Setup complete
Incredible, how fast time flies by; tomorrow it is already one month that I’m here in California.
The journey from Johannesburg to Los Angeles was long. It took me over 28 hours flying via Dakar and Atlanta, but I knew, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime travel. I had all my belongings from South Africa packed into two suitcases plus some hand luggage - a total of about 65 kg or 143 lb.
The first two weeks I spent in an Extended Stay America hotel in Lake Forest, about 5 minutes from work. I knew that I had to search an apartment as soon as possible, so I could start to settle down - something I unfortunately never did in South Africa.
Before that, I needed to get two more important things: an US mobile phone number (SIM card) and a bank account. The SIM card was easy to get, I just showed my passport at a local AT&T store and I got a prepaid SIM. Next step was the bank account, which I got at Bank of America (after a recommendation from a friend also living in California). Even thought one can’t get a credit card without at least a Social Security Number, I could easily open an account combination and start banking the American way (more about that perhaps in another post).
The search for an apartment was quicker than I thought. I had a look at several rental websites and rather quickly fell in love with an apartment at a Rental Living community in Newport Beach. I had set myself a limit of 1,600 $ rent, but I wanted an additional room as “workspace”, so my computer wouldn’t have to stay in my living or even bedroom. I found this in the Arrezo, which has a big living and dining room plus an upstairs loft, which would become my computer room. Since I would get a big discount on my first rent, I decided on the very first visit to move in and signed the contract on the next day. Since then I spent days and days in IKEA to find and buy the furniture I would need. You might ask: “why IKEA?” The reason for this is rather simple: I have my problems with the American furniture style; everything has to look old and big. The choice was supported by the fact that the next IKEA store is only a few exits away from my place.
Now I have the most important furniture: a working desk in the loft and a couch in the living room. I quickly adapted the American “everything a little bigger” by buying a nice 52″ LCD TV. There is already a large number of HDTV channels available, so the TV experience is really great!
OK, this is it for my first post on this new blog. Come back soon to see hopefully new articles about my life here in Southern California.
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