LA 101 Orientation

So for the first day of the general orientation with all the Fall 2011 LAers, the program staff did a general overview of the program, talking about classes, the Pendleton Center, internships, and the Oakwood Apartment complex. It was good general information. We had two info sessions with free food after each. The first was held at Oakwoods and was more about residential info. Then Oakwoods provided a sandwich lunch, which was pretty good. Afterwards, we went over to the Pendleton Center to meet with our advisers and hear about classes and internships and take a tour. I then helped Jon and the other RAs organize a BBQ back at Oakwoods. That was fun. Chris was the main griller because Joanna and I are a little hopeless with a grill. I did learn to cook tofu dogs though! After the cookout, we all carpooled to hike up to the Hollywood sign! It was a pretty steep hike in parts, but we got up and hiked around the back of it. It was a stunning view of LA and the hills, and a really good night. It was late by the time we got back, and it was an early start for the day, so I crashed when I got home.



The second day of orientation started much later. It primarily consisted of "getting to know each other" games, led by the RAs. My group of residents is really nice and was very cooperative with activities we all know can be really annoying. It was nice to finally meet everyone though. I'll get the names down sooner or later. Everyone did a scavenger hunt while the RAs and Jon oversaw to make sure there was no cheating. Afterwards, we all packed snack bags because we were going to a taping of Mike and Molly at the Warner Bros lot. The taping lasted like 5 hours! It was crazy. It was cool to see everything behind the scenes and the show seemed pretty funny, but the comedian/MC who was supposed to entertain the audience between takes was really creepy and so annoying. He kept telling us to laugh hard, laugh like we had never heard it before. It was funny, but not after a lot of takes and not when someone keeps telling you "oh guys, this is a great show, very funny." Then it's just annoying. So many IC kids volunteered to do stuff for him though, which was cool. We definitely have an enthusiastic group here this semester. I was glad I got to see a taping because I'd never seen any kind of professional shoot before. We all had to retrieve our cell phones at the Pendleton center because we werent allowed to have them at the taping, and after that I just went home to finish writing out my schedule and go to bed.

This morning, I got up to go meet Jon and some of the other kids for Jon's intro to the Metro system of LA. It was interesting, and did make me a little more confident about taking the bus/subway. We took a bus and a train to Union Station where we took a stop at the oldest street in LA and the original small village that LA was. Today, it is supposed to resemble a traditional Mexican market place. It was pretty cool. I had to leave early with a few people to get back to Oakwoods and get to an interview. We made it back safely, and it wasn't too bad. I got all jazzed up in a nice outfit, and Shelly and her parents were nice enough to take me to CBS Television Studios for my interview with The Bold and the Beautiful. The internship there sounds like a great opportunity, so hopefully I'll hear back soon. After that, Shelly and her parents and I went to eat at the Pig n'Whistle, a really old restaurant in LA. It was pretty good food, and there was a nice waiter there. He was an older man who recommended the good food and kept telling us our faces would like this or that. It was a really weird but hysterical phrase to use. Then we walked along the Hollywood walk of fame past the Kodak and Chinese Theatres. It was nice to get to see some of the sights of Hollywood. I took pictures of TONS of the stars. We were both tired when we got back to the apartment, so we just chilled and watched some shows and made dinner. We might go to the Oakwoods pool in a little bit to check that out for the first time.