Or else I must be in LA.

Well, since moving in on Friday, I've finally found block of down time in which to collect my thoughts and describe what exactly has been going on the past couple of days. Right now one of my roommates, Amanda, is taking a short nap, and the other, Jessica, is out and about. Taking a nap sounds good, since we all got up way earlier than we wanted to, but I know that I won't really be able to fall asleep, so I should at least try and be productive. Today was the UCLA volunteer day, in which 5,000 or some people got on buses to go volunteer at various places. But I'll get to that in a minute. Let's rewind...

Thursday night was hard. After spending most of the day packing, somewhat rushedly (which is my fault, I know), I scurried off to a million places until I was at dinner with my parents. I had plans to go see Alex and everyone else that night, but first I needed to pack the car. We brought out all my stuff (most of it in garbage bags, unintentionally a la Rory Gilmore), and first I was worried that I had way too much stuff. After a couple of pokes, pushes, smushes, and wedges, we finally got it all to fit. And then I was off to Alex and the rest. And then it hit me. As I drove to Cupertino to see Alex for the last time, I was overcome with emotion, and broke down. It was the first time I actually realized I was leaving. And I stayed like that, because after I said goodbye to Alex, I had to say goodbye to the next person, and the next person, and the next. By the time I reached Jessica's house, I was spent. I had been crying for the past hour and a half straight. After rooftop picnicking with Kevin, Sarah, and Chris, it was really time to go to bed, so I could wake up and leave. I got little to no sleep that night, as five o'clock came too fast. And before I knew it, I was in LA.

Friday was crazy. I moved in, said awkward hellos with roommate #1, and spent some last moments with my family. After an anticlimactic goodbye, my parents left to see Becky, and I headed back to my dorm.

On Saturday I decided to go with my roommate to the football game, seeing as I didn't have anything else planned and didn't really feel like spending my first full day at college alone in a dorm room, where I knew nobody, since roommate #2 wouldn't show up until the next morning. The football game ended up being really fun, and I bought tickets for the whole season. We ended up sitting with a bunch of other people we met in line, and it was nice to have school spirit. I quite enjoyed doing the 8-clap.

On Sunday morning I woke up late, and soon met roommate #2. That night was Bruin Bash, but Amanda (roommate #1) and I didn't really feel like going, since that wasn't really our thing. We didn't feel like standing in a rediculously long line for something we really didn't want to go to. We ended up exploring Westwood, which I'm already in love with. It's a mix of small-town and city downtowns, complete with cute shops, lights on trees, many places to eat, old-style movie theaters, and hobos. The first thing I found once we got to Westwood Village was the Geffen Playhouse, which is a short 15 minute walk from my room, and produces plays and musicals. I am so excited. I gots to find me some theater friends so we can talk shop! After we'd seen all of Westwood (it really isn't that big), we headed back to Pauley and caught a bit of Bruin Bash. After seeing that it was terrible, stupid, and a waste of our time, we left and watched the new episode of Glee on my laptop.

Yesterday was the Enourmous Activities Fair, which is like club fair, but times 100000. And because it's college, there was a lot of free food! I saved a meal swipe by having my lunch down on the IM field, enjoying salads and sandwiches and the BEST beef flautas. I took a lot of fliers for a capella groups, and some for theater companies on campus. There is one particular group that I'm really interested in, seeing as they've done shows I really really like in the past. Last night was a bunch of boring talks and such, but included a BBQ. We all ended up back at Fir (my building) for our floor meeting around 9, and since nothing was really going on, Amanda and I just wandered the hall talking to people, since a lot of people left their doors open and were being social. The excitement came when we got locked out of our room when Jessica left for dinner, and we didn't have anything; no room keys, no Bruin Cards, no shoes. We just wandered some more until Amanda broke down and ran to the front desk to get a new room key. I still think it was a fun night, regardless.

TODAY, we woke up early so we could wait in line to get on a bus. UCLA is very proud of Volunteer Day, as they have said in countless speeches, yet today was the first day it ever happened. It was voluntary, so the title said, but it really wasn't. It was highly encouraged, plus I'd feel bad for skipping out (even though quite a few people from my floor did). All I knew was that we were painting a high school. After waiting an hour before our bus left, and driving an hour to get there, we finally arrive at our location. Now, I'm all for volunteering. I did my fair share in high school, and was basically president of TAC. But this volunteerism was all for show, in my opinion. There were cameras at our dorms and at the school, capturing every moment of our "heroism." This school did not need us. This school was nicer than Wilcox. All we did was paint some lines on the basketball courts and add some color to the cement walls in the PE area. In my opinion they wasted money, and all they mostly cared about were press releases saying how selfless and wonderful UCLA students were. Furthermore, the back of our volunteer shirts pretentiously say, "Building a Community of Heroes." If they wanted us to volunteer and to mobilize this college campus, I feel like there were many better ways in which to have done it. But it's over now, and I can just focus on the beginning of classes. Tomorrow is my last day of summer, officially. I've still got to buy a solutions manual and reader, but other than that I'm pretty much ready for school. I really hope that the first quarter goes well. College is scary.

It seems like I've been here longer than five days. Now, I'm going to go relax, get some paint off me, and get ready for dinner at the dining hall. Seeing as I don't have a good way to end this blog post I just will.