Everything is as usual. Hotel, work. Actually, work has become much easier – just cleaning rooms. Time passes quite quickly at the hotel. I discovered another facet of myself – curiosity. I don't think it's the best character trait. It consists of being insanely interested in watching how other people live. Every time Sonya and I go into rooms, we learn something new. Honestly, we only got 10 cents in tips all day – it's a joke. As if someone is mocking us.

After work – lunch (everything is on schedule!). Then the beach. The waves were stronger today than usual. Sonya got a call from the water park and was invited to training. She ran off, and Anya and I were jumping in the waves. There were a lot of people on the beach, it's Friday evening after all.

About the seagulls.

How the local seagulls amaze and scare me! It seems like they are specially trained. So impudent, bold! It's just terrible! Once Sonya observed this situation on the boardwalk: a seagull lunged at a girl who had a piece of pizza in her hand. The girl dropped the pizza in fright, and the seagull immediately grabbed its prey. And it's like that all the time! People come to the beach in families, with a bunch of small children, strollers, umbrellas, chairs. They bring a lot of food with them – and that's when clouds of birds gather over them. The seagulls scream, and their cry is very similar to a childish and desperate "Give! Give! Give!". A really strong resemblance! As a result, the children cry and run away. The older ones try to lure the seagulls away from the "feeder", but unsuccessfully.

Anya and I were sunbathing and eating apples. Just in case, we kept our flip-flops handy to defend ourselves. Fortunately, we didn't have to.

About the attractions.

In the evening, we decided to go for a walk on the boardwalk again, just earlier. We left around 9 o'clock. To be honest, we didn't expect THAT! Crowds of people, music playing, and you couldn't even push through at Morey’s Piers! All the rides are working, queues, children, adults – everything is mixed up. THIS IS A REAL PARADISE! I have never seen anything like this anywhere. Not in Russia, and certainly not beyond. Roller coasters, the Wheel, the Slingshot, and so much more. Everything is glowing and shining – unforgettable! There are three amusement parks on the coast: 1st Morey’s Piers, 2nd – Morey’s Piers&Racing Waters, 3rd - Morey’s Piers&Ocean Oasis. They are all located on the boardwalk.

I was struck by the fact that almost only children were standing in line for the super-duper high slingshot! I saw a similar attraction in Anapa, but only men and adult guys dared to ride it! At VDNKh in Moscow, there is "Cobra" – a roller coaster with a loop – probably the scariest one in Moscow. There are several such coasters here, and they have several loops. Again, small children with their parents are in line! Many "Free Flight" carousels, and in different planes. Again, children. I came to the conclusion that we in Russia have a shortage of attractions, and we are simply not used to them. For us, it's MEGA scary, but for them, it's business as usual. They probably can't even imagine what kind of junk we call an amusement park in Russia.

Just like back home, there are machines here where you can pull out a toy for a quarter. Only the toys here are completely different! For example, I was pleased with the Monster Beats headphones (is that right?).

Also, there was a small concert on the boardwalk – School of Rock. Student rockers played their songs and sang. I have never seen an electric guitar in the hands of a 12-year-old girl! And about the boys too. I was amazed at how confidently and independently they hold themselves on stage! They all came from different cities.

A little further, after the second Pier, we found Sonya; she works at this time – blowing soap bubbles from a gun. As an advertising campaign. They pay $7 an hour. Although she works very little. 2-3 hours a day, sometimes even less. Most often, she is let go because of bad weather. It rains often in the evenings now. And she hasn't been paid anything yet.

Our neighbor from upstairs, Dima, was passing by; he was coming from work. His friend-colleague has a birthday today. The African American is inviting Dima and all his Russian girl acquaintances. In general, we are all invited...

To say that we desperately wanted to get to an American party is an understatement! We all grew up on foreign, typically "American" comedies, and seeing it all with our own eyes was almost a dream!

Written 3 days after the party. Only now can I talk about it calmly.

It was our first truly American party! Let's start with the fact that there is a different concept of a birthday here. The birthday person invites whoever they want, but everyone must come with their own drinks, especially alcoholic ones. It is not customary to give gifts. We were warned about the alcohol in advance. Americans don't like it when people take other people's things, especially if it's theirs. Everyone drinks from their own glass, their own beer, or another drink. Strange? For me, a person who grew up in summer camps and then received a baptism of fire in a student dormitory (4 years of experience), this is INCONCEIVABLE! But we respect and honor the traditions of the local youth.

How it all started. We came home and started getting ready very, very quickly. The party was huge, and all the Russian guys (who were also going) were meeting near our house. Therefore, by the time everyone was here, we had to be ready.

Again, I remembered summer camp, everyone getting ready for the disco. Everything mixed up, clothes, cosmetics – everything becomes common – typical Russian girls. And just in 15 minutes, Anya and I were ready. True, we had to wait for Sonya, she hadn't come back from work yet. To not waste time, Dima suggested going to the store for drinks. Dima is already 21, and, as a rule, he buys alcohol for everyone.

The Liquors store is located at the intersection of Atlantic Ave and Andrews or Barks (I hope this is only useful for adults!). Before entering, Dima warned us that we couldn't touch anything, choose, consult with him, or even hand him money. We just look, pretend we're waiting for a friend.

About alcohol.

Beer is cheap in the USA. It is sold in packs of 6 bottles, or in crates. The standard size is 0.33 ml. We bought a 6-pack for 7.5 dollars. All other beer is around 9-10 bucks for 6 pieces.

About transport.

I have already had to observe how our Russian guys get to the party – on bikes. And today, against the background of the night, dark figures on wheels were approaching our house. As for us: me, Dima, Sonya, and Anya – we decided to walk. Anya and Dima don't have bicycles. I'm in a dress, and Sonya is coming along for company. The house we need is at 234 E. Juniper ave. We had to walk about 22 blocks. Initially, we were going to take a taxi. BUT, as the operator said, we would have to wait about an hour!!! That's what it means that small American towns are dead at night. So, in 20 minutes on foot, we were at our destination.

About PEOPLE.

The house is three-story. On the top floor are the apartments of the African American Gee. I couldn't remember his full name, and I couldn't really hear it either. As, by the way, almost all the other names. We went up to the 3rd floor. It's a bit scary, we hide behind the broad back of our Dima. Already on the veranda, Dima started greeting someone in a friendly way and introduced us. Absolutely everyone shook my hand in turn and said their names. I answered Ola (that's what I decided to call myself for two reasons: Olga is too harsh, Olya – they don't know how to pronounce it). There were many male names, sounds of music and a hum of voices were coming from the house. Faces flashed by, now I can say that I remember the ratio of faces-names more or less clearly only for 2 Americans: Gee and Andrew.

When we went inside, I was struck by the number of people in the small kitchen. Guys were standing, sitting, there was nowhere to drop an apple. Everything was in some kind of fog, a hum of voices, greetings. I was brought back to life by the loud exclamation of that same Gee, who hugged Dima, said he was very glad to see him, and something else. Dima, I think, didn't expect such a stormy and warm welcome himself. We were getting to know everyone, I didn't hear their names clearly, I said "nice to meet you". Some girls said I was pretty. It was nice, although later we came to the conclusion that it was just for politeness!

Now I realize that I didn't even distinguish who was Russian and who wasn't. I thought everyone was American, except for the ones I knew. We went into the room, the girls sat on the sofa, Dima with them, and I went up to the American girls, got to know them, they were very happy, maybe outwardly, but they seemed not bad. These girls were dancing, having fun – just like in the movies. Everyone was in shorts and tops.

After that, I sat with the guys for a while, Andrew came first, talked to us about something. Then Gee came, repeated our names, said he loved Dima very much. He said something else, I couldn't understand everything. From what I heard and remembered: "I will be famous one day". It turned out that he raps, and quite well! I asked him to try, and he gave me a really cool piece of rap about the fact that Russian girls, meaning us, came to him, and we are cool, and Dima, and everything is cool in general.

Americans dance great, uninhibitedly and simply! They joke around, repeat after each other, and it's not like someone doesn't want to, and someone needs to be pulled by the hand to the dance floor. Absolutely everyone lights it up.

It was very stuffy, and we went out to the veranda. There were already many new guys there too. We were getting to know each other, talking about something. In the kitchen at this time, beerpong was in full swing. Dima suggested going and standing in line, but we didn't make it. Someone turned off the music and said that everyone had put their glasses down. The guys started gathering in the room, putting mugs, cans, bottles on the floor, tables, and sitting down. When the cops walked into the bedroom, everyone was already sitting in one big circle, talking quietly. And only the sea of drinks left in the room and the beerpong in the kitchen gave us away. Surprisingly, I wasn't scared at all (I'm a minor, and I would hardly have passed an alcohol test). I was interested, moreover, I felt DELIGHT, ADMIRATION, HAPPINESS, and many other things all at once! It was something unreal for me, I couldn't believe it was happening to me, here and now. We sat with Dima, talked. He said that, most likely, they would just tell us not to make noise. But, unfortunately, the officer ordered us to leave. And we left the room one by one. That same cop was standing in the kitchen. A guy with a backpack was walking in front of me, so he was ordered to leave the backpack.

On the veranda, another officer was standing and shining a flashlight on everyone passing by. Everything is exactly like in American movies! When we were going down, I heard the neighbor from below discussing us. The last thing was "It were so much people upstairs". The guys were taking their bikes and leaving. Who knows where. And we just walked. Sonya left her sweatshirt there, and, I think, the guys still haven't brought it back. She goes to work in mine. As we found out later, the police were called by those same neighbors from below, who were sitting on their veranda, also drinking beer and enjoying the evening. How did we bother them?

The way home is remembered for the feeling of delight, incredibility. Neither Sonya, nor I, nor Anya believed that this had happened to us. Cool, really cool. We spent the rest of the night in our kitchen, drinking tea, eating chips, discussing. The fact that everyone had to go to work in the morning was not an obstacle! We are students, are we not used to it?