So its been yet another month without an update and my summer in San Francisco is almost over. Its both very depressing and very exciting.

I feel like I’m just starting to get the hang of San Francisco, I’m finally finding good sources to upcoming events, just starting to find the hidden nook and cranny spots, and just starting to feel comfortable in a city filled with so much stuff to do it would take me a lifetime to feel like I know the city through and through. I really and truly love this city, and I don’t see how anyone couldn’t. San Francisco is frickin’ awesome.

But at the same time I miss my friends from Milwaukee ever so dearly. Luckily, I’ve been pretty busy this past month. I’ve had a couple of my roommates from Milwaukee visit and my girlfriend Cassie visit again. I even went back to Milwaukee for a long weekend to go to a crawfish broil my girlfriend’s dad has every year (definitely worth it) and to find an apartment to live in when I come back. I’ve had a few small doses of Milwaukee and its definitely help me keep me sane. And I can’t wait to be back.

So now that I’m starting to look back on what I’ve done here I’ve found that I have DEFINITELY learned a buttload from this experience. I want to share it all with you, maybe if you’re considering studying abroad or making a new start in a city all by yourself this can help you out!

1. IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS. BE AWARE. BE SAFE. BE SMART.

San Francisco is one giant pot of culture, new trends, and general ‘out-there’ness. It is easy to take one quick look at the city and think that everyone is so happy, so friendly (and probably so stoned) that they could never hurt you. NOT TRUE. If you’ve read my past blog posts you should know that I know better than anyone the moment you let your guard down, you’re likely going to be taken advantage of.

Whether you believe it or not, walking by yourself through the Mission, Market District, or really anywhere after a bar at 2AM is dangerous. It doesn’t matter that it rarely happens. The fact of the matter is that it can happen, and you don’t want to give anyone the opportunity.

Just be aware of your surroundings. Don’t carry expensive electronics around with you if you don’t have to, always hold on to your bag/purse, and don’t go out without making sure 100% you know how to get home. It’s really common sense but its easy to be taken in by the awe of the city and assume that you are safe. Just be conscience of your surroundings and never present the opportunity for someone to take advantage of you.

I <3 SF Stolen Bike Shirt from Headline Shirts

2. IT IS GOING TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE AT FIRST.

When I was getting ready to move to San Francisco I expected to come out, meet tons of people, and basically have crazy party fun time every night. Now, not to say I haven’t had crazy party fun times, but it hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be.

When I moved out here, I literally knew NO ONE in the city. I have a relative that lives in nearby San Bruno, but nobody in the city. Going out and meeting people without having any connections can be awkward. Its really easy to plan something and back out the last minute because you feel uncomfortable or scared its not going to be what you want it to be. You really have to just put yourself out there and go DO stuff. You’ll never make friends by hibernating inside of your room. I know I’m not the only one that feels this way, but honestly just go out and do stuff, its almost always going to be worth it.

Annie Gaus (former intern, current part timer) and I representing

3. EXPLORE. EXPLORE. EXPLORE.

Find the resources as soon as possible for you to get the pulse on what’s going on in the city. Here are a few of the places I check for events in San Francisco.

• Twitter: Follow as many people as you can in the city. You never know who’s going to have a spur of the moment meetup or who’s going to tweet out an event you’d enjoy.
• Daily Newspapers: There’s a daily newspaper that I grab everyday on my way to work on the bus. There’s listings for at least 4 or 5 events EVERY DAY. You’re bound to be able to find something you like.
• Social Networking/Event Websites (SFist, Thrillist, Yelp, Facebook, Going, Last.fm, Etc.): Find the websites that broadcast events that are close to you. I have yet to find the one definitive place to find everything I want in one place, so your bound to need to do some deep investigating to find the websites that you’ll want to look at. I found lots of websites through Google Reader’s recommendation blogs, but a lot of the other websites is just through searching and exploring the internets.
• Local Postings: Keep your eyes open when you’re on the streets for signs, little pamphlets, and bulletin boards where you can get find many hidden gems In fact the coffee shop I’m at right now has a bulletin board I’m going to need to check out before I leave!

And hey, if you somehow manage to not be able to find anything, just GET OUT! Grab your camera and just walk, take the bus, anything to go explore the city. Its rewarding, trust me

4. MAKE CONNECTIONS.

Whenever you DO get out and go do stuff. Introduce yourself to people and make connections with them. Get their twitter username, add them as friends on facebook, whatever you can do to stay in contact with them. Even if you don’t know them very well or feel stupid doing so, connect with them. You never know when an opportunity might arise to go hang out with them again.

From a Cali Lewis/Geekbrief meetup I went to

5. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE.

If you ever do get down, and chances are that you will, don’t dwell on it. It was especially very easy for me to get down when I was reminded everyday by my girlfriend of all the stuff I was missing in Milwaukee. You can’t let the reminder of what you’re missing at home ruin the experience you are having. I really did have to sit myself down sometimes and just say out loud all of the positive things I had going on for me. “Ryan dude, you’re in San Francisco, working for REVISION3, you’re life is frickin’ awesome!” Just don’t let homesickness take over, because its easy to let it.

6. ITS EXPENSIVE.

Before I came out here I calculated how much money I would need based on my rent ($900/mo for a place in SoMa), food expenses (like $200/month), car payment ($300/mo), and random purchases I wanted to make out here. I was pretty close but I really thought that I was overestimating how much I was going to spend, but I ended up spending about a grand more than I thought I would. You’re going to want to have money for special events, going out to eat, going out for drinks, etc. If you want to do whatever you want, be prepared to spend a LOT of money.

7. WORK HARD!

If you’re going to be doing an internship or something, you’ve got 3 months to show the company what you’ve got. When I started at Revision3 I was officially working like 20 hours a week. I still came in every day of the week from 9-5. I just wanted to be there and LEARN. I wanted to work there just for the fun of it. When you really care about your job, it shows. And these are the sorts of things you want to be remembered for. And don’t forget to have fun too! If you have the chance, go out with co-workers after work, stay at the office late and help out if you can, get involved in more projects. Part of the reason I was upgraded from part time to pretty much full time at Revision3 was because I put myself out there and started asking if I could help around the office. Ron saw my eagerness to help out and once the other intern quit I got the job no questions asked. Pure awesomeness.

Whatever… Comic Book Store

Well, hopefully that was mildly interesting and helpful. See you all in Milwaukee on after August 18th!

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