Recap of the two best years of my life

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I’m now sitting on the bus towards the airport. We’re in Thousand Oaks, so we have left Santa Barbara about an hour ago. Now there’s only emptiness. Or, not only that. There is also a feeling of horrible-effing-shitness to

I don’t want to go. But I know I have to.

 

I don’t want to sit here with all negative thoughts in my head. So therefore I thought to write down all my positive memories from my stay here. To summarize the two best years of my life is kinda impossible, but I will give it a try.

 

I think the reason I love it so much here is that I’m living the perfect life. I’m doing what I love to do, at the best place possible, with amazing weather, I get to experience so much all the time, along with the most wonderful people there is.  How can I not think that this is the best thing that ever happened to me?

 

  • Santa Barbara, CA, USA
  • The school
  • The weather
  • The experiences
  • College life
  • The people

 

Santa Barbara, CA, USA

This town is amazing. I’m very happy that it was SB that became the place I ended up in. It’s not that big of a town, but not small either. It’s very beautifully located between the mountains and the ocean. Because of the strict construction policies, the town has also preserved its beauty. No modern architecture is allowed, and there’s no tall buildings. So the white and orange Spanish looking style, in combination with the palm trees and the beaches, is incredibly beautiful.

California is a really awesome state. It is so big and varied, that it could almost be a couple of independent countries.

I have come to love some areas a lot, besides Santa Barbara. San Francisco and San Diego are amazing cities, where I definitely can see myself living some time in the future. Other places, like Los Angeles is not at all as good, and really not as glamorous as it might seem.

America is a great country. I love to live here. Sure, there are problems, but so is it everywhere. And living here has shown me that Sweden isn’t all that great as Swedes like to think.

 

The harbor

 

 

The school

Despite the fact that I have a Bachelor in Journalism from Gothenburg University, I have learned so much during my four semesters here. It has been so much fun, and I educational, everything I have done.

I have really enjoyed being a part of the school’s newspaper, The Channels. It is the biggest difference between here and in Gothenburg, and it’s a great real-life experience to have a paper that comes out weekly with 3,000 copies. It has also been a lot of fun to be the boss over the others as News Editor, but also being responsible to make sure it looks great and has good content.

My time here has really grown the urge of mine to become a journalist. I love to report and write news stories, and I’m now 100% sure that this is what I want to do in life.

Santa Barbara City College is also one of the world’s most beautifully located schools. Situated on a hill right next to the ocean, there is a magnificent view no matter where you look.

I will be wearing my SBCC outfit with pride for the rest of my life. Let’s Go Vaqueros!

 

The Channels people from the JACC conference in the fall

 

The weather

Not always as warm as you would hope California to be, but still wonderful. To most of the year be able to walk around in shorts and t-shirt is just great. To complain that you one day have to wear jeans, is a luxury I sure will miss.

 

Leadbetter Beach, where I lived

 

The experiences

I have been able to do and experience so much here; it’s amazing! To have friends from all over the place and state makes it possible to go visit places I otherwise never would have.

I have visited these places during my time here:

Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Long Beach, Irvine, Fullerton, San Diego, Ventura, Goleta, San Francisco, Paso Robles, Sacramento, Colusa, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon (and also New York and Washington, D.C on my way here last year), and Mexico.

I have been to the themeparks Disneyland, SeaWorld and Six Flags, jag have been skydiving, I was on TV and danced behind Ke$ha in New York, I have seen NHL live, I have reported about local elections and the arrivals of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. I have followed the cheerleading team to their competitions, I have cruised the Pacific Highway in the sunset, I have stayed at a ghost ship, and went to a wedding in Brazil.

I have been able to experience true American Holidays. I had a costume and went trick-or-treating during Halloweend and I experienced a real family holiday during Thanksgiving.

I celebrated spring break as it should be done, with ten friends in the Party Mekka Cancun in Mexico, with everything that happened there.

 

I think I can say that during these two years I have experienced more than many people do in their whole life. And that, I am forever grateful for.

 

Some of us that went to spring break in Cancun 2010

 

College life

To be a college student is exactly like it is in the movies, but even more fun. It is classes and studying, sure, but most and all party and fun times with a lot of cool people. Rec cups, beer kegs, beer pong, home parties, palm trees, half-naked beautiful people and everything that comes with that. I will not miss being a student, but I will miss being a student…

 

Swedes knows how to celebrate Halloween!

 

 

The people

That’s the biggest reason I love my life here so much. I have had so many great friends that have meant the world to me. To mention them all will take forever. Therefore I will mention a few that has meant extra much to me. If someone feels left out, I’m sorry. Here comes a few, in so specific order.

 

Lauren

We became very good friends the first semester. Introduced to each other as friends of Cecily’s, we soon became our own friends. Most of the stuff I have experienced, Lauren has been there somehow. She was also the very last person I said goodbye to in Santa Barbara, since she drove me to the bus today.

 

 

Jocke

He was here the first year, and we became great friends after sharing a room the first semester. We work very well together, have the same kind of crazy humor and we just work well.

 

 

Maria H

We had almost all of our classes together the first two semesters here and we always had fun together. Since we hung out so much, we became good friends, and we always had a good time no matter if we were in class, studying, eating lunch, had a coffee or went to a party.

 

 

Ola

My soul mate this past year. We shared an apartment and became really good friends. We work extremely well together and share most interests. We had as a whole the same likes and thoughts, and everything we did turned out fun. The trip to Brazil, all of our parties, watching hockey games, road trips, and even more parties. It’s really nice that I will see him this summer again.

 

 

Bruce

My car! To have car in America is very necessary, but also really sweet. It’s so nice to be able to go to the store and buy a lot of heavy stuff, go to the gym in the middle of the night after the busses don’t go any more, go on roadtrips to San Francisco and Vegas, or go and pick up or leave people at the airport. It was an awesome car, and I know that next time I’ll look to buy a car, I most certainly will go with a Buick.

 

 

Paige

We started at he newspaper at the same time, and then our careers followed each others. Paige is a wonderful and always happy spirit, and very easy to hang out with. It’s sad to leave her, and I hope to see her again in the future.

 

 

Gaby

My best acquaintance from the “new” Swedes. Gaby is a lovely person and amazing girl and we have had so much fun together. We both became editors for The Channels at the same time, so we both learned and developed at the same path. We also had a lot of fun in our spare time, and it was so much fun to go with her and her friend Cecilia to San Francisco and Las Vegas during spring break 2011.

 

 

Hm, was there someone else among my dear and beloved friends I forgot… Hm, who might that be…?

 

Cecily

I wrote in my previous post what she means to me, so I don’t know if it’s necessary to repeat that. Or, yes, it is necessary to repeat. She is such an amazing person and she is my best friend here, and she has meant the world to me these last years. There is so much I have done and experienced here that is all thanks to her, and she will always have a special place in my heart. But I’m also looking forward to see her many times again in the future, both in Sweden and California.

 

 

All these components have contributed to make these 22 months the happiest in my life. What’s gonna happen with me now, I have no idea. But no matter what, I will forever have all these wonderful memories in my head for the rest of my life.