Silicon Valley
Ah, the suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area. The land of freeways,
shopping malls, neat (and pricey) real estate, and more freeways...
I stayed with the Usongs, long time friends of the family and had a
little experience of life in San Jose, a city in the heart of Silicon
Valley - frantically busy, ridiculously high pay, 6 days per working
week, and no cooking!
Palo Alto is the land of Stanford University, a very prestigous institution,
and a city in itself. Here was where my friend Astrid lives and where
my friend from Camp ABC, Alexis, currently studies. Stanford life is
typically Californian, so it's no surprise that it's considered 'cool'
to be seen cycling through campus with a Jamba Juice in hand (a tall
cup of freshly blended fruits, vitamins, minerals, and NO FAT!).
Alexis is an RA (Resident Assistant) and an AA (Academic Advisor),
meaning that she supervises a dorm of freshmen (first year students),
in her case, freshmen boys! Just spending a few short hours with her
gave me an idea of what life is like for the average college student.
It was er, interesting to see the constant stream of people coming to
her room and listening to the conversations that form. I realise why
I was never an 18 year old American male! Oh, and the food is okay (contrary
to what everyone says) and of course it's all-you-can-eat. The best
thing is the ethernet connection to each dorm room, meaning that everyone
gets free and fast Internet connection (isn't it lovely to live in Silicon
Valley).
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