<p>I'll be starting my soph year this fall, so I have a few more years to go before I can state the absolute weirdest thing that's happened to me at Berk.</p>
<p>Okay, it's really not that weird. I guess it was sort of funny in retrospect though. I was just walking to my dorm when I felt something wet hit my back. It was water. I didn't see any raindrops and no one really was around, so I shurgged it off and kept walking. A few seconds later water hit the back of my neck. When I turned around, I got a squirt from a water gun straight in the face. The kid who squirted me-- some guy wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap-- then saluted and ran off before I could say anything. I think I heard him laughing. Some kids around me were laughing a little but generally looked sort of sorry for me.</p>
<p>It annoyed me terribly at first, but in retrospect I guess it was really funny for that guy. It was just so random and he's lucky I'm not a 6'5, 250 lb male weightlifter or I would have caned his bum.</p>
<p>Anyway: What's the weirdest, most random thing that has happened to you while at Berkeley?</p>
<p>Compared to your experiences. Homeless people pooing and screaming obscenities at you is a lot worse than random students shooting you with water guns and then running away. </p>
<p>The homeless haven't bothered me personally yet-- thankfully. It gets creepy though, seeing so many around. :(</p>
<p>now I just can't wait to move into my new apartment near campus. irvine is too ghetto for me.</p>
<p>I made a visit to cal last winter vacation, and this bum with a guitar approached me and said, "listen to me, b1tch..." and sort of followed me around.</p>
<p>Its just that I live on Telegraph, so I end up walking up and down the street on my way to or from school, so I've put myself in the places that seem to attract weirdness. Its really not that bad though. I've never really felt threatened by any of it, so it just makes for some funny stories down the line. I wouldn't trade it for some insolated school where you have to walk a mile out of town down a road full of palm trees just to get on campus.</p>
<p>I got my wallet stolen by a bum in the student union. Not so much weird as really really annoying. The guy charged $60 BART tickets on each of my credit cards. From what I hear that's a pretty common scam because it's a quick and easy way for them to make some cash on the street selling it to people (selling to students, most likely... oh the irony abounds).</p>
<p>I made a visit to cal last winter vacation, and this bum with a guitar approached me and said, "listen to me, b1tch..." and sort of followed me around.</p>
<p>fun stuff.
</p>
<p>Yeah, I go to UC Irvine, and let me just say, being up at Berkeley right now is a TOTAL culture shock. It's the polar opposite of Irvine... As interesting as Berkeley is, it makes me miss the boring, sterile, safe suburbia that is Irvine. Plus, I miss Wholesome Choice... gotta have my feta cheese and other yummy Middle Eastern food. Not to mention the myriad of other shopping opportunities available in the Irvine area that aren't available here.</p>
<p>you know what? I also missed irvine while I was at cal just a few weeks ago. I agree they're polar opposites, and since I've been accustomed to the sterile bum-free environment, it's going to be a rather depressing transition into what urban life is really like.</p>
<p>I was checking out the apartments to move into, and I was getting quite upset at how the living conditions were like. I'm no obsessively clean person myself.</p>
<p>Stanford looked pretty interesting at that moment... the blasphemy haha.</p>
They probably are, but I haven't had the time to check or go look around those areas yet. My car is parked kind of far away from here, and it's just a hassle to go someplace far during the week, and I don't think there are any shops near the campus that sell that kind of food. As for malls and the like, I went to a nearby shopping area, and was a strip mall and kind of ghetto, not like the malls in the O.C. Not that I'm a big shopper myself (as a matter of fact, I usually detest shopping), but it's nice to know that if you need to buy something there are tons of stores nearby to choose from.</p>
<p>Blue, have you tried andronicos, wholefoods or Berkeley Bowl? I don't know the place that your mentioned in Irvine, but those might work. They are all pretty close to campus, too.</p>
<p>Well, I had this one guy on the bus who was obviously deranged walk up to me and say: "I know you. You're the one with the bat, the bat, the bat, the bat..." and he kept saying that over and over and over again. he got off the bus and started clucking like a chicken.</p>
<p>Another time, I got heckled by a bum for some spare change to buy a chainsaw, shotgun and hockey mask.</p>
<p>Since I'm still up -- really, don't give them money. It hurts them and you in the long run. They spend it on drugs and become even more addicted. While most of them are harmless stoners, the tweekers can get pretty scary.</p>
<p>"Does anyone else have general homeless person advice?"</p>
<p>Get a cell phone. Pretend you are busy talking on your cell phone (or actually be busy talking on your cell phone). Works well on CalPIRG, LaRouche Youth, etc. as well. </p>
<p>Living in Casa Zimbabwe was pretty weird - I can't forget the look on my parents' faces when they were helping me move in and someone offered my dad some special brownies. </p>
<p>If you can't stand living near Telegraph and are willing to commute 1/2 an hour or so, Albany and El Cerrito Plaza are good living options.</p>
<p>I'm gonna be staying in Albany! Thanks calkidd. I'm and out-of-stater and have no idea what's good and what isn't. The closest I've come to ever being at Cal was seventh months ago when my family and I drove through the campus at night while it was raining. Couldn't really see much and I wasn't too interested because I didn't even know if I would get accepted or not!</p>
<p>I hate to disagree with calkid, but I think living outside of berkeley would suck. First, it would take you out of the whole community feeling that you get living closed to campus. And B, have you ever driven around in the bay area? Its so, so brutal. ANd the parking!! Don't get me started on the parking. If you want my advice, keep looking for a place close to campus</p>
<p>Hopefully, KupMup can take the bus or bart from Albany to Cal, but you're right about missing out on the true Cal experience, especially as a freshman. Albany is cool though, if you do have to live off campus.</p>
<p>It would be good for KupMup to hook up with someone else who is commuting from Albany, just to have a traveling/social/study buddy.</p>