Term 2

My second term started on a bit of a low note - Coming back from the W.Indies (people who go there often and are really cool like to abbreviate the place's name like this!) I'd have given anything to change my ticket and fly home, but unfortunately life doesn't work like that, and therefore my new-found responsibility prevailed. However, every time I was asked "Where's that accent from?" and replied South Africa - I got the same unintentionally injurious response, "Oh my word! What are you doing here!? You should be home for the World Cup!!!"

**Yes, Human being! I know I should. But i'm not and I want to! So please stop rubbing it in, before I make this an incredibly awkward situation by bursting into tears.. You ever seen an African cry? No? Well, it ain't pretty!!**

So what!? I missed the World Cup in Africa. One of the best Soccer World Cup's of all time. Pulled off by my country. In my country. By my people. So what!? I missed out on what was captioned as a "Once in a lifetime" opportunity for us South Africans.

But you know what after all that harassment by curious Americans I managed to pull my socks up and focus! After all, I am living my own "Once in a lifetime" experience here in America... (Hollywood nogal!)

Anyway, this blog post isn't meant to be about gloating over my mature revelations about my life:) My classes are more manageable now. Monday to Thursday, 3 classes on Monday and Wednesday, and 2 classes on Tuesday and Thursday (each 2 - 3 hours long), and I get to sleep late in the morning!!!! :) Huge bonus!

Los Angeles feels like a different place now. I guess I am settled in, because It's starting to feel like home a little. This petrifies me. But at the same time, I get a huge (for lack of a better word) kick out of living on my own (Justin, my room mate is back in SA). Routine serves me well, and it's a really satisfying feeling to be this independent, although let's not get carried away, the NPJ bank is still faithfully sponsoring me and so long as that stays in check, I am able to make sure everything else thats important stays in order - like eating my vegetables and switching on the dishwasher :) Don't get me wrong, I would love to be making my own money, but unfortunately the US Government is a little stingy when it comes to issuing Work Visas! So I have to sit tight and remain unemployed. (Dammit!) :)

Routine and daily life certainly seems to be getting easier day by day. Runyon Canyon (Pictured here but google it too) is a couple of blocks up from my flat, so its become a very important aspect of daily life for me. A nice hike to get away from the city, endorphins rushing and build some mad muscles in my legs (I've decided the starving child look just isn't working for me). Watch out for Ashleigh "Tank" van der Hoven - coming soon to a city in Africa near you! (Releasing in December - I need some time, Rome wasn't built in a day!)

Even though life is getting easier here, I miss home madly! What frightens me the most, is that every time I talk to Sophia, her speech improves and it reminds me of what i am missing at home :( But I am home soon. Just 2 weeks now!

Lots of Love,

Ash xxx

Malibu

Alex, a friend of mine from school invited me and my friend Luke, to his place in Malibu this past weekend. Its about an hour's drive from Los Angeles depending on traffic. (LA is notorious for having the worst traffic in the world - its worse than Joburg, now there's something!) Anyway, the drive there was a little heart wrenching, simply because the vegetation and scenery along the highway was so much like the Cape. Really, the resemblance is uncanny! I actually felt my heart skip a beat because I felt as though I was on my way to Stellenbosch or another - "Music Festival". :)

Malibu itself is practically a bigger Camps Bay mixed with a little of Llundudno. It is truly beautiful! However, Cape Town still remains, in my opinion, the most beautiful place on this Earth. But then again, its all relative, and beauty shouldn't compete. So, Malibu has become my perfect escape from a concrete, light flashing, tourist humming jungle.

We had a "BARBECUE", which many would say is the American equivalent to a Braai. But like Baseball to Cricket - IT JUST AINT THE SAME! I miss my braai-vleis, toebroodjies, castle lager and the van der Hoven specialty of Krayfish, courtesy of a certain Nick Junior and Nic Senior :) I'm wont even get started with the mouth-watering idea of a Perlemoen Poytjie (try explaining that to an American. Yea, not so much fun). However, despite our prestigious South African A-grade meat - my burger was a fine enough substitute. I did manage to shrug off a little SA culture on my foreign friends, with fulfilling my role as a woman by gracing them with - a salad (avo included!) :)

On Saturday I was treated to surfing lessons. Wow, I really wish someone was video recording it, because it was hilarious! It was like a KFC "Feel like a kid again" advert. Alex was holding the board for me as I clung on for dear life. He insisted the waves were small, but all I saw were huge waves crashing towards me like Titans! I was giggling so much (comic relief) as the waves crashed into my face and I slid all around the board, my knuckles white from how hard I was holding on! I should probably mention, I was learning in white water. Yes, not the most hardcore and dignified moment in my life, but unbelievably fun! I didn't get to standing up... and very uncharacteristically of me, I gave up after 4 attempts.. but honestly, the water was freezing, and my wetsuit wasn't helping. It took me 2 hours to warm up after the "surf". (No excuses!)

That night Luke, Alex and I went to the Malibu Nobu. It was absolute, pure heaven! The food melted like gold into my taste buds, filling me with inexplainable elation. I promise you, I am not milking it! I almost expect Angels to escourt me inside next time.

It was a great way to end my Malibu experience, and will undoubtedly be going there again! I had an awesome time!

Lots of Love,

Ash xxx

First term in Hollyweird!

My first term in Los Angeles can be summed up into three categories.

1. Settle In
2. Process the fact that I've settled in
3. Look forward to my holiday in the West Indies

Yes, not very responsible of me. I'll admit I didn't take school very seriously and managed to not feel bad for it by making hordes of excuses as to why I was not getting stuck into the acting business of things and "making my dreams come true". Never-the-less, I managed to get the initial state of being in awe of Hollywood out of the way. I did the fancy restaurants, the fun parties, the meeting of celebrities (ABSOLUTELY critical when coming to Los Angeles;), the getting lost, the sight seeing and getting used to what would soon become my routine here in Los Angeles.

I had class from 9 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock in the evening, with 2 half hour breaks and 1 fifteen minute break. I know this sounds excessive, and I'd love to make it sound like I was grinding my bones up here, with my quest to conquer "The Craft of Acting" but actually, this was on a Monday and a Wednesday with a quick 3 hour class on a Tuesday. So, as The Wolf likes to explain his philosophy in life, "Just drink your poison". So, Monday through to friendly Wednesday, I "drank my poison" and then got the next four days off to mess around! It was ... Magic :) (Thanks Pops, always appreciate your wisdom).

To sum up my first impressions (and certainly lasting ones) - Hollywood is weird, crazy, dry, 'touristy', and a little smelly (depending on the level of drugs the homeless man standing next to you is on). It takes me 6 minutes to walk to class from my apartment. It should take 2 sweet minutes, but there are too many tourists taking photos of themselves at Madame Tussauds (on the corner of my street), The Chinese and Kodak Theatre (just around the corner) and the mass of stars etched into Hollywood Boulevard glinting their favourite star's name. When I first arrived, my South African manners upheld for no less than 2 weeks of me walking through huge groups of slow moving human beings and saying, "Excuse me Sir, Sorry Madam, Pardon Me". Now, its a different story, and for the sake of the adults I respect and love (Hi Mom, Dad, Gran!), I wont repeat the more effective way I've adopted, to get tourists to move out of my way as I journey my 0.3 Miles to school!

This and sussing out my new friends, was pretty much the bulk of my first term, before I left to go to the West Indies. (Tough Life, I know!) There are some crazy people here, but at the same time some really special ones! Weirdly, I didn't really miss home much then. It was all too exciting and there was too much going on.

Hope that was a good enough summary for you :)

Lots of Love,

Ash xxx

Welcome, Sawubona, Goeie - Nevermind, I'll leave the Afrikaans.

Welcome to my sad excuse for a blog! I figured my loved ones back home in South Africa would be dying (and yes, I mean dying) to know what I am getting up to in the US of A, Los Angeles, Hollywood. Unfortunately, due to the mammoth time difference of 9 hours, I often miss calls and am finding it continuously difficult and increasingly frustrating to keep in consistent touch with everyone to update them, and more than often by the time I do get to speak to you, I’ve forgotten all the juicy details of the exciting (and not so exciting) things I get up to here. So if we haven’t chatted in a while, hop onto this blog and see what I have been getting up to. (I expect the same scale of effort from everyone else to help me keep up with homely actitvites;) )

Lots of Love,

Ash