feels like a vacation - not an installment of my new life as a college girl in California!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Madeleine, but nickname is Maddie. I'm originally from Sweden but have now moved to California to go to college, a dream I've had since I was a little girl. Can't believe it's coming true... Even though this blog was made first and most for my family and friends at home, I'm very welcoming to new readers! I'm not sure if I should mention my schools name in the blog though.. but it will probably be presented sooner or later. I haven't fully decided which language I should write in either, swedish or english.. Tell me what you think in the comments, about what you think about mentioning my college and also what language I should write in! :) Thanksss!

So aannywaayysss, after my mom, dad and I landed on LAX yesterday (after a bumpy flight) we had to go through customs, as you always do. This is usually a pretty nerve-racking experience I think. Not that I have something to hide, just that you have to fill out your forms correctly, answer some questions and they are usually not very friendly, the custom officers.. and all this after traveling for 18 hours, can I hear a "woot woot"? No, exactly - not fun. But this time, everything went on smooth and they were all really friendly for once. Maybe it was that I had my VISA and I'm going to study here, maybe they are more welcoming then? Haha, I don't know, but I did feel very welcome! :] And all our luggage arrived safe and sound, so no worries there!

We then got our car and headed to our hotel - JW Marriot. Dude, this hotel... Oh. My. God. Luxury to the extreme! Thanks to our good family friend, we can afford to stay here! It's in the middle of LA LIVE - which is a place of large business buildings, Staple Center (where lots of concerts are being held) restaurants and cinemas. It's big and powerful - very American! However, it's not that much to really do here if there's no event happening. So when we had checked in yesterday and had a look around, it was pretty empty. Another factor to this was that it was Labor Day yesterday.. which means there is a lot of places closed. There is also no shopping to do in the nearby area, so thats pretty sucky. But the hotel - is awesome!

But after looking around in the area, trying to find a place where we want to eat, we ended up going to ESPN Sportsbar - the one of few places that are open, and it looks pretty empty as the rest of the open restaurants. But when we ask them for a table, they tell us that it's full! After walking around in this empty LA LIVE area, we have a hard time believing what this guy is telling us. But he tells us that everyone is watching the game, but that there's boots at the bar were we can sit and just order from the bar. This was even more awesome than if we'd gotten a table. We got to sit and watch a college football game between Boise State and Virginia Tech on ESPN's channel, while eating delicious chicken fingers, quesadillas, spinach dip and cheese fries. You know, that healthy first dinner in America! ;] It was Awesome - with a capital A!

We then went back to our hotel, stuffed as turkeys on a thanksgiving dinner. Mom fell asleep almost right away, I don't know who won between dad and I - we had a bet on how fast she would fall asleep (Dad; 5min, Me; 10 min). Dad and I continued watching the game at the big flat screen in our room, while being on our computers, until I also fell asleep. The game was very exciting though, Boise St won by 33-30 against VA tech.

Now, it is day 2 - the 7th of September 2010. I woke up at 4 am, and couldn't really fall asleep, so at 5.30 am I decided to start writing this. I've never really had jet lag before, but something woke me up and since it was 1 pm at home - my body decided I didn't need anymore sleep. It is now 7 am and dad and mom are starting to wake up! Gym, pool, shopping and dinner at Outback is on our schedule today! Sounds like another awesome day to me! :]

I will give y'all an update later on tonight!

Till then lovers!

After traveling for 18 hours yesterday, I finally landed at LAX, in heels. I'm home baby! Haha! I honestly feel a sense of belonging here, even though this still feels like a vacation - not an installment of my new life as a college girl in California!

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So aannywaayysss, after my mom, dad and I landed on LAX yesterday (after a bumpy flight) we had to go through customs, as you always do. This is usually a pretty nerve-racking experience I think. Not that I have something to hide, just that you have to fill out your forms correctly, answer some questions and they are usually not very friendly, the custom officers.. and all this after traveling for 18 hours, can I hear a "woot woot"? No, exactly - not fun. But this time, everything went on smooth and they were all really friendly for once. Maybe it was that I had my VISA and I'm going to study here, maybe they are more welcoming then? Haha, I don't know, but I did feel very welcome! :] And all our luggage arrived safe and sound, so no worries there!

We then got our car and headed to our hotel - JW Marriot. Dude, this hotel... Oh. My. God. Luxury to the extreme! Thanks to our good family friend, we can afford to stay here! It's in the middle of LA LIVE - which is a place of large business buildings, Staple Center (where lots of concerts are being held) restaurants and cinemas. It's big and powerful - very American! However, it's not that much to really do here if there's no event happening. So when we had checked in yesterday and had a look around, it was pretty empty. Another factor to this was that it was Labor Day yesterday.. which means there is a lot of places closed. There is also no shopping to do in the nearby area, so thats pretty sucky. But the hotel - is awesome!

But after looking around in the area, trying to find a place where we want to eat, we ended up going to ESPN Sportsbar - the one of few places that are open, and it looks pretty empty as the rest of the open restaurants. But when we ask them for a table, they tell us that it's full! After walking around in this empty LA LIVE area, we have a hard time believing what this guy is telling us. But he tells us that everyone is watching the game, but that there's boots at the bar were we can sit and just order from the bar. This was even more awesome than if we'd gotten a table. We got to sit and watch a college football game between Boise State and Virginia Tech on ESPN's channel, while eating delicious chicken fingers, quesadillas, spinach dip and cheese fries. You know, that healthy first dinner in America! ;] It was Awesome - with a capital A!

We then went back to our hotel, stuffed as turkeys on a thanksgiving dinner. Mom fell asleep almost right away, I don't know who won between dad and I - we had a bet on how fast she would fall asleep (Dad; 5min, Me; 10 min). Dad and I continued watching the game at the big flat screen in our room, while being on our computers, until I also fell asleep. The game was very exciting though, Boise St won by 33-30 against VA tech.

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Now, it is day 2 - the 7th of September 2010. I woke up at 4 am, and couldn't really fall asleep, so at 5.30 am I decided to start writing this. I've never really had jet lag before, but something woke me up and since it was 1 pm at home - my body decided I didn't need anymore sleep. It is now 7 am and dad and mom are starting to wake up! Gym, pool, shopping and dinner at Outback is on our schedule today! Sounds like another awesome day to me! :]

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I will give y'all an update later on tonight!