Going home

I had a 6:20AM flight out of Palm Springs, and had to catch a 4AM shuttle bus. As this was the last night, people were up partying all night. I along with a bunch of other people who had to catch the 4AM bus decided not to go to sleep at all, so we continued to party once people went to bed. Myself, and one other guy from Vancouver had the same first flight to Salt Lake City, where we were catching different connecting flights. We sat down in our seats, and before we knew it, the flight attendants told us to get off the plane. We had completely passed out, and didn't even realize the plane had take off or landed - best flight ever! I was not as lucky for the second flight. I was right in the back of the plane, so my seat couldn't recline. Not only did it not recline, but I'm pretty sure the seat angle was less than 90 degrees. Partway through the flight, I managed to find a different seat on the plane, but not much luck getting to sleep.

Final Thoughts
This entire trip was amazing. Traveling with Stoop and seeing 4 cities in 5 days without our own car was pretty grueling. Every day was long, jam packed with seeing as much as we could in each city, and we did a LOT of partying, and not much sleeping at all. Besides all the traveling and sightseeing, the highlight for me was hanging out the guys in AEPi as we traveled to each city. They were more than hospitable to us, and treated us like their own brother.

Israel Amplified Conference

Today, everyone was leaving the convention and going home to wherever they came from. New people were also arriving for the Israel Amplified conference. There were 100 people from different fraternities and sororities (mostly AEPi and AEPhi) who attended the conference from all over Canada and the US. Again, this meant another 3 days of speakers, seminars, lectures, etc. and oh yeah - partying. It was hard for me to keep up with the partying, as I had already been partying for over a week, and other people had just arrived ready to party. I managed to pull myself together and party, but by the end of the trip I was pretty much a walking zombie, barely staying awake. The conference was awesome, I learnt a lot, met a ton of cool people, and got some great ideas to take back with me.

94th Annual Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity Convention

Stoop and I got a lift to Palm Springs from two other brothers from Brandeis University in Boston, who happened to live in LA. The drive was awesome (except for the LA traffic). Seeing the desert, and all the wind turbines as we got closer to Palm Springs was really neat. The only discouraging thing was watching the digital thermometer in the car. It jumped at least 10 degrees Farenheit in about 10 minutes. Every day in Palm Springs it was at least 110 degrees, pushing 115 - but at least it was a dry heat!
There were over 500 people at Convention. It was awesome to meet new people from all over the US and Canada. In addition, I saw a lot of people I had met over the years on road trips and other regional conclaves, so it was good to see them again. We also saw the guys from UCSD and UCSB again and shared some of our crazy travel stories with them. I was already exhausted from travelling for 4 days, but there was no time to sleep at convention. It was another 4 days of partying well into the night, and then we had to wake up early (8AM) every morning for seminars, meetings, speakers, etc. We managed to miss the hottest part of the days, as we were inside from about 9AM to about 4 or 5PM pretty much every day. We did not have a lot of free time to ourselves during the day to go to the pools and enjoy the resort.
All in all, convention was amazing. I learnt a lot about AEPi, met a ton of cool people, and got some great ideas to take back with me.

The Canadian brothers who made the trek out to Palm Springs

Hollywood and Universal Studios

Today's game plan was to see the tourist sites at Hollywood and see Universal Studios. This day was jam packed; people said it would be tough to see everything, especially without a car. Before we even started the day we were running behind schedule. Stoop being the lazy guy he is couldn't get his ass out of bed on time, therefore we got out of the house 30 minutes after we had planned. After grabbing breakfast, we went to go buy our tickets for Universal on the UCLA campus because it was cheaper than at the park. The campus was massive and beautiful, but we saw more of it than we had hoped to. We got ridiculously lost, and somehow ended up wandering into a hospital. After eventually getting our tickets, our next destination was Hollywood via public transit. Finding a bus, yet alone the correct bus proved to be quite difficult. An hour and a half after we expected to be on our way to Hollywood, we finally got on a bus heading to Hollywood.

The bus ended up being a good choice because we passed a lot of famous landmarks as the bus drove down Santa Monica Blvd. The driver was nice enough to act as our tour guide for the bus ride and point out some of the sites. Once we got there, we had to rush through Hollywood as we were running behind schedule. We wandered up and down the street - saw the starts on the Walk of Fame. Once satisfied, we made our way to Universal Studios.

Somehow, we got to Universal Studios at 2 o'clock - the time we planned to get there. We went to the information booth, and they told us that we probably would not be able to see everything in 6 hours before the park closed, so we had to rush in order to try and see everything.. The first attraction we saw was a haunted house. It was pitch black, and there were people in there dressed up in scary costumes jumping out at you. It was quite scary; Stoop screamed like a girl, and after that I was laughing uncontrollably as he wanted to leave. Our next stop was the backlot tour, where they drive you through a number of sets from different movies. They also show you some cool special effects from different movies, and how they are done. They had sets from War of the Worlds, Psycho, Jaws, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Desperate Housewives - just to name a few.

wreckage from War of the Worlds

We then went to go on Jurassic Park - the ride, and The Mummy Returns. We got there, and the lineup was at least 45 minutes. We then realized there was probably no way we were going to be able to see the entire park. As we were walking through the line, we saw a sign for a different lineup for single riders. This line was much shorter; to keep a story short, we only waited about 10 minutes for each ride, which ended up saving the day for us. The Mummy returns was an awesome ride. It was an indoor roller coaster that went both forwards and backwards. In addition, it shot the car from zero to 100 km/hr in 1.6 seconds; that was freakin awesome! At the end of the day we ended up seeing everything we wanted to, but barely. We had to sprint across the park in order to see the last show - Water World, but we ended up making it.
We got back to the UCLA house and partied well into the night.

Venice Beach and our first In-N-Out experience

Stoops friend offered to drive us to LA, which was amazing. We avoided having to take a bus, and we were able to take the scenic route along the coast. The view of the coast and beaches was awesome. We got dropped off at Venice Beach, where we first relaxed on the beach for about an hour. We then started walking down the boardwalk and watching the crazies do their thing. We ate dinner then took a public bus to the AEPi house at UCLA. We arrive at about 9PM. Walking from the bus stop to the house, we passed by an In-N-Out. Unfortunately we had just eaten, but we vowed that we had to eat there before we left LA. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the AEPi house, we headed out the UCLA campus gym with a few brothers to work out. The gym was huge, and it was the nicest workout facility I have ever seen.

Before we could start partying, we had to make arrangements for the day tomorrow, which ended up taking all night. Shortly after 1AM, we decided to rush over to the In-N-Out in the hopes they were open until 1:30. Before I get into the story, here is some background info on In-N-Out. The chain is only located in California, and it is a fast food restaurant where the food is made fries, and service really is not that fast. The menu is small - they serve hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes - that’s it!!!

So we arrived just after they had closed the cash registers and they would not let us order any food. After about 5 minutes of making excuses and stories in the hope they would give us food, we decided to leave. We took 10 steps outside the restaurant and one of the employees asked if we wanted fries. After consuming the equivalent of 6 orders of fries (for free), we left for a second time. This time some random drunk guy asked us if In-N-Out was still open. We told him they closed half and hour ago, and they didn't have any more food, as we had already asked. He immediately ran to the drive thru window with his wallet in one hand and cash in the other - begging for a burger. He offered $20 and then $40 for a burger, yet he got nothing. It was hilarious to see what people will do for an In-N-Out burger. He came back over to us and told us how In-N-Out are assholes because they wouldn't sell him a burger. This guy was an absolute riot! We got back to the house after our successful mission and went to bed as tomorrow is going ot be a long day.

AEPi Chills at UCSB

Luckily after this short stop on the highway next to a US Border Patrol sign, we continued on our way to where we were going - not Mexico. After not sleeping much, we finally arrived in Santa Barbara at 5:30AM. We took a cab to Isla Vista, where the AEPi house is located. We arrived at 6AM to find hte side door wide open, and nobody awake. We left a not identifying ourselves as brothers from Canada and that they should not kill us thinking we might be bums. We grabbed couches and passed out due to exhaustion.

We woke up and met all the guys that lived in the house. They were impressed with the mission we took to get there, and that we arrived at 6Am. For breakfast we went to this quasi-gourmet bagel shop that served a variety of interesting bagels and toppings. I went with the pretty safe bet and ate a bagel with cream cheese, lox, tomato, onions and some seasoning - it was amazing. We then went back tot he house and hung out there until the weather was nice enough to go to the beach. The beach was a 10 minute walk from the house. It was very small, but the view along the coast was awesome.

After the beach we got back to the house and started to make dinner plans. We asked them were an In-N-Out is. They were shocked to hear that we had never eaten there, desptie the fact that we have only been in California for 2 days. They told us that one was not close, but that we absolutely had to eat there. More on this In-N-Out craze later. we partied well into the night and eventually got to sleep on the not very desirable couches.

San Diego Zoo & Padres Baseball Game

I got into San Diego at 11PM yesterday. Until I got my bag and took a cab to the AEPi house it was 12:30. We chilled for a while and talked AEPi. We were also told about this fast food burger place called In-N-Out - but more on that later. We were told we MUST eat there.

When we woke up we started making our way to the zoo. When we got there, we found a security check where we could check our bags, which was amazing. We had to carry everything we had because we were not staying the night in San Diego. Stoop had been to the zoo the day before, so we didn't see everything. The highlights were the polar bears eating (but unfortunately they didn't go swimming), the gorillas jumping around, and the Galapagos turtle, who came right up the rail and I was able to pet.

After the zoo we went to find out how we would be getting to Santa Barbara later in the evening. We were going to the San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants baseball game, and we needed to find a Greyhound bus that left as late as possible. Our 2 options were an 11PM bus that would get us there at 5:45AM, or a 1:30AM bus that would arrive at 10:30AM. We decided we would try and make the 11PM bus because we did not want to stop over in Los Angeles for 4 hours.

We headed down to the game where we had an opportunity to see a piece of baseball history. Barry Bonds only needed 1 home run to tie Hank Aaron for the most career home runs with 755. When he got up to bat, everyone started cheering for him to hit the homer. When the action started, you could see thousands of camera flashes in the hopes of catching a piece of history. I decided to join in on the action and take video of his at bat. On the 3rd pitch of the at bat, Barry took a swing and the ball jumped off his bat, and you knew that was going over the fence. Everyone was cheering. This was definitely a very cool moment that I was randomly a part of. On the night Bonds went 1 for 1 with 1 home run and 3 walks. Since the Padres did not want to give him the record breaking, they walked him 3 times. We left the game when it was tied 2-2 after the 9th inning to catch our bus. Eventually, San Diego won 3-2 in the 12th. Bonds was taken out of the game in the 7th and replaced by a pinch runner, but had he still been in the game, we would have had to stay in case he did hit another home run.

We got to the bus on time and confirmed the bus was going to LA, where we would make our connection. We were the only two non-Mexicans on the bus and we had a feeling the bus was headed south - to Mexico. Approximately 1 hour into the bus ride, we pulled over on the highway next to a sign that said 'US Border Patrol'. The driver got off the bus, and at this point, Stoop and I though we are definitely screwed. This story continues tomorrow.

Preface to California road trip

I am going to California for 11 days. There are 3 sections, or legs to this trip in the following order:
1. Tour southern California (San Diego, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles) (4 days)
2. Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity's 94th annual convention in Palm Springs, California (4 days)
3. Israel Amplified Conference in Palm Springs, California (3 days)

My main purpose for going was to attend AEPi Convention to learn about AEPi and to have an awesome time, as I have only heard great things about convention. Myself, the Vice President of my chapter, and the President, Stoop, attended convention from our chapter. In addition, I applied and was accepted to attend the Israel Amplified Conference, which was hosted by the AEPi Fraternity and AEPhi Sorority. The conference immediately followed convention and was to teach students in Fraternities and Sororities how to advocate for Israel on campus, and specifically to other Greek students. Stoop and I decided that since we were travelling across the continent, why not do some travelling before we get to convention. We already had places to stay - AEPi houses, and we decided to backpack through southern California before we had to go to Palm Springs. We stayed with AEPi's at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

AEPi Road Trip to University of Michigan

This week 15 of us took a road trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Why Ann Arbor you ask? read on... The house was ginormous. Not enough couches for all of us, but more than enough floor space. The house holds 45 guys, has 3 floors, and their own personal chef! When we got there and started speaking with the AEPi brothers that lived in the house and told them we were from Canada and on an AEPi road trip, the conversation continued along these lines:
Them: Oh cool, where are y'all going?
Us: We are here, University of Michigan.
Them: But where are you going after this?
Us: Back home to Waterloo.
Them: Where did you come from?
Us: Waterloo.
Them: (extremely confused at this point) But where else are you going? (implying that this could not be our only destination)
Us: Nowhere. We drove here just now (Friday evening), then we are leaving to go back home on Sunday.
Them: Why would you come here?
Us: road trip! it's not about where you go. all that matters is that you go! This university is within driving distance (4 hours) from Waterloo and there is an AEPi house here, where we can sleep.... and party.

Much like the Abbot and Costello skit 'Who's on first?' They didn't seem to have a clue.

Friday night we went out for pizza, which was aaaammmmmmmazing. I had a deep dish cheese pizza which was extremely filling. If the Americans know how to do one thing right - it's pizza. After dinner, it was party hopping between the AEPi house, the bars, and other house parties.

Saturday started off with a crappy breakfast/lunch at some restaurant. When the waitress came around, we asked her how much sales tax is in the state of Michigan, as we did not know. To our surprise either did she! Not only did she not know how much the sales tax was, but she didn't even know what the hell sales tax is to begin with!!! After explaining it to her while trying not to laugh uncontrollably, she was still unable to give us an answer - go figure! Welcome to America! hahaha. After that ordeal, we walked around the massive campus in the hope that we would end up at Michigan Stadium (which we did, eventually). Naturally, it was closed to the public, and there was a large metal spiked fence surrounding the stadium. Since it was the weekend and there was no football game there, the grounds appeared to be empty. After walking around it for about half an hour trying to figure out how we are going to get in, we decided upon a spot where we would hop the fence. Three of us successfully hopped the fence and sprinted about 50 feet to get to where the seats are. The fourth person decided against hopping the fence, and opened the gate instead - stupid us. Ironically, just as he walked through the gate, a maintenance person rounds the corner in a van, chases after us and threatens to call the cops. At least we got to see the stadium for about 30 seconds. Michigan Stadium is nicknamed 'The Big House' because it is the largest stadium in North America, seating 120,000 people. That night AEPi hosted a Las Vegas style mixer with a sorority. There were about 200 people at the AEPi house that night. Afterwards, we told the guys they hosted a great party. They laughed at us and told us that it wasn't big enough to be considered a party.
Us at Michigan Stadium: L-R: Matthews, Lee Rosen, Goldstein, Franklin, Stoop, Me, Benaim

Driving back to Waterloo also proved to be eventful. At the border, the guy starts asking us the standard questions. I will pick up the conversation where it gets interesting:
Border Officer: Where do you go to university
Jay (our driver): 3 go to Laurier, one to Waterloo
Border Officer: What are you studying
Jay: Business, business, communications, engineering
Border Officer: I graduated from Laurier business, and look where the hell I am now!
He then let us through with no problems. That kept us laughing hysterically for a solid 10 minutes
Overall, yet another amazing AEPi road trip, as expected.

AEPi Conclave in Philadelphia

This weekend I went to Temple University in Philadelphia with 3 of my AEPi brothers. We drove down for a regional convention – even though it was outside my region, what better way to spend a part of reading week? We stayed at the AEPi house at Temple, which houses 17 guys. It was tons of fun partying with them and then going for late night missions to get cheesesteaks.

Thursday night we went to Pat’s and Gino’s (both famous rival cheesesteak places). The guys from Temple instructed me on how to properly order a cheesesteak, which reminded me of the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld in which there was a strict procedure on how to order. One of the guys from Temple, Adam ordered a cheesesteak from Pat’s. He walked across the street to Gino’s where the rest of us were eating. When he realized that he forgot to put ketchup on the sandwhich, instead of walking 30 feet across the street he just used the ketchup from Gino’s at which point an employee inside the corner restaurant started to bang his spatula against the glass window while screaming “Use it where you buy it!!!” Adam replied by saying he was from out of town, even though he wasn’t. At this point we thought it would be a good idea to leave quickly as we headed back to the car.

Coincidently, the weekend of the conference coincided with the weekend where the Leafs were playing the Flyers in Philadelphia. Naturally, the game was a must. Everyone told me to be careful of the Philadelphia sports fans, as they are not the nicest. In fact, Veteran’s Stadium (where the Eagles play [NFL]) had its own courtroom and jail. We managed to stay out of trouble as the Leafs beat the Flyers quite easily 5-2.

Us in the AEPi house just before leaving for the leafs game.

L-R: Josh, Zack, Me, Josh, Jordan

Saturday night after a long night drinking and clubbing we thought it would be a good idea to go for a cheesesteak at Jim’s (another famous place) at 2:30AM. After waiting 20 minutes for a cab we got there, and there was a lineup out the door – I figured it would have been about an hour wait. The 5 of us there managed to cut the line and we only waited about 20 minutes. Right when we got to the front of the line 6 more AEPi guys showed up and we managed to squeeze them right in front of us. Luckily nobody pointed this out otherwise things could have got ugly. The cheesesteak was much better than at Gino’s and well worth the 20 minute wait.

The entire weekend was awesome, the AEPi chapter at Temple was a great host, and I had tons of fun hanging out with them. There are too many other stories to tell, but this blog is not the place for them.