I spent most of my summer prepping to leave for LA. And what I mean by that is searching for housing. And getting my travel documents prepared. The latter went pretty easily, but finding housing in a different continent was kind of tricky. Being in The Netherlands, I was unable to view any of the rooms in person; luckily most housing agencies/landlords were willing to do a video tour of the house.
Even so, it was still a stressful experience mainly because – not being a US citizen – I lacked some of the documents that the bigger rental properties required (such as a SSN or a credit report). Most agencies were alright with me offering alternative documentation, but it was slightly more time consuming than it might have been otherwise. Regardless, after two mini cry sessions and some venting to friends, I was able to find a place. (Honestly though, I probably shouldn’t have psyched myself out so much because, since coming here, I have met people who literally drove around LA looking for vacancy/for rent signs, called the number, booked a tour, and were able to sign the lease that same day.)
With my housing “problem” sorted, I spent the rest of summer hanging out with my family and friends. I didn’t (and still don’t) plan on going home for winter break, so I knew that I wouldn’t be seeing anyone back home for at least a year (although I am strongly encouraging some of my friends to come visit me here by sending them pictures of both the food here and the tan I have since acquired).
The highlight of my summer, though, was definitely arriving in the US. I had only a week before the semester was due to begin, and so I spent most of it exploring the area, building Ikea furniture (and getting lost of blisters in the process), and bitterly complaining about how hot it was (although now that it’s finally cooling down I kind of miss the heat).