My San Diego Experience

[FutureAmerican 2]

Hi all,

I just realised that I never got round to posting my first ever experience on the US...it was an interesting 3 days to be sure!

To set the scene, I'd been accepted for an internship at San Diego State University for the summer of 2004 - unfortunately the university accomodation was too expensive, and so I'd turn to rental ads on the web to find something. I was able to get in contact with a guy who owned several apartments, including one near the university, and he agreed to help me out.

I arrived on a Friday evening and after waiting for an hour at the airport met the guy who was organising my accomodation - interestingly he was arguing with a Parking Warden about whether he could stay longer than a couple of minutes in a pick-up/drop-off spot next to the arrivals lounge, and had just put a suitcase on the sidewalk as "proof" that he was unloading!

Anyhow, after that introduction we went for a drive around San Diego, while he gave me some background on himself, apparantely he'd been in Army Intelligence, and had invested in Microsoft at the right time, and made lots of $'s off that. He said he was going to put me up for the weekend in a house near the beach with a couple of girls so I could socialise (the campus was pretty quiet as it was the summer).

So I was at the beach for a few days, and on Mon morning headed into campus to meet my supervising Prof. We discussed the project etc, but then something happened which turned the whole visit on its head...

Just after the meeting with my Professor, I met the accomodation guy, to check out houses near the university. We had just pulled into the parking lot of a

Jack-in-the-box, and he had walked off while I started to get my jacket out the car...I suddenly hear a lot of shouting, and turn round to see 3 cop cars have blocked the entrance to the lot and the accomodation guy is being frisked and handcuffed. As I walk over, one of the cops sees me and I get frisked too, whilst I explained how I knew the guy. Once they'd figured out that I was an innocent Englishman abroad, they said "Well sir we've saved you a lot of money - this guy is a major Con man who we've been after for 3 months!" It was pure luck one of them saw the car, ran the plates, and called in the back up - if we hadn't pulled in to the parking lot they would have done a highway stop!

It was a pretty major arrest for the campus police, so I ended up meeting the Station Captain, who upon finding out that this was my 3rd ever day in the US, shook my hand and said "Welcome to America son!"

So...I helped them out with the investigation as best I Could - gave them all the locations we'd been to etc, whilst I saw him in the back of one of the squad cars, trying to get my attention. I just gave him a big smile whilst I helped them get into his car (there was a weird way of opening the locks on it).

Thankfully, just before I'd come out, I'd got an email through SDSU advertising a house near campus, so I called them up and was able to move in the next day (it turns out that he'd told the girls at the beach house, and other places, that he was a student accomodation organiser, the plan being to take both of our money and then run).

There's one more amusing part to this tale, as when I went to check out this other house, my Professor came with me. After I knocked on the door, I was greeted by one of the guys there, but the whole time he stayed standing behind the mesh outer door...after finding out my reason for visiting, he called out to my Professor (who was standing by the car) and said "What kind of handgun have you got there?"...my Professor had a belt clip for his phone, which, did indeed look like a gun holster from a distance, hence the extra precaution. After sorting out that misunderstanding, I was settled into the house, and the rest of my time went pretty smoothly - helped by the fact that I often saw the cops on campus and chatted to them...which kind of helped my career ideas into Law Enforcement.

The last I heard of the con-man, was that he served about 9 months in jail, before going to New Orleans and attempting to pose as a Hurricane Katrina victim. SDPD had kept tabs on him however, so he's back in for another long stretch...as the detective who worked the case said "He just doesn't learn, does he?" (she's arrested him about 4 times now!).

Suffice to say that of all the interns who went to the US from my College in London, I had the most "interesting" experience that summer!

[homesick_american 1]

Hi all,

I just realised that I never got round to posting my first ever experience on the US...it was an interesting 3 days to be sure!

To set the scene, I'd been accepted for an internship at San Diego State University for the summer of 2004 - unfortunately the university accomodation was too expensive, and so I'd turn to rental ads on the web to find something. I was able to get in contact with a guy who owned several apartments, including one near the university, and he agreed to help me out.

I arrived on a Friday evening and after waiting for an hour at the airport met the guy who was organising my accomodation - interestingly he was arguing with a Parking Warden about whether he could stay longer than a couple of minutes in a pick-up/drop-off spot next to the arrivals lounge, and had just put a suitcase on the sidewalk as "proof" that he was unloading!

Anyhow, after that introduction we went for a drive around San Diego, while he gave me some background on himself, apparantely he'd been in Army Intelligence, and had invested in Microsoft at the right time, and made lots of $'s off that. He said he was going to put me up for the weekend in a house near the beach with a couple of girls so I could socialise (the campus was pretty quiet as it was the summer).

So I was at the beach for a few days, and on Mon morning headed into campus to meet my supervising Prof. We discussed the project etc, but then something happened which turned the whole visit on its head...

Just after the meeting with my Professor, I met the accomodation guy, to check out houses near the university. We had just pulled into the parking lot of a

Jack-in-the-box, and he had walked off while I started to get my jacket out the car...I suddenly hear a lot of shouting, and turn round to see 3 cop cars have blocked the entrance to the lot and the accomodation guy is being frisked and handcuffed. As I walk over, one of the cops sees me and I get frisked too, whilst I explained how I knew the guy. Once they'd figured out that I was an innocent Englishman abroad, they said "Well sir we've saved you a lot of money - this guy is a major Con man who we've been after for 3 months!" It was pure luck one of them saw the car, ran the plates, and called in the back up - if we hadn't pulled in to the parking lot they would have done a highway stop!

It was a pretty major arrest for the campus police, so I ended up meeting the Station Captain, who upon finding out that this was my 3rd ever day in the US, shook my hand and said "Welcome to America son!"

So...I helped them out with the investigation as best I Could - gave them all the locations we'd been to etc, whilst I saw him in the back of one of the squad cars, trying to get my attention. I just gave him a big smile whilst I helped them get into his car (there was a weird way of opening the locks on it).

Thankfully, just before I'd come out, I'd got an email through SDSU advertising a house near campus, so I called them up and was able to move in the next day (it turns out that he'd told the girls at the beach house, and other places, that he was a student accomodation organiser, the plan being to take both of our money and then run).

There's one more amusing part to this tale, as when I went to check out this other house, my Professor came with me. After I knocked on the door, I was greeted by one of the guys there, but the whole time he stayed standing behind the mesh outer door...after finding out my reason for visiting, he called out to my Professor (who was standing by the car) and said "What kind of handgun have you got there?"...my Professor had a belt clip for his phone, which, did indeed look like a gun holster from a distance, hence the extra precaution. After sorting out that misunderstanding, I was settled into the house, and the rest of my time went pretty smoothly - helped by the fact that I often saw the cops on campus and chatted to them...which kind of helped my career ideas into Law Enforcement.

The last I heard of the con-man, was that he served about 9 months in jail, before going to New Orleans and attempting to pose as a Hurricane Katrina victim. SDPD had kept tabs on him however, so he's back in for another long stretch...as the detective who worked the case said "He just doesn't learn, does he?" (she's arrested him about 4 times now!).

Suffice to say that of all the interns who went to the US from my College in London, I had the most "interesting" experience that summer!

Wow; that's more than most of us see in a lifetime. Glad to see it hasn't soured you on the US!

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

Where is your spouse this whole time? It seems weird that the first 3 days and she's not in the them??

[FutureAmerican 2]

This was before we met - whilst in the US I signed up for an online dating service, and despite not finding anyone whilst I was actually still out there, when I went back to my College in London I stayed on as a member. She signed up for the service in September, and that was when we first met online and started talking...I didn't meet her in person until May '05!

[almaty 19]

welcome to america...........

[Dr_LHA 3]

Where is your spouse this whole time? It seems weird that the first 3 days and she's not in the them??

There are other ways to move to the USA other than through marriage you know.

[almaty 19]

yeap..a very good story indeed, Brother...

[notrepetiteashley 0]

Holy hell, that's nuts. What a great story. Glad you got out of that situation before it became too bad!!

Best of luck to you.

[Dan J 277]

Wow, just like on an action movie

[FutureAmerican 2]

The other thing I remember is that when I told my Brother about it that evening (my parents were on holiday at the time), I started by telling him how I got a ride in a cop car, how cool my new buddies in the SDPD were etc...with a brief mention at the end "Oh yeah, the accomodation guy was a con-man". He was like "Wait a second - your accomodation guy was a con-man?!?"

Despite this rocky start, I have nothing but great memories of San Diego and would love to go back there someday. Also, this incident really spurred me into wanting to be involved in some kind of law enforcement, as all the officers were extremely helpful and great fun to hang out with - especially after such a stressful beginning, it really helped me to settle into the area. I was going to do a ride-along with them before I left, but unfortunately as they had rookies to train up, and were a very small department, I wasn't able to get it sorted before I left.

I ended up with a bit of a reputation at my College for having "interesting" internships, as the summer after this one, I came back engaged to my now-wife!