1 week!

i've been here for a week! somehow, it feels longer than that. pam was here visiting over the weekend. i joined her and her eye school friends in venice beach on saturday afternoon, after i had lunch with grace. venice beach was kind of a trip because there are just all kinds of people. we walked pass a movie set for southland tales, but sadly, i did not see the rock nor buffy. celebrity sightings = 0.

we had dinner at bcd tofu house and had the best service ever. seriously. they even initiated the offer to give us separate checks and my water glass was never empty. we suspect that it was because there were 3 white girls and 1 east indian girl with us. mental note to self, always bring white people with me to korean restaurants.

sunday morning, pam, joe, and i went to newsong LA. i liked the pastor's speaking/preaching style. this church has ministries for everything. they even have a parking ministry. and they had all these multimedia video plugs to join ministries. even their programs were super nicely done in a comic book style. i compare it to a retreat/conference experience, possibly like cohi, only with more polish and glitz. this is a ginormously different experience to my church in seattle. i still can't quite handle it. afterwards, two of pams friends joined us and we all explored this area near my apartment called "little osaka." later for dinner, it was a semi-oregon reunion for brazilian bbq. it was a meat-fest. and i got to have guaraná!!! i haven't had that in 5 years. it was sooo good.

in the short time i've been here, i've already eaten way too much. this is probably bad for me. i must show more restraint and self-control...or at least pretend to try...