Waking up from a dream - the end of a California adventure.

This is it, the end of my West Coast adventure.

I really feel that I have lived my dream. I enjoyed the sunny beaches, walked the Californian streets, experienced Hollywood and had a taste of what the movie industry is like. I've been to the highest point of LA and watched the lights of the city twinkle down below.

I worked in Hollywood, lived in Burbank, bought groceries in Trader Joe's and Ralphs, drove a car on the busiest highways in the country, and I loved every second of it.

I'm proud to say I know my way around this huge city, I know some of the hot spots and some of the down spots, too. I feel totally identified with this city of angels and even though I haven't lived there for that long, I already feel like a 'local'. I'm sorry to know that this will change over time.

I visited the most incredible wonders of nature in the Far West, saw canyons and deserts and oceans, I saw mountains covered in snow.

I met people of all sorts, singers, songwriters, (aspiring) actors and actresses, college students, celebrities, Native Americans, Afro Americans, Mexicans, Koreans, Indians, well, Americans in general. For a while, I was a part of this country, as a working, middle class citizen that paid taxes and worked for the weekend.

Today I say goodbye to the live I've lived and thank everyone that helped me make that dream come through.

I would also like to thank everyone in Belgium that stuck by this blog, commenting and replying to each and every post. Often, times in LA have been lonely, and you guys have kept me going.

Soon I will start a new blog, with a whole new theme, of course. I will let the world know as soon as I put it up !

Sequoia National Park - Walking amidst the trees of Giants

The Sequoia Tree National Park is the final park of our itinerary. The park is called after the giant cypress trees that grow in this area. Nowhere else in the world can you find taller, wider and thus bigger trees. These massive wonders of nature are in average about 100 meters tall, 5 to 8 meters wide and can live up to 2000 years.

These trees only survive in this area because of the conditions that they are born in: not too dry, not too moist, not too hot, not too cold. Some actually need periodic fire for survival. Sequoias, for example, have adaptations to survive fire, and have trouble reproducing without it. Flames clear and fertilize the ground under the big trees, leaving the kind of soil in which their seeds germinate best. Not coincidentally, fire also opens sequoia cones, so that seeds rain down on this excellent seedbed. In addition, fires remove ground vegetation and forest litter that compete with the seedlings for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight.

As you walk through these woods and admire the hundreds of huge trees, you feel like a dwarf in a land of giants. It's incredible how something can grow from a tiny seed (about 5mm broad) to a 100 meter tall tree in "only" 600 years and then widen to about 9 meters during a lifespan of 2000 years.

It was a challenge to get these large trees into my picture frame. I also made two artsy pictures of the trees. One of them is a Sequoia, the other tree is a dogwood tree that only lives in the shade of these sequoia's.

Yosemite National Park - incredible waterfalls

Yosemite National park is zoals Zwitserland in Europa. Het is ongeveer evengroot qua oppervlakte en heeft een even indrukwekkend landschap. Uniek aan dit park zijn de hoog uitstekende granietbergen die miljoenen jaren geleden gevormd zijn door het afbrokkelen van ijskappen, een aardplateau dat de versteende magma omhoog duwde, en natuurlijk ook de jarenlange erosie door wind en water. Het resultaat : een paradijslijk uitziende vallei waar je tenmidden van torenhoge bergen, reuzedennenbomen en grassige velden kan genieten van alweer een prachtig stuk natuur.

Als kers op de taart zijn er ook de watervallen van Yosemite (lees josemitie, met de j van joepie). Gesmolten ijs stroomt vanuit de Sierra Nevada naar de vallei van Yosemite, waar ze over de rand van deze granieten kliffen naar beneden buldert. Natuurlijk zou dit Amerika niet zijn als hier niet de hoogste waterval van Noord Amerika te vinden was. En ze is de moeite: aan de voet van deze 425 meter hoge waterval wordt je bijna weggeblazen door de kracht van de wind; het opstuivende water maakt je in een fractie van een seconde door en door nat en het geluid van het water dat vanop die hoogte op de rotsen breekt, is oorverdovend.

Deze waterval is niet de enigste die te vinden is in het park. Overal waar je kijkt schiet er helderfris water over de bergen naar beneden. Bij onze aankomst in El Portal, de toegang tot de vallei, konden we een totaaloverzicht zien van de vallei. In de verte stuiven de watervallen, afgewisseld door de uitstekende granietbergen en heldergroene bomen. Een onaards zicht bijna, als in een avonturen film waar de helden aan de start staan van een groot avontuur in een paradijslijke jungle.

Al dat water dat van de bergen naar de vallei toestroomt moet natuurlijk ergens naartoe. Je hoort dan ook voortdurend kabbelende riviertjes naar de hoofdrivier stromen.

Aan fauna heb je hier ook geen gemis. Blue birds, eekhoorntjes en chipmunks, herten en.. beren. Met zo'n drie honderd zijn ze hier nog, die Californische beren. De vuilbakken aan de visitors points zijn vernuftig afgesloten voor nieuwsgierige beren, kamperen in het park kan, altijd op eigen risico natuurlijk. De voorraad wordt dan in ijzeren kisten gestoken of hoog in de bomen gehangen.

Ik ben in feite nu ook heel dankbaar dat we die dorre, doch mooie woestijn definitief hebben achtergelaten en nu in de bergen zitten. De geur van de dennen is zalig. Je mag dan wel niet te hard snuiven, want het groene dennepollen zit zo in je neus !



Ik heb niet de mooiste foto's kunnen nemen van de grootste Yosemite waterval, want de zon stond al achter de bergen. Evengoed was het prachtig om daar te zijn ! Wil je nog meer (en echt wel heel mooie foto's) zien van dit park, klik dan even door:

Klik hier.

Discovering the real Far West - Bodie Ghost town & Jamestown

In the mid 1800's, thanks to the discovery of gold in the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Bodie became a booming town with more than 8000 people. As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including two banks, a China town and a large Red light district, railroad, several newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences. This was the real Far West.

But then, since there was no more gold to find, people just left everything behind. A fire destroyed most of the buildings, but there are still a lot of them standing today. This is what they call a Ghost Town in the US. It's not exactly haunted (well, maybe..), it's just deserted.

From Highway 193 a paved road leads up the slope until it suddenly turns into a dirt road.. this place is so deserted that the state doesn't even bother paving the road anymore. What lies ahead are the remnants of once a bustling town. Wooden houses, all of them in arrested decay, standing here and there in a small part of the town. The old mining center looks out from up the hill.

Walking through these buildings is kinda creepy, too.. You hear flies everywhere, ravens are crowing, the wind is blowing loudly, making the wood of the buildings squeak.

It seems that some houses were left behind in a hurry: the furniture is still there, so are the kitchen tools. There are two saloons with a pool table and a bar. The school is still intact, with benches and craft work made by the town's children. Some houses are nothing more than ruins, others are well preserved. The church for instance is amazing, walking in it feels like being time-warped into the 19th century Old West. There's even a morgue with coffins on display.

You wonder how these peoples lives were like in those days. Getting up at the crack of down, climbing down deep shafts into the mine to dig up gold. Getting a beer at one of the many saloons, getting killed for a nickel and dime.

In the early 1900's, Bodie was completely deserted and turned into a California state park.

Unfortunately, the pass to the West Entrance of Yosemite was still closed. There was a lot of snow on the mountains. So we had to drive all the way North to another pass that would take us through the high peaks of the Sierra Nevada. I'm telling you, this was another amazing place. We saw snow, about 5 meters thick, hanging along the cleared roads. And it wasn't even cold up there ! You could hear the snow melting slowly, crystal clear water running downhill everywhere, and the sky was as blue as blue can be. :-)

It took us about 2 hours of driving down winding roads in the Sierra Nevada before we finally reached Jamestown, a charming colonial town that's on Route 49, the famous gold rush route. You can still buy gold pans and set out on an adventure to go look for gold in the rivers that come from the mountains, but I doubt you'll find much.

I do hope I will get some sleep tonight. Last night Mom and Ton were snoring away and even my ear plugs didn't help.

Tomorrow we're driving through beautiful Yosemite National Park, home of the highest waterfall. :-) More pictures to come !

Enjoy today's slide show :

From Desert to the Snowy Mountains

So one trip to Hoover Dam, the biggest dam in the world (more pictures in the slide show below),



three days of Vegas,



one very ugly happy hour,



and an amazing water fountain show at the Bellagio (one of the many beautiful shows in Vegas) (click here to see the video ! )

and we have closed the Vegas chapter of this journey.

Today, we set out for Mammoth Lakes in California. (yay, my 'home' state !)

The road up there leads us through scorching Death Valley, where you can find the lowest point below sea level in North America. Temperatures can easily rise up to 130 F in the summer (about 50 C - in the shade!).
Luckily, today we will only get temps in the 100's, which is about 41 C in the shade.

Even though this is another piece of desert, the view is unique and spectacular. The colors of the rocks are incredible. Take a look at the first set of pictures of Death Valley National Park in the slide show. There is one place where I have walked in sand dunes and I thought; "this is what walking in the Egyptian Desert must feel like". In the distance, I saw twirls of sand rising in the air.. magical !

It made me wonder how Native Americans and the first settlers even survived in this area. Stories are told in the local museums about water vaporized because of the heat, animal meat all dried up to the bone, and people dying of heat exhaustion. Yuk.

A very steep climb out of Death Valley (From 200 feet below sea level to 4000 feet above SL was pretty tough on our car engine) and we're heading towards the Sierra Nevada, a snowy Mountain Range that became the back drop for many Western Movies. In Lone Pine, we take the scenic movie road where we find the setting for "How the west was won", "Rawhide" and even the "Sound of Music". Coincidentally, today they were also shooting a commercial for the new Lancia Model. Yes, I have pictures !

These funny looking rocks you see in front of the Sierra Nevada are called the Alabama rocks. It's like you're walking on a different planet right there.

After our stop in Lone Pine, we drive our final 90 miles to Mammoth Lakes, the town of Mammoth Mountain. Yes, we've left the desert far behind us now and are enjoying the cool air at 7000 feet.



It's amazing how much we see in one day. This morning we drove through the hottest, driest and lowest point in the US. Tonight, we're standing in front of a mountain top covered in snow, having a cozy sweater on and enjoying the smell of wood.

How I love this country.

Las Vegas - a place to have fun

This city has a lot to offer : casino's, shows, shopping, nightlife and of course the beautiful Las Vegas Strip, a long boulevard with millions of lights. You can visit the world here : NY, Paris, Venice, Rome, Egypt .. You can have fun in Pirate style, go to the Circus, you can become a King or Queen in the castle of Excalibur.

I've been to Vegas a few months ago and already took many pictures :



These casino's are huge. You can walk in them for hours. The only purpose of these Hotel-Casino's is to lure people in and have them spend their money. This, of course, is not the most noble cause, but this is no place for holiness: this is a place for business, decadency and indulgence.

As we're staying here for three days, I'm giving myself some time off from everything. Ton and Mom are exploring the city on their own, at night we meet up to go for dinner and this Tuesday night me and Mom are going to ride the roller coaster that runs right through the NY NY hotel.

I've been to the movie theater yesterday afternoon and saw an awesome movie : Speed Racer. It's directed by the Wachowski Brothers, the same brothers that directed the Matrix trilogy, so you can expect some crazy film techniques.. the story itself is not the most mature plot, but the way the story is told is absolutely thrilling. It's been a long time that I sat on the edge of my seat watching a movie. GO SEE IT ! Even if you don't like car racing. Here's a trailer:

Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon -day 12

I have been eating Subway sandwiches for the last three days, only because we're in the middle of nowhere and when we finally do come across a town, we can only choose between hamburgers, pizza's, steak or.. subway. Luckily, their subs aren't too bad. I always take dark wheat bread, a lean meat, cheese, lots of veggies and yes, ranch sauce or honey mustard to top it off. They now have a promotion going on: foot long subs (12cm) for only 5 dollars. No hamburger place can beat that price.

Anyways. It seems like the state of Utah and Arizona have millions of acres of protected national parks. Today, on our way to Bryce Canyon national park. we also crossed the Capitol Reef National Park. A beautiful canyon inhabited by Indians. After the European invasion of Northern America, Mormons also settled in this area. You can still visit the old Mormon town and visit the school, which is nothing more than a tiny log cabin with 8 benches and a teacher's desk. It seems that education has always been very important to the Mormon pioneers.

We passed Cow Dung street - really, that is one of the town's street names - and stopped at the Bridge Trail, a 1.5 mile trail that leads through the red canyons to a rock bridge. You never get tired of these rock formations. It's incredible:

(click on this picture and choose to see the slide show until you see the bryce canyon sign)



It's also incredible to see thousands of cows, sheep and horses galloping through these endless plains. Sometimes you don't see any ranches or sign of human life for miles (at one point we hit a sign that said "No services for the next 100 miles (160 km!) which means "You're going to be on your own from here on out"), and still there they hare, grazing the little grass there is, happily and worry-free.

Even more stunning was the discovery of the moon. Well, not really the moon itself. but we drove through a landscape that could easily be mistaken for the moon. Gray rocks as far as you can see. beautifully shaped hills and craters.. if the US moon landing WAS a fake, this has surely been the setting for the video recording. Take a look at these pictures (click on the image below and then click the forward arrow about 4 times) :




A 100 miles to go before we see Bryce canyon. We drive over a mountain top and see patches of snow scattered in the woods. A time to stop and play in the snow. Unbelievable but true, we've been driving through the desert and vast rocky plains for days and now we're throwing snow balls at each other.

We also stop at ranch to take pictures of the cows, and see two (what we believe to be) eagles flying above our heads. Sally, if you read this, take a look at the pictures and let me know what kind of birds we've seen !

And then, finally, after a VERY long drive through the mountains, we reach the entrance point of Bryce Canyon, my favorite canyon. We make a quick stop at a small cowboy street where they sell all different kinds of unique stones. They also have ice cream so after devouring a big scoop of vanilla we drive into the National Park. The sun is already setting by the time we stop at the first view point. This canyon is amazing. Not so much a canyon in fact, but it looks more like a valley full of cathedral rocks. Words can't describe what I've seen, you just have to look for yourself. Here's the complete slide show for today, including the Cathedral Rocks of Bryce Canyon National Park:



In the end, I hiked down to the 'foot' of a few of these cathedral rocks. From there I had an amazing experience. The sun had already set but it wasn't dark down there at all. In fact a red glow shone from the rocks and lit up the deep canyon where I was walking. It was getting chilly, but it was quite comfortable because I was hiking down this steep slope into the canyon. When I looked up to the sky, all I could see where these giant cathedral rocks looming over me. Yes, at one point you do think "what if these suddenly fall on top of you?" but for all I cared, this was the perfect place to be, dead or alive :-).

Of course, the battery of my camera gave up on me right there and then. I don't know if it was the cold or the fact that I took about 400 pictures the last few days (uhum), but it totally sucked not being able to take pictures of it. On the other hand, it forced me to enjoy that special moment even more.. I felt totally connected with these soft stone rocks, I didn't feel threatened by them at all. In fact, I even felt protected by them. I did get to hike back up and take Mom's camera to record a little movie. It's not the place where I was standing (at the bottom) but you still get a feel of how it must be like to stand in the middle of these Cathedral rocks.

Click here.

Right now, I'm sitting in my bed at Cedar city, our last stop in the state of Utah. We're taking a break from the National parks for a few days and are getting ready to explore Las Vegas. But before we're heading into America's playground, we're staying at Boulder City, Nevada, from where we will visit the biggest dam in the world : Hoover Dam.

Native Indian lands - arches and red rocks - Day 11

A lot of driving again today but it was well worth it. We left Page, Arizona and followed Route 163 to Monument Valley. This is one of the few historic national parks that is not managed by the federal government. In fact, these magnificent rock pillars are protected by the Navajo Indians.

The road to Monument Valley runs through the Navajo Indian reservation, a territory that is larger than Belgium. From the distance, we already see the red rock peaks and table mountains famous from many Western and Hollywood movies. (such as Once upon a time in the West, A Space Odyssey, Back to the Future, etc).

At the Arizona-Utah state border, we meet Ruth, a friendly Native American woman who offers her handcrafted jewelry for sale. As she points out a little house standing between green shrubs and the red rock peaks, she tells us a story about how she was born in this Valley. "That is my house." she says, with a typical thick Native accent, "That's where I was born and that's where I will grow old with my husband." Then she holds out a dozen of necklaces. "This is what I do to make a living." Of course, now my Mom just can't resist buying one. :-)

In this area, you see Native Americans everywhere. From the gas station shop to a local Burger King. It seems like they have adjusted, or at least grown accustom, to American culture. Still, it is clear that they live at their own pace, in their own way.

As we drive through the reservation, we see many free standing, shabby looking houses. There are no back yards on these lots, instead, lots of junk and old big pick up trucks are scattered in their land. Here and there, dream catchers play with the wind or deer antlers are placed on the roof.

From the Indian reservation, we take Highway 191 through the towns of Bluff and Blanding. Not much to see here, except for a dinosaur museum, motels, steakhouses and gas stations. I wonder what these town people do for a living.

The drive up to Moab, the entrance point of the Arches National park, is stunning. We see a lot of different things: beautifully shaped red rock formations, vast fields with cows and sheep, mountain ranges covered in snow (the beginning of the Rocky Mountains) and of course stretches of desert. We never get bored, even though we spend so many hours driving.

After 5 hours, we reach the entrance to the Arches National Park. These rocks are absolutely amazing. I know, rocks again, but they look like they're from another world. These rocks are known for their arch formations. Millions of years of wind erosion has caused these rocks to transform into wonders of nature. Too bad we had a cloudy afternoon sky. The pictures turned out OK, but with a blue sky, this park must be even more impressive.

At 8PM, we arrive at Green River. We enter Main street and discover that this is about the only street in this town. It's also where our motel 6 for the night is : East Main street. The only thing we need is dinner and a bed. So we check in, get some food at the local diner and are ready to hit the hay.

We will need our sleep. We're driving to Cedar City tomorrow, but will make a stop at another incredible canyon: Bryce Canyon.

I took A LOT of pictures today. Hope you'll enjoy them. Oh, I also noticed my lens was kinda dirty. I cleaned it today so the next set of pic's should turn out spotless.

Painted lands to Lake Powell - magical colors - Day 10

We left the town of Flagstaff, Arizona, bright and early this morning. Only 130 miles ahead of us today. Our destination: Page, a little town founded in 1957 (!) near Lake Powell.

Little did we know the scenery was going to change so dramatically. In Flagstaff, the mountains were overgrown with trees. Then, only 30 miles farther, there were no trees in sight. All that was left were shrubs and grass. Horses and cows were running through the fields and we saw enormous ranches. We were driving through the prairie !

Again, about 30 miles farther, the prairie changed into a vast desert. The Navajo plains, home of the Navajo Indian tribes. This is the beginning of the Painted Desert. It's called like this because this part of the desert has so many colors. Red, gray, pink, deep brown and white.. all mixed together. In one direction you can see big gray rocks, accompanied by huge reddish rocks. The sun breaking through the clouds makes the desert even more beautiful.

Also, the weather changes continuously here. We can start the day with sunshine, and it will be raining 1 hour later, to be sunny again only 10 minutes after. Nice.

At one point, on our right hand side, we reach what seems to be a steep ridge of red rocks. And it goes on for miles and miles. Incredible. Until the road finally climbs this ridge and we cross it into the valley of Lake Powell.

Here are some pictures of today's drive:



Lake Powell is a man made lake that is proof of a tamed Colorado River. Up North, the Hoover Dam (the biggest dam in the world) obstructs tens of thousands of gallons of water to gain electric power. From there, the Colorado streams south through Glen Canyon. The Glen Canyon Dam is the Southern border of this long canyon. This is where we are now. This is also the beginning point of the Grand Canyon. It deepens from here and ends 300 miles farther in the West. Speaking of Grandeur.

To me, this part of the country represents the typical Far West. You can easily imagine Woody Woodpecker and the coyote running through this rocky area. The Red rocks, eroded over millions of years by the force of the Colorado River and the wind, is absolutely magnificent. N0 - Mind blowing. NO - indescribable.

See for yourself :



A moment to recapitulate : we drove from Flagstaff, AZ through the Painted Desert to Page, AZ and visited Lake Powell and the entrance point of the Glen Canyon.

Tomorrow is a huge driving day. About 7 hours of driving, through the famous Monument Valley and the Arches national park. Finally something I haven't seen before !

Grand Canyon National Park

I'm not in the mood to write a blog about this park: I took about 140 beautiful pictures and when I imported them to my computer they all got lost. I'm pissed. I really made an effort to take the best pictures ever.

It wasn't easy cause this canyon is so vast, so big and we humans are so tiny, that it seems impossible to catch the whole canyon in your frame. It is 400 kilometers long, 16 kilometers wide and about 1500 meters deep. Can you imagine such a huge wonder of nature ? If not, try imagining it with the pictures that my Mom took. The colors of the canyon are even more beautiful in real life..

I selected the best ones for you :

From Desert to Canyonlands - a 360 mile drive

We're heading for the Grand Canyon today. The GPS leads us via back roads and shortcut highways.

As we make our way through the vast desert, all we see are shrubs, rocks and the road ahead of us. It is beautiful and daunting at the same time - this truly is an endless road.
It's even sort of scary once you can't see anyone else driving on the same road as you and there's no one around for miles and miles.. what a difference compared to LA !
I can't help but wonder.. what if one of our tires goes flat ? Or the engine overheats and we're stranded in the middle of nowhere. No cell phone reception (T-mobile sucks btw), no car in sight, no towing service nearby. I'm actually glad I decided not to drive the '94 Plymouth from West to East.

Once we drive out of the Coachella Valley and leave the desert plains are behind us, we see more greenery popping out of the ground. What are those things again ? Oh right, trees !

These lands are abundant in farms and little towns that have nothing more than a saloon, a church, a grocery store and some houses. We even see some people walking around. Real hill-billies, wearing Stetson hats, cowboy boots and lumberjack shirts. Pick up trucks seem to be getting bigger and bolder with every town. Dirtier too.

In the distance, dark gray clouds float over the plains. It's an amazing thing when you're able to see rain falling from afar. A rainy mist, curling like a curtain, covering the distant horizon. Here and there, streaks of sunlight break through the clouds.

The last 50 miles are always the hardest. At this point, my foot lays heavy on the pedal: we're doing 85 where the speed limit posts 75. Also, being stuck in a car with three people is stressful, especially since I got used to being alone so much.
Ton seems to sing along with every song the radio plays. Not that he knows every tune, he just kind of hums along with it.. loudly.
Mom is never comfortable in the car. It's either too warm, too windy, too rocky, we're going too fast to take pictures or driving too slow up the slopes. They're putting my patience to the test.

Then finally, the blue Motel 6 signs welcomes us in the town of Williams. This is where we will be staying the night. There's no wireless internet in this hotel. The idea alone horrifies my Mom, who is anonymously addicted to e-mails.
I have to admit I am too. That's why I'm now sitting in a local coffee place - not a Starbucks - in downtown Williams, having a strawberry Smoothie that's way too icy for the chilly temperature here. At least I can blog and e-mail you guys.

Tomorrow, we will drive another 60 miles heading North for the South Rim Entrance of the Grand Canyon National Park. Check back for pictures !

Joshua Tree National Park

JTNP is an amazing stretch of desert on the edge of the big San Andreas fault near Palm Springs. It's the home of the Joshua Tree, a tree-like cactus that grows only in this part of the world. You can also find a lot of strange looking rocks here. That seems boring at first, but if you know what those rocks are, it's really amazing: these are remnants of the forming of mountains. These rocks used to be lava, turned into stone by oxygen.

Driving through this part of the desert feels like being warped onto another planet in another dimension. At some point, you can easily imagine seeing dinosaurs crossing the land or giant flying birds zooming over your head. This place is amazing.

The beauty of the flowering cacti, the reddish rocks that stand out to a deep blue sky, the form of the Joshua trees and the vast views.. it makes you forget you're standing in the middle of a scorching desert.

We even got to see a coyote. He strolled over the road and looked at our car with eyes that said "intruders"!

Of course, Mom felt like she was an Native Indian again, gazing out in the valley and standing on top of the mountain. Ton had fun yelling to the rocks, hearing his echo talk back to him. And me, I WAS just there. Taking in every bit of color, every moment of silence, feeling the sun in my face and the cool breeze coming from the plains. To me, All time was lost.

Enjoy the pictures :

The Queen Mary - Long Beach - day 6

The Queen Mary is a British ship that resembles the structure of the Titanic, though slightly smaller. Still, this is a large vessel that looks impressive. The ship was used between the 1920's until the 60's for commercial transatlantic traveling. For many immigrants, this was the gate to the promised land.

The QM still hasn't lost it charm. The rooms have been remodeled into hotel rooms, but the rest of the structured remained intact. You get the feel of how it must have been traveling three to 5 days over the Atlantic on this big ship. Despite the rocky surface of the ocean, the ship seemed to have a steady course throughout it's journey. Actually, the accommodation of the ship was quite comfortable: you had a bar, shopping stores, a spa, the rooms were cozy, the bar inviting and you even had a gymnasium and outdoor entertainment.

For me, the ship reminded me most of the Titanic. I'd like to believe that some parts of the movie were also shot here but I'm not sure of that. Still, if you look at the pictures, I'm pretty sure you will get the same idea:



PS: the last few pictures were taking in and around the El Segundo High School, a film location for many movie and TV productions.

Along the coast - Santa Barbara & Malibu - Day 5

Today has been the day that I needed a "time out". We drove for two hours to Santa Barbara, I dropped Mom and Ton off at historic downtown Santa Barbara and headed straight for the deep green grass along the pier. I folded out my beach towel and leaned against one of the palm trees, enjoying the cool breeze coming from the ocean. A moment that lasted forever.

You can read all about Santa Barbara in this previous blog.

After SB, we headed for the beaches of Malibu. The drive down there is amazing. Red and brown cliffs loom over the PCH that winds along the coast line. Big waves break and leave stretches of foam on the water. Surfers trying to catch the biggest waves..

We relaxed on Zuma beach for about an hour, returned to El Segundo for a quick bite and went to sleep. It seems like all I do is relax and sleep, isn't it.

A few more days and our journey continues. I'm really looking forward to start driving through those beautiful national parks.

I know, this is a pretty lame report of my day, but at least you get to see some pictures:

From East to West - A day in LA - Day 4

Our alarm clock went off early this morning: we had a long day ahead of us. We jumped into our white Pontiac and took Highway 110 along downtown LA. I had so much fun using the carpool lane for the first time. In LA, as an effort to unclog the road, the highways have designated car pool lanes for cars that have two or more people in them. Unfortunately, a lot of people in LA still drive a big car to work, and they use it just for them selves. They drive big trucks, Vans, or Hummers. Silly isn't it? The carpool lane is usually almost completely empty.. and so we could avoid all the traffic jams on our way to Griffith Park.

It was still kinda hazy up there. We could see Downtown LA sprouting in the distance. And I managed to point out the road that we would be taking that day.

Our next stop was Hollywood Boulevard. The day before yesterday, the intersection of Hollywood and Vine was closed off due to a fire that burned down a night club. Luckily, it was all cleared again and we soon arrived in downtown Hollywood. Not much to see there except for the stars in the pavement, Mann's Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater. Also the mall of Hollywood and Highland is nicely built, with giant elephants and a real 'Arc de Triumph". Enniewho, I won't write much more about Hollywood, look for a previous blog here.

We continued our "road of discovery" on Sunset, making our way to the Sunset strip. From there, Doheny takes us right into Beverly Hills. Ton and Mom were amazed at the beauty and richness of Rodeo Drive. To me, it's still beautiful but it's kinda sad to realize that you get used even to this kind of thing.

We stopped in the Beverly Center, the celebrity mall in Beverly Hills, for a quick bite. I had a big plate of greasy Chinese food : fried orange chicken, grilled chicken and a lot of noodles with veggies. Bring on the carbs !

From here, we drove back to Sunset and passed the Bel Air estates, crossed the 405 and ended up in Lake Shrine, the spiritual temple of Yogananda.

I realized today that this would be my last day driving through LA with the feeling that this is where I live. It feels so cool to know your way around here. We were sitting in a bar in Santa Monica today and a woman came up to me asking me if I knew where the nearest mobile shop on Wilshire blvd in Santa Monica was. I was proud to be able to direct here in the right way and to recommend a taxi since it was still about 10 blocks away.

Yet, from now on, I'm a tourist again, just like every other European visiting LA.

Still, having a Californian driver's license has many advantages. People know that you know. Airlines don't bother you with strict passport checks. And renting cars is so much easier.

Speaking of renting cars; we headed out tonight to pick up our new car for the big tour. It was a lot less pricey than the other reservation.. and Mom was able to use here regular credit card again. Yay !

Oh, I did put some pictures up from their flight yesterday, so you might want to scroll down to the previous blog and look for the slide show. You can also click on it to go to the album and see the pictures in a large format.

Here are the pictures of today:



Now that I have company, I finally show up in a picture every once a while. Well, maybe that is not such a good thing after all. :-)

Tomorrow : a visit to Santa Barbara and Malibu.

Universal Studio's - Movie Capitol of LA - Day 3

After making 2 waffles and stuffing bread and jam into our bag, we headed out for what was going to be a long and fun day.

I was excited to show my Mom and Ton the place where I have worked. Finally someone to share this with. The theme park was fun as ever. I had done the studio tour a million of times before, so I knew exactly what to expect. They loved it.

The Mummy roller coaster ride and the Jurassic Park ride was my favorite part of the day. They take you at thrilling speeds through magical places like mummy caves and dinosaur jungles.. I'm not telling more about the park itself 'cause I wrote a blog about it long ago.

At night, we walked up and down the city walk and went to iFly Hollywood ! Ton immediately wanted to fly, but Mom seemed to have a headache. But, after she saw the instruction video she wanted to fly too. I was lucky to get both of them to fly them twice for free. What a great gift !

And they were amazing. I'm telling you, I sorta know now how it feels to see your kids flying while you're out there taking pictures. Seeing your Mom fly is kinda special. She was the first to go in and after she got her bearings a bit she did excellent. She was stable, held her hands right, her chin up and there she was, flying in front of me, smiling but with an expression in her eyes that said, wauw, this is amazing. And the instructor gave kissing signals with his hands, telling her that she's doing a great job.

Then it was Ton's turn. Of course, he's a bigger person, so they had to jack the wind up a little. His first flight was kinda rocky, even though he held his legs straight and seemed to hold his body still. The instructor had to hold on to him a few times and when he pushed Ton sideways toward me to take a picture of him, I saw in his eyes that he too was having the time of his live.

The second time they went in, the instructor took them high up the tube. I love it when they do this. They fly like superman and take them all the way up and down again, so it feels even more like you're falling in the wind. Mom's eyes went from 'hey, I can do this', to 'OH MY GOOOD !"

Of course, Ton already knew what to expect his second time around. He had jumped in like it was a pool and he was on fire. The instructor took him way up and Ton practically had a skydiving orgasm.

After their flight, both of them looked frazzled but kinda stoned too. Mom's headache was gone. When we went for dinner at Bubba Gump, they still were high on adrenaline. No need to tell you that we had a great night. The waitress loved us so much that she stopped waiting for a few minutes and came to sit next to me for a chat. I love this country. :-)

We got back home around 9:30 PM and went straight to bed. We were pooped.

Tomorrow, the big LA day : Traveling from East to West and seeing all of the famous LA highlights !

Getting adjusted - the beach cities - Day 2

Breakfast at the Travelodge consists of a variety of sandwich bread, cream cheese, strawberry jelly, oranges and waffles with maple syrup. Nothing special if you come to think of it, but the fun part is that you can make the waffles yourself. First you spoon the batter into the waffle iron and set the timer to turn the iron after 2 minutes or so. Another 2 minutes and the 'attack' alarm goes off. Yum !

A couple of orange juice cups, two medium sized waffles and a toast of whipped cream cheese later - hey, I was hungry - we were on our way to Santa Monica. I enjoyed taking Mom and Ton over the crowded 405. They were thrilled to be sitting in a white sporty Pontiac, listening to the Beach Boys on K-EARTH 101, cruising along the palm trees and realizing that they are not in Spain anymore (since they both live there), but in Los Angeles.

Mom was even clapping her hands to the music, jacking up the volume of the radio so that it attacked our ear drums. I was like "wow, junior, keep it down will ya!".
But I remember what a first day in LA feels like. You're 6 years old again and you're in Disney Land for the first time. The palm trees are like the cartoon characters waving and dancing in front of your eyes. The scenery feels like all of the rides that are waiting for you to discover. And the fast food places scattered across the city are inviting like candy apples or cotton candy from a Disney land vendor.

Once I parked the car under the Santa Monica Mall, we walked to the famous beach pier and strolled all the way to the end of it. Since it was still morning, the pier wasn't all too crowded. In fact, we didn't hear much English on the pier, but the wind that came from the ocean over the pier carried voices in German and even Dutch.
Holland Dutch. Yuk. It's like Americans hearing British English. They either think it's totally cool and stylish to have a British accent, or they despise anything that even remotely sounds like it. When it comes to Holland Dutch, I sort of shiver every time I hear it, especially here in LA.

Mom and Ton were comparing the feel of the beach to the Mediterranean beach in Spain. They admitted the beach in LA to be A LOT bigger, more palm trees and greenery, and cleaner too. It made me feel kinda proud. Silly huh.

When we got to the 3rd street promenade for some window shopping, the sun was beaming down on us like a torch in a cave. It was noon already. People were flocking into restaurants. If we wanted something to eat before lines formed outside, we'd better make sure we got there first. We ended up at Vinnie's pizza place and had a Caesar's salad with a basket of French fries. I realized that I've gotten so used to the ketchup here that it never crossed my mind that Mom and Ton would need mayonnaise with their fries. The waitress smiled and responded 'Oh, yum' to their request and I found myself apologizing for it. "Yeah, we're Europeans". Again, very silly.

The second stop that day was at the notorious Venice Beach. I still remember the first time I visited that place. I was sixteen years old and thought smoking weed and drinking beer was the coolest thing you could do. Venice Beach is a great place for people who are pro-drugs. Hobo's are sitting on the street with signs like "Got weed?", "I want no cash, just booze", and "Yeah, me too".

Flairs of weed waft through the air, interrupted by the incense smoke coming from hippie shops. This is a place where useless people belong. This is the place where the crazier you are, the more you'll feel at home. As a sixteen year old teen, this was exponentially cool. As a 26 year old, I feel more and more disgusted by it. I was shocked by the I guess 50 year old white man with a gray beard sitting there with a sign that said "I have 3 kids but no money. You figure it out" and was even more shocked to find three teenage girls sitting farther away at the side with a sign that says "Hey, at least we're not your kids."

Even with all of the weird looking people along the boulevard, Venice Beach still has some charm to it. The heart of LA really does pump through it's vein. Skaters alike gather at the skate ramps, basketball freaks play all day long and obsessed bodybuilders show of their stuff at muscle beach. Here and there some buns wiggle in front of you as blond bikini women skate across the bike path on the beach. And the yellow life guard jeeps still remind me of the Baywatch series.

Yes, I even got to take that nap on the beach. For about an hour of so, all I could hear was the breaking of the waves and the music that drifted from the Indian store to the beach. And I dreamed about rental cars and waffles. It was refreshing.

Later that night, we visited the Edlefsen family in El Segundo. I was a little bit nervous because you never know how people will get along but after the official 'nice-to-meet-you's' we had a very fun talk. I love Jo-Ann and Steve and really consider them to be family. I remember visiting them for the first time with Aki in 2001 and telling them how we would love to live in LA and how Jo-Ann said that they could've adopted us if we weren't 18 already. And although I know she was sorta joking about it, I also knew that I wouldn't have really mind either. Another silly idea.

The last meal of today was a take out Gyros wrap. A perfect closure for our first day.

Tommorow : Universal Studio's !

Arrival - a rough start.

Last Monday was the day I moved out of my apartment. I cleaned my room and bathroom with a hand cloth and a dish sponge, vacuumed the carpet and threw away the trash. A tube of mayonnaise and ketchup, some strawberry jam and a box of Rice Crispy's was all that was left of food items in the cupboard. I bagged them in Ralph's supermarket plastic and decided to do the same with my bathroom paraphernalia. I struggled with fitting all my clothes into a black square suit case but managed to close the lid by using my weight and the force of my butt. I left the keys to the apartment on the counter top in the kitchen, along with a goodbye note to my (ex)roommate who had already moved out a few days ago. Closing that front door felt like closing another chapter in my life.

That night, Mom and Ton were expected to fly in at LAX at 8:40 PM. As usual, I arrived waaaay to early and since I had all of my belongings stuffed in the car I decided to try to check in early at the El Segundo Travelodge before picking them up. I said 'try to check in' , because I didn't make the reservation for the room, my Mom did. But hey, they can probably look up her name in the system, I would check them in ,get the keys to the room, pick them up, get to our new car at the rental car place, and open the door to the room with a big 'Welcome home'!
Turned out they couldn't find my Mom's name in the system. So as far as they were concerned, there was no reservation. I ended up booking a room for us for one night, hoping Mom would have a confirmation number so they could look it up in the Travelodge data base.

Mom and Ton were already standing at the baggage claim when I entered the arrival hall. They both looked tired after 15 hours of flying and 25 hours of traveling from Brussels. We hopped into my black Chevy and zipped over to the Alamo Car rental place where I had made a reservation for a mid-size car. Cost: 1250 dollars ! I had to use my credit card because Mom's credit limit for this month was already maxed out. It was an awkward situation for the both of us but I managed to keep my cool. The moment we saw the car that we were supposed to drive out of the lot, we knew this car was just too big. It had 7 passenger seats.. mid-size supposedly means 'Suburban Van'.

After some discussion we decided to go back and downsize the car.. which of course was not allowed by the car rental company. In fact, I had to cancel this reservation, make a new one by making a personal phone call to the central call center of Alamo to make a reservation at the place I WAS STANDING AT, then go through the whole process again of filling out driver's license numbers and swiping the credit card again. The latter seemed not to work for the new car. Of course, the bank had an automatic safety stop on large charges to my credit card. So there we were, with no chargeable credit card, all of their suitcases, 10 miles from our hotel at 1 hour before midnight. Finally, the customer service person decided to rent us a car for three days, so that the block on my credit card would no longer be in effect when we return on Thursday to book a new car for the remainder of our trip. As I took out my Debit WaMu Card, Mom saw the 'Mastercard' logo on my credit card, and suddenly remembered having a card from her business that has the same logo. Now, I know that this means that this card should work as a credit card and so we managed to pay for the car for the next couple of days with her Mastercard.

Of course, that still leaves my Mom with an original credit card that has reached it's limit for this month. We hope it will be solved by the first of May, so we can pay for the remainder of the renting period with her credit card this Thursday..

When we finally got to the hotel later that night and showed the front desk person the confirmation number, they still couldn't find the reservation that my Mom had made. Of course, the room was already paid for online through Hotels.com. So I had to call the 1-800 customer service number for Hotels.com to ask them to send a fax to the front desk that would confirm our reservation and payment for the room. That took them about half an hour. Meanwhile, at almost 1 in the morning, we headed out for food and ended up going through the drive thru at MC'D for a Big Mac.

When we got back, the fax had gotten through and we were officially assigned to our room.

I didn't sleep much. Ton was snoring all night. I think I slept like 3 hours. Thank God our second day is a relaxed day. Maybe I even get to take a nap on the beach.

Anyways, Mom and Ton, Welcome to the USA !

The big West Coast tour

I'm very excited right now. Just one more day before the big tour begins. We will cross about 4 states: California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. After that we're flying out to the East Coast. Here's our itinerary :

Mom and Ton will fly into LAX Monday night. I will pick them up and drive them to their Hotel in El Segundo.

On Tuesday, to get Mom and Ton acquainted with the time difference and this weather, we will visit the Beaches: the Pier of Santa Monica and the Boardwalk at Venice Beach. At night, we're expected at the Edlefsen's in El Segundo for a quick visit.

On Wednesday, the movie magic will enchant the three of us: Universal Studio's awaits ! A day full of entertainment, movie magic, rides and of course a sky dive at the Universal City Walk.

Thursday is our big LA day. We'll take the 110 north and pass downtown LA to see the skyscrapers, then drive all the way up to the top of Griffith park and visit the observatory, from where we will be able to take pictures of the Hollywood sign. Then we'll cut through LA from East to West: first stop is Hollywood Boulevard, the place with the stars in the pavement, Mann's Chinese Theater and of course the Kodak Theater, where the annual Movie Academy Awards, the Oscar's, are handed out to the talented and famous.
From there, we will make our way onto Sunset boulevard, gliding via the Sunset Strip to Beverly Hills, home of the stars. After a quick stop at Rodeo Drive, the road continues through Sunset, past the Beverly Hills Hotel and the real estate grandeur of Bel Air. Finally, we will cross the 405 and end up at the beautiful Pacific Palisades, where the spiritual temple of Lake Shrine will bring us peace after this thrilling day.

Friday. We'll take the monstrous 405 to the North and visit Santa Barbara, home of the missionaries. In the afternoon, the Pacific Coast Highway takes us back along the coast line, offering extraordinary views of cliffs and white beaches, until we reach Malibu and stop to wade through the famous Malibu surf.

Saturday. We're still deciding for this day. We can go to Long Beach, where the Queen Mary is the main attraction. A big ship, one in it's sort since the Titanic sank. But we can also visit the world's first theme park ever built: Knott's Berry farm ! Time will tell. :-)

On Sunday, the traveling begins. Click on 'view larger map' the map to see our tour plotted out:



View Larger Map

Palm Springs is first on the agenda. From there we will drive through Joshua National park to the Grand Canyon. We will also visit Williams, Flagstaff and Sedona. The road then takes us North to Page to see Lake Powel and the Hoover Dam. Further North, Moab is our rest stop to visit the beautiful desert Arches. Our journey continues West to the colorful Bryce Canyon. After that, we'll make our way to Las Vegas !
Our adventure continues when we drive through the hottest desert in the world: Death Valley. We will pass the refreshing Mammoth Lakes in the mountains and visit Yosemite National park, a magical place on Earth where the highest waterfall in the world can be found. Heading South again, the giant trees in Sequoia National park will loom over us. After this, we will drive back to LA by taking Bakersfield as our last rest stop.

This tour alone is about 4000 km long ! If you think about the driving we will be doing in LA and the short trips to stores etc, we will probably end up with 5000 km's of driving.

Meanwhile, the weather continues to be hot and sunny. A striking 40 will be reached in the Valley today. Time again for me to flee to the cool beaches.

J. Paul Getty Museum

J. Paul Getty is een rijke oliemagnaat die over de jaren heen heel wat kunstwerken bijeenzamelde en investeerde in allerlei restauratiewerken. Na zijn dood liet hij een fonds na: het Getty Fund houdt zich tot op vandaag nog steeds bezig met het restaureren en openbaar stellen van kunstwerken over heel de wereld.

Het museum in Los Angeles werd in 1997 geopend voor het publiek en is sindsdien ook gratis te bezoeken. Het massieve complex staat hoog boven LA te blinken in de zon. De stenen die gebruikt werden om het gebouw vorm te geven, importeerde men speciaal vanuit Italie.

Het Getty museum heeft vier troeven:

Het bevind zich op de heuvels van de Santa Monica Mountains en heeft dus een uitstekend uitzicht op de stad, de oceaan, de San Bernardino Mountains en de heuvels ten noorden van LA. Op een heldere dag kan je wel 100 km ver zien. Meestal hangt er echter teveel smog boven de stad om echt heldere foto's te kunnen nemen.

Een electrische tram neemt je van aan de voet van de heuvel tot boven op de berg. De tram werd ontworpen om "uit te drukte van de stad te kunnen ontsnappen" aldus volgens de architect Meier, die ook het museumcomplex heeft ontworpen.

Een tweede troef van het museum is de uitgebreide kunstcollectie, van Europese beeldhouwwerken, schilderijen (ja zelfs onze vlaamse schilders zoals Rubens en Jacob Jordaens worden hier tentoongesteld) tot middeleeuwste manuscripten.
Ook moderne kunst vind hier z'n plaats. 'Video California', een kunsttentoonstelling die gebruik maakt van het audio-visuele medium en wordt uiteengezet met tv-monitoren, projectoren en flashy beeldschermen, is beklijvend en erg toepasselijk in deze centrale plaats van film en tv.

Een derde reden om dit museum te bezoeken is de centrale tuin die speciaal voor dit complex werd ontworpen. Drijvende azelea's tenmidden van een ovaalvormige tuin, gevuld met heerlijk geurende bloemen en het geluid van een kabbelende waterval. De tuin strekt haar armen uit met italiaanse pijnbomen die als in lijnen doorheen het complex staan gepland en de kunstmatige rivier die vanop de top van de berg door een groene oase naar beneden stroomt. De foto's getuigen van deze pracht en praal..

Een laatste troef is het architecturale aspect van het complex. Er wordt hier duidelijk gespeeld met alle mogelijke vormen, lijnen, en rasterpatronen die het gebouw tot een kunstwerk op zich maken. De Italiaanse travertinestenen blinken robuust in de zon. Het complex op zich is een wirwar van gangen, trappen en liften, speciaal ontworpen om de bezoekersstroom op een aangename en rustgevende manier te laten verlopen. Het dak bestaat uit louvres die het daglicht filteren en de kunstwerken op natuurlijk wijze belichten.

Ik heb alleszins genoten van mijn daguitstap naar het J. Paul Getty Museum.

En dan nu de foto's :

La Misma Luna - Under the same moon

Daarnet heb ik een erg aangrijpende film gezien over hoe een jongetje van 9 vanuit Mexico illegaal de Amerikaanse grens oversteekt om zijn moeder te gaan opzoeken in Los Angeles waar ze illegaal woont en werkt om haar zoon een beter leven te geven.

Hier is de trailer : http://www.foxsearchlight.com/underthesamemoon/

De film portretteert een realistisch beeld van hoe het leven als illegaal immigrant is. Vooral opmerkelijk is ook hoe een stad als LA zoveel verschillende leefwerelden herbergt.

Hier heb je de rijke wereld, de glitter en glamour van de filmsterren en celebrities allerlei.
Je hebt de middenklasse die in de mooie suburbs wonen van LA, vaders en moeders die elke dag opstaan om te gaan werken, hun kinderen die elke dag met de schoolbus naar school gebracht worden.
Je hebt de newbies in town (zoals ik :-)) die struggelen om rond te komen, waitresses en bus boys, die een appartement delen met een roommate en hun dromen nastreven (vooral dan in film en muziek).
En dan heb je de 'minority groups', de mexicanen, chinezen, zwarten, etnische groepen die samenhokken in Ghetto's.
En aan de basis van deze demografische piramide heb je de illegalen. Mensen die op zoek zijn naar een betere wereld. Ik heb bewondering voor deze mensen, want ze werken enorm hard voor hun geluk. Beeld je in dat je geen auto mag rijden omdat je geen rijbewijs krijgt, dat je geen social security number kan krijgen (of in belgie een rijksregisternr) waarmee je mag werken, dat je geen health care insurance hebt (dus als je ziek bent moet je het zelf maar oplossen). Als een baas je niet wil betalen, pech, dan kan je er niks aan doen.

Toen ik de bioscoop uitreed keek ik door een heel andere bril naar LA. Een plek waar illegalen dag in dag uit vechten om een plaats te krijgen in deze wereld van schijnbaar geluk en welvaart. Ik vraag me dan ook af wat ik zou doen als illegale immigrant ? Zou ik hier wel kunnen overleven ?

Stel je voor dat je in New York terecht komt met niets anders dan de kleren die je aanhebt. Waar begin je dan ? Zoek je eerst werk of een verblijfplaats ? Wat voor werk zoek je ? Als je dan al Engels spreekt..

En wat is hun motivatie om elke dag opnieuw dezelfde shit te moeten meemaken ? Is het dan echt zoveel beter om in armoede in de VS te leven ? Waarschijnlijk wel.. want wat een mexicaan hier illegaal per uur aan minimum wage kan verdienen is in Mexico 10 keer zoveel waard.

Honestly, ik zou voor geen geld van de wereld in die situatie willen terecht komen. Ik ben blij te weten dat ik naar Belgie kan als terugvalbasis. Ik besef nu maar al te goed wat voor een gelukzakken wij Belgen zijn, met ons sociaal zekerheidssysteem, onze ziekenkassen en onze pensioentjes. Op dit moment zou ik iedere Belg die klaagt over Belgie z'n smoel willen toe plakken met de dikste plakband en in een grote doos met het label "illegaal" opsturen naar de VS. Dat ze daar maar eens hun leven van 0 opbouwen en zien hoe ze het er vanaf brengen zonder het opvangnet van de overheid. Zonder de knuffelpolitiek die Belgie zo hoog in het vaandel draagt.

En wat voor een gelukzak ben ik niet om dit hier allemaal te mogen meemaken zonder mij onoverkomelijke zorgen te moeten maken over waarmee ik morgen mijn boke met kaas zal kopen of schrik hebben dat de immigratiedienst mij te pakken krijgt. Ik besef het maar al te goed hoe verwend ik ben.

It's a tough world out there. You just gotta remember to see it.

TV taping of the Bill Engvall show

Voor wie mij nog nooit laaiend entousiast heeft weten vertellen over Bill en zijn CD's onder de neus geschoven kreeg of heeft meegereden in mijn auto, meeluisterend naar zijn geleuter terwijl het kinderslot je verbiedt uit te stappen (MOEHAHA) :

Bill Engvall is mijn favo stand-up comedian EVER !

En nu heeft hij een sitcom waar hij de centrale figuur is. Eerlijk gezegd een beetje een flauwe serie, vooral omdat hij de moppen die hij zo fijn brengt heeft verwerkt in de show en de clue van de moppen wat afzwakt..

Enniehoe.. gisteren ben ik naar de opnames van deze tv-show gaan kijken. WAT EEN MAFFE ERVARING !

Je auto parkeren naast de director van de serie 'Samantha Who?" (waarschijnlijk nog niet bekend in Belgie, maar heb gelezen dat die serie werd opgekocht door VT4 dus binnenkort ook op de buis te zien), of de plakaatjes zien van tv-series zoals "Two and a half men" en natuurlijk "The Bill Engvall Show". Het doet toch wat.. En dan - zonder toergids - door de backlots lopen van CBS om naar soundstage 6 te gaan waar de tv-show wordt opgenomen.

Daar neem ik plaats op de voorste rij en kijk goed in het rond.. hier staan de sets waar de magie gebeurt.. 5 grote camera's. Veel spots en kabels, fake bomen. Grappig eigenlijk hoe je thuis gelooft dat het een echt huis is.. en nu in realiteit zijn de muren flinterdun, de planten superplastiek, de meubels goedkoop.

Bij het binnenkomen van de acteurs lijkt het alsof ik een 3D-bril opheb, zo een waar je voor je neus uitgrijpt wanneer het voorwerp dat je voor ogen hebt dichterbij komt. Maar nee, dit is hem - Bill Engvall. En hij ziet er KRAK hetzelfde uit als op het scherm. Hij klinkt ook KRAK hetzelfde. Had ik het dan anders verwacht ? Nja, toch wel een beetje.

De publieksopwarmer doet zijn best om ons aan het lachen te houden met de stomste moppen. Het is onze taak vanavond om de lachband in te lachen. En das niet evident wanneer je dezelfde scene vijf keer ziet. Je wordt dan subtiel aangemoedigd om te lachen bij ongeveer elke zin. Diegene die het best lacht, krijgt een T-shirt van de Bill Engvall Show.

5 uur later beginnen de kaakspieren toch wel wat zeer te doen. Ondertussen ben ik al geintroduceerd geweest aan Bill als 'The Belgian Guy'. Na de show krijgen we dan een grote foto met de cast op die we kunnen laten signeren. Ik natuurlijk meteen naar Bill en ik heb dit gezegd : "I'll make you famous in Belgium."
"oooh, Great !" zei hij. Alsof het hem kan schelen. :-)

Je kan online Full Episodes zien als je wil (alleen ben ik niet zeker of dat ook vanuit Belgie kan want soms zitten er restricties op). Klik Hier.

Of je kan, net als ik gisteren, een rondleiding krijgen van de set door naar dit filmpje te kijken.

Wie een youtube stukje van hem wil bekijken, here you go:



Het is toch al leuk geweest de voorbije twee dagen. Een film screening en een tv-opname bijwonen, gratis en voor niets. Only in LA baby !

Hier is mijn gesigneerde foto :-D

Travel plans

Guess where I'll be spending the next three days. The beach !

This weather is crazy !

http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/tenday/USCA1190?from=36hr_topnav_driving

Nog een week-en-half en ik neem de vlieger weer naar de oostkust. Een drietal dagen baltimore zullen wat rust brengen voor...

de big west coast trip.

Jawel, mijn ma komt mij bezoeken eind deze maand en ik heb besloten de pracht en praal van de westkust te gaan bezoeken met haar : national parks, the endless road, en gezelschap om het mee te delen, iets wat ik toch heb gemist de voorbije maanden.

Uitkijken dus naar verslagjes van deze rondreis de komende weken!

PS. gisteravond naar een movie screening geweest van Ghost town met Ricky Gervais (bekend van the Britse versie van The Office). Een movie screening is gratis :o), je wordt dan uitgenodigd door de productiehuizen (in dit geval Paramount pictures) om naar de film te komen kijken en je mening te geven. De film is bijna af, hier en daar nog wat visuele effecten die ontbreken enzo, en de rating (R in dit geval) wordt die avond gegeven. SUPER grappige film trouwens.. hier is is die nog niet uit, dus in Belgie pas te zien eind dit jaar waarschijnlijk.. hier is de link.)

PS. 2 Iemand IN BRUGES al gezien ??

PS. 3 Vanavond naar de CBS studio's voor een TV-opname van de Bill Engvall Show !

LA's hidden world

De zonneschijn, de prachtige natuur en het glamoureuse karakter van de stad verbergt handig de ellende die, zoals in elke metropool, evengoed aanwezig is.

Venice Beach, een bruisende boulevard in de zomer en symbool voor LA. Kijk voorbij de flashy look van de winkels en straatperformers.. Venice Beach is ook een bedevaartsoord voor zwervers, crackpots en nitwits..

Downtown LA, het centrum van deze grootstad, is een verlaten plek waar grote corporate buildings hun macht uitstralen.

De foto's spreken voor zich.. Kijk voorbij de glitter naar het leven in LA.. can you see the beauty in it ?

Klik op de foto om naar het album te gaan.

A day in LA

11 AM : a visit to the Greystone Mansion:



1 PM : Lunch at Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills:



4 PM : Watch a free Counting Crows concert at the Grove (sorry no pics)

8 PM : Go to the SoCal singer/songwriter award show where my roomie is one of the 5 finalists.

I wish every day could be this entertaining.

PS. Click on the pictures to see the full album of today.

OH MY GOD !

I remember feeling totally disgusted when it happened.

I was standing in line at Jamba Juice when I noticed something weird crawling over my skull. My fingers reached for my head: I surely felt something moist.

My nose and eye brows wrinkled into my icky-face. I looked up and hoped this was not the spit of some college kid trying to score free beer from his buddies. If it was, he sure had hit me good.

I wasn't the only one pointing fingers, though. I saw the chick standing in front of me running her fingers through her purple dyed hair. With a jolt she turned to catch my eye. I could see the terror in her eyes. She held out the hand smothered in seemingly slimy wetness and said, "Did a bird just poo on my head?!"
I really wanted to say yes. But I didn't.

For a moment, there was panic at the galleria. People slowed down their pace and had trouble finding their balance on the slippery pavement. Cell phones were jacked out of purses and pockets to make apologetic phone calls to those waiting with dinner at home.

This was unearthly: RAINDROPS WERE ACTUALLY FALLING FROM THE SKY.

Glorious traffic jams would unavoidably await us all now.

...

Get out of here, clouds of wetness. Be gone.

Lake Shrine en UCLA

Op aanraden van een vriend bezochte ik vandaag Lake Shrine, een spiritueel bedevaartsoord aan de kust van Pacific Palisades.

De tuin is een uitstekende plek om een meditatieve wandeling te maken. GSM's zijn er verboden, en op de meditatieplaatsen mag je ook niet praten. Sinds 1920 staat er een Nederlandse molen die ze hebben bewaard.
In het boeddistische memorial zijn er een deel van Ghandi's resten geborgen.
Paramahansa Yogananda kocht in de jaren stillekes dit natuurlijk gevulde meer op en maakte er een centrum voor bezinning van. Voor elke religie. Zo is een gedeelte van de tuin toegewijd aan het Boeddisme, Hindoeisme, Islam, Christendom en het Jodendom. Iedereen is er welkom.

Ik heb er vast van genoten, al was het zonnetje nog niet van de partij.

Daarna reed ik door om te lunchen in Santa Monica. Ik heb ook me twee paar All Stars gekocht, wiii !



Op weg naar huis reed ik langs UCLA, een van de grootste universiteiten in het land. In de parking lag een dagpas op de grond en dus bracht ik meteen een dagbezoekje.. niet dat er heel veel te zien is, buiten veel grote gebouwen waar de lessen doorgaan, maar het is wel indrukwekkend om te zien hoeveel afdelingen je hier hebt. Astronomy, Sciences, Psychology.. en dan de studenten die allemaal fier zijn op hun universiteit en bijna allemaal een trui of t-shirt aanhebben van UCLA.

Op deze twee plaatsen kan je een heel aparte energie voelen.. in Lake Shrine kom je tot rust, in UCLA ervaar je de opwinding van dit kenniscentrum in de VS.. en het zonnetje was weer terug in de namiddag !

Hier zijn de foto's :

Pelgrimstocht in Griffith Park

Wel, Pelgrimstocht is er misschien wat over maar het beklimmen van de berg in Griffith Park, het grootste park van de VS, is een behoorlijke uitdaging.

Vertrekkend aan het observatory wacht er een 2 mijl-lange stijle klim die je tot aan Dante's view brengt, de top van het park.

Onderweg kom ik allesbehalve engels-sprekende mensen tegen. Chinezen, Filipijnen, Mexicanen, Duitsers, alle talen door elkaar. Ik heb het gevoel dat Amerika, en dan meer bepaald LA, van iedereen is. Ik kan me zo voorstellen dat mensen uit hun land wegwilden om hun dromen te realiseren in de Nieuwe wereld. Het land waar alles kan. Vroeger was dat ook zo. Was je als eerste aan een stuk land, dan eigende je jezelf dat gewoon toe. Had je een idee om een bedrijfje op te starten? Geen wetgeving die je beperkte. Dat was natuurlijk niet altijd even positief, maar het moedigde wel de ondernemingscultuur aan. Nog altijd eigenlijk. Amerikanen staan zot van service. Mobiele hondensalons, massage therapeuten, overal drive thru's (zelfs de banken), wat je hart maar wil, je kan het hier kopen.

Langzaam wandel ik hoger en hoger en begint het uitzicht voor mij te ontvouwen. In de verte blinkt de oceaan. Santa Monica boulevard loopt als een rechte lijn door Beverly Hills tot aan Hollywood. Spijtig dat de smog al dik boven de stad hangt. De South Bay is door de mist niet te zien.

De Hollywood letters braden in de zon. Op de duur zie je ze niet meer staan. Je geraakt aan alles gewoon.

Na een stijle klim bereik ik dan eindelijk de top van de berg. Wat een uitzicht ! 360 graden kijk en luister plezier; de wind brengt de stadsgeluiden tot aan mijn oren. In de verte schitteren de wolkenkrabbers van downtown LA. Ik sta er steeds verstomd van hoe LA zulk een grote stad is en toch maar 1 punt heeft waar er hoge wolkenkrabbers staan. Het typeert LA ook wel, alsof downtown symbool staat voor de alomaanwezige palmbomen die als vuurwerk boven de stad uitsteken.

Zo ver je oog kan zien strekt LA haar armen uit. Van de top van deze berg tot aan de oceaan, en aan de andere kant ligt de Valley tot aan de San Fernandino bergen. De wind brengt verkoeling terwijl ik de vogels bewonder die wulps rond ons heen cirkelen. Dit zijn de momenten waar ik voor naar hier ben gekomen. LA is werkelijk een plek vol magie. Je moet alleen weten waar het te vinden is.

Als vervolg op mijn pelgrimstocht bezoek ik morgen Lake Shrine, een spirituele tempel in het paradijslijke Pacific Palisades.

WB Studio's en een uitstapje naar de bergen

Donderdag had ik een dagje vrij en maakte ik van de gelegenheid gebruik om een uitstap naar de bergen te maken.

Op Vrijdag bezocht ik de Warner Brother's studio's, thuishaven van de Harry potter films, I am Legend met Will Smith, The Matrix en Casablanca, en ook veel bekende series zoals ER (de set is echt wel super cool), FRIENDS ! (ik maak een cameo in de foto's, waar o waar ben ik te zien?), Gilmore girls, Without a trace, CSI and cold Case.

We mochten gelukkig heel wat foto's trekken, behalve van de echte coole dingen zoals de binnenset van ER, de harry potter props, en de backlot waar de films worden opgenomen...

Bij gebrek aan schrijvers inspiratie, geniet van de foto's :

Warner Brother's en uitstapje naar de bergen

I love this flick.

Really - if you have about 90 minutes to spare, watch it and tell me what you think !



PS. Skip the first three minutes if you want to cut to the chase..

Eetgewoontes

Ik ben een gewoontebeestje. Ik ontdek iets, vind het lekker, en eet of drink dan alleen nog hetzelfde. Wel, das misschien wat overdreven. Maar er zijn zowat vaste eetgewoontes ontstaan tijdens mijn glamoureus leventje in LA.

1/ Healthy Choice frozen foods.




Je kan het zo zot niet bedenken, healthy choice heeft het allemaal: spagetti, steak, zalm, etc. Allemaal zorgvuldig voorbereid en ingevrozen voor mijn microwave-plezier.

Niet dat je er altijd genoeg mee hebt gegeten, en dus eet ik als dessert :



Ongelooflijk lekker, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, ondertussen ook te verkijgen in Belgie ! Ze stoppen lekkere cookie-dough in hun ijs, of stukjes fruit, of fudge, extra room, nootjes, mmm.. need I say more ?

Op twee dagen tijd heb ik deze 473 ml volledig opgelepeld. I'm awful, I know.

Als verfrissende drank koop ik tegenwoordig:



Sunny D Sinaasappelsap, maar met een limonade-achtig smaakje.. mmm lekker !

Santa Barbara

De Spaanse missionarissen die vanaf de 17e eeuw tem de jaren 1840 de Camino Real (Koninklijke Weg) aflegden langs de kust van California, verdienen een medaille voor doorzettingsvermogen. Hun geplande route bracht hen op religieuze kruistocht van Mexico naar het Californische noorden. El Camino Real is bijna duizend kilometer lang en kruist woestijnen, bergen, stranden en de grassige heuvels die mijn veertien jarige auto nu moeizaam tracht te beklimmen. Aan 50 mijl per uur kruip ik uit de San Fernando Vallei richting Santa Barbara, een van de best bewaarde missies aan de Westkust.

Verbazingwekkend eigenlijk hoe snel het uitzicht afwisselt in dit gebied. Zonet stonden de dorre San Fernando mountains aan de horizon, nu steken de grassige Agoura Hills af tegen een straalblauwe hemel. Het lijkt wel alsof deze heuvels alle regen hebben opgeslorpt. Het gras kleurt zowaar fluo-groen. Een schaap of tien zou hier niet misstaan. Maar daarvoor is het natuurlijk te warm, zelfs op Goede Vrijdag al; het beloofd vandaag 30 graden te worden.

Van de koninklijke weg is hedendaag niet veel terug te vinden. Highway 101 heeft de laatste restanten bedolven onder z'n massieve betonstructuur. Dagelijks nemen 2 miljoen pendelaars deze autostrade die Santa Barbara met de Los Angeles County verbind.

Aan de havenstad Ventura sluit de 101 parallel aan met de Pacifische Oceaan. Dat geeft aan dat Santa Barbara niet meer veraf is. De stad is opgebouwd nabij een missiepost die in 1786 door Spaanse Franciscanen is opgericht en is genoemd naar de heilige Barbara. Tegenwoordig is Santa Barbara een welvarende stad die populair is als toeristische bestemming en als woonplaats voor beroemdheden.

Mijn missie vandaag is het afleggen van de Red Tile Tour: het bezichtigen van typische spaanse architectuur in het centrum van de stad. De gebouwen hebben vaak rode dakpannen (aldus de naam van de toer) en hebben niet alleen architecturaal maar ook cultureel belang voor de VS. De opbouw van de stad is te danken aan de samenwerking tussen de Native Indians en de Spaanse monniken.

Op sommige plaatsen lijk je met wat verbeelding in Spanje te vertoeven. De architectuur van de gebouwen is krak dezelfde. Alleen nog niet zo oud. :-)
Om de Spaanse illusie in stand te houden moet je hier en daar je ogen dichtknijpen voor de Amerikaanse vlag die veelvuldig in het straatbeeld te zien is.

Mijn aandacht ging vandaag ook uit naar de bloemen. Ze zijn niet alleen in Santa Barbara te vinden, je ziet ze overal in LA. Op de duur wordt je dat gewoon, die frisse kleuren en heerlijke geuren. Maar vandaag wilde ik er even bij stil staan en volop genieten van het natuurlijke schouwspel.

Santa Barbara leek tenslotte een heel jonge, hippe stad, ondanks de 200 jaar oude gebouwen die hier staan (wat op zich nog niet oud is natuurlijk, maar wel voor de Amerikaanse Westkust).

Overal waren er jongeren aan het skateboarden. De Europees getinte restaurantjes zaten gevuld met jongelui en zakenmensen. Ja, er slenterde ook een oud meneertje in surfpak en boogie board de straat over. Misschien is hier wel een bron te vinden die de eeuwige jeugd schenkt, wie weet !

Als afsluiter kon ik het niet laten om nog even een strandwandeling te maken. Dit keer met ingesmeerde rug. Wel, gedeeltelijk toch, tis niet evident om je eigen rug in te smeren !

Networking in LA

Extract from a real live conversation today.

MARTY THOMAS:
Have you had many networks shooting in your tunnel before?

ME:
Oh yeah, we've had FOX News, ABC, NBC, Nickelodeon and many Spanish networks filming the tube.

MARTY:
You know what would be totally awesome? Making a music video here. We can get a pop star flying and have him playback his lyrics. We'd put up a big crane and have it pan from one side to the other while he's in there rockin'.

ME:
Sure, we could do that. Another way to go is using the green screen, though. We have a film crew shooting with us next week and they're gonna wrap up the tunnel and get a professional sky diver to shoot footage.

MARTY:
Oh yeah, that would work, too ! You know what, here's my card.

MARTY THOMAS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / DIRECTOR - RIDICULOUS PICTURES,

MTV / BET / VH1 / AWARD WINNING FEATURE FILMS

*oink*


MARTY:
So who should I call to set up a flight time for us.

ME:
Hold on, let me go get my card.

DENNIS DE VOS, ASSISTANT MANAGER,

IFLY HOLLYWOOD.

*grin*


ME:
Say, you don't happen to be lookin' for interns or extras, are you? 'Cause even if it means getting coffee for someone all day, I'd love to be part of your crew.

MARTY:
Oh yeah, we're always looking for help. Shoot me an email and we'll see if we can hook you up.

ME:
That would be awesome, man, thanks a lot.

MARTY:
No worries, talk to you latah.

*twitch*

Dwergen in het park

17 maart : Saint Patrick's Day - de nationale feestdag van Ierland.

Alhoewel we zo'n tienduizend km verwijderd zijn van Ierland wordt Saint Paddy's Day hier uitbundig gevierd. Zowat iedereen draagt de kleur groen, sommige gaan helemaal uit de bol met pruiken, hoedjes en gekleurde brillen. Allemaal om te proeven van the luck of the Irish.

Onder het motto 'meer zielen, meer vreugd' deelt iedereen in de Ierse feestvreugde. Mexicaan, zwart, chinees of blank, iedereen doet mee. Ik ook. Gisteren avond zijn we naar een Ierse bar getrokken om een lekkere Guinness te gaan drinken. Het is wel wat geleden sinds ik nog een pintje heb gedronken. Het is dan ook een hele uitdaging om dan plots een grote Pint (lees PAJNT - een halve liter bier) voor je neus voorgeschoteld te krijgen. Het klotsende bier werd gepresenteerd in een vermakelijke dwergschoen en dat maakte het natuurlijk helemaal af.

Net voor het feestgeweld ging ik nog even naar het park. Lake Balboa is een groot meer omgeven met bomen en allerlei recreatiemogelijkheden. Dit was het meest typische park dat ik ooit heb bezocht.. duizend en een ganzen die gevoederd worden door kindjes, romantisch zoenende koppeltjes op de bankjes langs het water, vissende bootjes in de vijver, bruggetjes met watervalletjes, eendjes die op een rij naar het water pletsen, oudjes op wandel met hun stok (en uit voorzorg de ganzen een duwtje opzij geven met hun stok)..

Het uitzicht was ook prachtig. Bij zonsondergang zie je de bergen in de verte eens zo duidelijk.

En ook al zijn de bomen hier het jaar rond groen, toch zie je her en der de lente doorbreken. Bomen krijgen plots bloesems, struiken zien er gevulder uit.. kijk maar naar de foto's.



Vandaag werk ik de avondshift, dus heb ik deze namiddag de tijd om mijn was te doen en inkopen te gaan doen.

Vrijdag en zaterdag heb ik een weekendje vrijaf. Iemand een voorstel om wat te gaan bezoeken? :-)

Een moment van nostalgie

Regen klettert tegen het glas, de wind waait zacht en ik lig diep in mijn bed genesteld . Het is lang geleden... eindelijk nog eens een regenbui die de droogte in de vallei verjaagt.

Nochtans schoof de zon daarstraks nog langzaam achter de bergen en kleurde de hemel dieprood.

De regen brengt me onverwachts een moment vol verlangen naar alles dat gezellig, vertederend en zacht is.

Ik moet denken aan de appreciatie die ik gisteren in de supermarkt kreeg. Ik liet een oud dametje voorgaan en toen het aan mijn beurt was bedankte de kassier mij door te zeggen dat hij altijd beweerd de liefste klanten te hebben en dat ik zijn standpunt nog maar eens had bewezen. Oooh.

En dan nu de regen, die mij doet terugdenken aan een gezellige regenachtige avond in Belgie. Zo een van die avonden waarop je weet dat de zomer definitief voorbij is. Als een dag waarop de school weer is gestart, na twee maanden vol spel plezier aan het strand of in het bos.

Misschien neem ik straks nog een lekker warm schuimbad. Achterover met een lauw washandje op de ogen, de oren net onder water zodat ik het tienduizend mijl onder water gevoel krijg, genieten van heerlijk geurende dampen die tot in mijn neus krullen..

En als afsluiter van de dag een zoetig warm stuk appeltaart met vanille-ijs.

Ik moet ervan profiteren. Morgen is de zon weer terug, ga ik terug aan het werk, en draait de wereld weer aan zijn normale snelheid.

Americanized ?

I guess it's unavoidable to grow custom to some of the American habits:

ONE - I can't help getting a vanilla cream drink from Starbucks in the morning.

Right after I make my turn onto Burbank Boulevard I see Miss Starbucks smiling down at me. I illegally cross a double yellow line and take the drive thru to order my hot vanilla powered liquid shot. I'm a bad-ass vanilla freak.
Honestly, I'm this close to turning into a genuine Starbucks junkie. And there's not even caffeine in my favorite latte drink.

TWO - I realized today that should I return to Belgium I'm going to have to drive a stick shift again.

OMG ! I've had people telling me it's like riding a bike: you never forget. I hope they're right. I've kinda gotten used to only using my right foot to drive. Just putting the gear into Drive, hit the gas with your foot, and you're set. No hassle, no pain. Well, after a while you do get a cramped foot. Thank God for cruise control !

THREE - That made me think of the weird right-of-way rules in Belgium.

Does anyone in Belgium still know who needs to yield to whom ? I've adjusted to the many STOP-signs around here. And I love them. Everybody gets their turn. No more getting upset because of the long stretch of cars coming from the right while being stuck giving way is a relief for the good old tik-tok.

FOUR - Another funny thing is how I got used to American geography.

Every city comes with a state. You have Paris, CA(lifornia), Paris, IL (Illinois).. so when people are from their home town called Springfield, they're not necessarily from the same Springfield..
So today, as I was curiously looking online for a flight to Belgium, I typed in my destination (brussels) and thought of the abbreviation of the state that Brussels is in and I typed, Brussels, BE. And when I hit the 'Search' button, no flights came up. I wondered why.. until I realized that I just should have entered Brussels. Of course. BE is a country, not a freakin' state !

FIVE - Writing down addresses is another thing.

In this country, people write the house number BEFORE the name of the street. That took some getting used to, but now, it feels natural.

SIX - I've started adjusting my numbers and some letters to the way Americans write them.

Not because I want to, just because I NEED to. In my job, I count money. And that money count needs to be correct for the books. Now, when people read my nines as a 8 or a 3, and my seven's are being misread as ones, that can create a lot of trouble. Also, we Belgians use a , as a decimal, - right ? Not in the US, it ain't ! A decimal is a point, and the comma , is used to point out thousands. So 1,500.50 is right in the US. 1.500,50 is right in Europe. That takes A LOT of getting used to. I'm still messing that up every once a while.

There are a lot more things that are typical about living here. People in the street or in the park say hello to you when you pass by. Well, most of them anyway.

Or when you're looking at an item in the grocery store and some one else is trying to grab one of the same items, they say "excuse me". People excuse themselves a lot. When almost bumping into each other, when passing some one who is standing still, when cutting in line.. yea right, I wish. Courtesy rules ! Well, most of the time anyway.

And last but not least, you know you're surrounded by Americans when everybody is wearing white tennis shoes under any colored pants.

You know you're Americanized when you start saying 'like' every other word.

You know you're becoming American when you add, 'you know' to every sentence.

And you hate being in America when you just can't stop eating junk food.