Apartment life a key milestone

As summer was drawing to a close and before the beginning of a
hectic school year, a couple of friends and I hopped on the bus to
Santa Monica. Along the way, we reminisced about how during our
first year we were intimidated by the idea of taking the bus to the
city and realized that somehow along the way we had even managed to
expand our independence to the point of living in our own
apartments.

The moment I moved into my apartment, I began to wonder how and
when I would ever adjust to living on my own. The following
chronicles my experiences of the past two weeks.

Day 1: After about five hours, I finally finished moving in, and
I’m pretty excited to start unpacking and begin furnishing
and decorating. I remember looking through furniture catalogs when
I was younger and wondering when I’d ever have my own place
to furnish.

Day 2: I’ve been scavenging for usable furniture dumped in
the streets, thrown away by people moving out, and picked up a desk
chair in perfect condition off the street today. One person’s
junk is another’s treasure (especially when the latter is
without money).

Day 3: Boxes and boxes of possessions sit in my closet, yet
somehow there are so many essentials I forgot, such as pots, pans,
toaster, vacuum, trash cans and bath rug. So for now I am resorting
to using the George Foreman Grill as a toaster and the rice cooker
to cook vegetables. I’ve also found economy-sized cereal
boxes to be functional trash cans. The list of things to buy gets
longer by the day.

Day 5: Back in the dorms, the endless supply of toilet paper,
garbage bags and food has led to a lot of shameful wasting. But now
that everything comes directly out of my pocket, I’m noticing
how much I can conserve by only using what I actually need, such as
using half a sheet of paper towel and preparing food in only the
needed amount. (I really do miss dessert-binging in the dining
halls.)

So many side obligations also take up time in the apartments,
such as cooking, shopping, cleaning and figuring out bills.

Day 7: Murphy’s Law has unleashed itself, with the
discovery of rust build-up in the tub due to the perpetually
leaking faucet, a problem since move-in. Besides the hole in the
screen, the window blinds are also frustrating because the broken
strips fall off whenever I turn the shades, requiring more work
orders to be filled out. Half the day is spent scrubbing the
bathroom and kitchen, but somehow there are more and more places to
clean and organize. On top of all this, my computer graciously
decided to malfunction; at this moment, I’m writing this
column by hand.

To comfort myself, I turn to food and head to the grocery store
““ and realize I don’t know what to buy. Do I buy
lettuce over cucumbers, or both? How many combinations of meals can
be made with chicken, broccoli and carrots? After calling my mom
about five times and weighing out decisions, I walk home with food
to last for the week, but realize five minutes later that I should
not have bought heavy items such as cantaloupes and a 10-pack
yogurt because the uphill walk back is rather unforgiving (and I am
definitely out of shape).

Day 12: My roommate moved her furniture in and I finally bought
a used bed ““ an upgrade from the sleeping bag I’ve been
using. The room is beginning to look more livable, and I now look
forward to coming home to crash on my bed ““ unlike before,
when I didn’t want to come home because it appeared so
empty.

Day 14: By now, the apartment seems like home. I also definitely
enjoy the freedom, privacy and the larger living space. Though
cooking can be a nuisance, I can eat whatever I want, whenever I
want. There are no room inspections, and my living space
isn’t confined to a small room with beds and desks.

As I step out of the apartment to go home to my family for the
weekend, I find it difficult to differentiate between
“home” ““ this apartment in Los Angeles ““
and “home,” my family. Somewhere along the way, since
our first year, we’ve morphed from parents’ dependents
to true independents. The transition can be rough sometimes, but
when you take a step back from being immersed in these
difficulties, it’s pretty amazing to see the progress.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even buy a house in the city some
day; now it seems more feasible. And by then I won’t pick up
dumped furniture, but I will put the furniture catalogs to good
use.

Share quick cooking recipes with Yoo at
jyoo@media.ucla.edu.

Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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