A Few Fun Things
Posted on Tuesday, 16 October 2012
I feel I haven't told you much about social activities available at UCSD. I have said that I have done the odd sport and gone to some random events, but I realise I haven't actually mentioned any main fun activities put on by the University. So here is a quick break down of fun things I have been able to partake in in the last month.
1. Meet The Beach -
Hello long stretches of sand. The beach is not a common thing for the British to see so it's lovely that this one is but a stones throw away (30 minute walk but Americans hate to walk so a short bus ride away). Scripps beach was filled with students, splayed out on green towels and enjoying the 27 degree celsius weather (no, I refuse to start talking in Fahrenheit: it doesn't make sense and Celsius is easy - 0 degrees is freezing, 100 degrees is boiling, what could be more simple?). My friends and I were too late to get a free green towel but we managed to join the short cue for sandwiches and cupcakes and join our other keen friends down on the beach (they had got there at 10am to make sure they got a free towel - they had been partying with us the night before till way later than I had gone to bed but boys will do anything if it means getting free bargains). It was great. My friend Laura and I immediately stripped off into our swimming cosies and ran into the sea. I was expecting a warm sea, similar to that of the Carribean. Don't why but I assumed that because I wasn't in Europe and it was boiling hot, the sea would be a nice temperature. Hmmmmm……
Yeah the Pacific ocean…is FREEZING COLD. It felt like some odd Spa experiment. Laura, Mikey and I slowly waded our way into the sea and soon I dived under the waves and got completely soaked. My breath shot out of my lungs and I felt as if I was in the Artic but it was fun. I discovered something very important that day…I am rubbish at boogie boarding. My friend Laura had a board and kept letting Mikey and I have go. She was great. Mikey got the hang of it soon too. I…I wasn't so great. The waves kept lifting me up in the air…and then nothing. I would kick and kick and kick. But nah. I did it once! I went soaring down the beach only to jump up in glee and flash everyone…yeah, joy.
Anyway, I much preferred diving in and out of the waves and going into the sea. You can't see much in the Pacific Ocean shores - the water is pretty dark but the waves are fantastic. The big event of the day were dogs surfing. Three dogs on surf boards waded out into the sea and began to surf the waves! They were amazing!! I couldn't believe they could stay still on a board and balance along the waves. They were so patient. A poor little labrador kept falling in but the bull dog and the border collie were amazing. It was so funny and everyone cheered for them. My friends and I decided to walk back to our apartment the long way, along the beach and up a cliff side. It took us roughly two hours but our friends who took the bus got back only fifteen minutes before us due to the queues for the buses leaving the beach.
Walking along the beach was lovely. We bumped into our guy mates who we had lost during the afternoon (their stuff was still by our towels but they had disappeared), they were fishing in the tide pools. They were like little children grabbing crabs and starfish, giggling and then throwing them back in the water. We carried on walking down the beach and it was really nice. The beaches are different to the Caribbean ones. They aren't soft. The sand is lot harder and the beach is actually a lot bigger than in the Caribbean. We soon reached Blacks Beach - the beach closest to UCSD.
A nude beach.
Yep. No boys don't get excited. Old men walk round, hands on their hips, leaning back and enjoying the sunny weather. My friends found it hilarious that I was refusing to look up and was just staring at the ground. Especially when some men clearly found it amusing to circle the three girls and a boy as we tried to quickly walk towards the steep steps leading up to the top of the cliff near our University.
That day was definitely one of the best - I had a lovely burnt back for a while to remember it by.
2. ABC Party
Despite what I thought, an ABC party does not mean you dress up as your favourite character from a show shown on ABC (aka 8 Simple Rules/ Once Upon A Time), so alas, I could not dress up as Rumpelstiltskin. ABC means Anything But Clothes - Americans are crazy. I had an idea to go in a wetsuit and flippers but when I put it on a) I knew I would roast and b) my Spanish roommate came in and said "No! You wear boys clothes all day and now you wear this for a party. No!" So I changed. I got my big red bed sheet, wrapped it round me and put a belt round my middle. I hate to blow my own trumpet but I think I did a pretty good job. It looked slightly dress-like. Many people came dressed in green towels (oh yes, those beach towels clearly were just meant for this purpose). Mikey came dressed in tin foil (which progressively disappeared during the night - don't worry! he was clothed underneath) and I saw one boy come dressed in wetsuit! That was my idea! We briefly stopped by the ABC party but mainly spent our time in our friend's flat playing games and chatting away. It was really fun! I also experienced having to look after a very good friend who had been spiked. Poor thing. It included tackling them to the bed and making sure they slept and stopped banging on a friend's door.
3. Dog Therapy
I may have mentioned this before but UCSD provides dog therapy for the students. It was adorable. We sat in a circle and got to play with a Cocker Poodle, a Golden doodle (Golden Retriever mixed with a Poodle) and a Labrador. They were adorable! The Cocker Poodle licked my face continually and the Golden doodle was so cute when the other dogs were doing tricks (He just kept trying to snatch the treats out of the owner's hands). It was really fun! Made me miss my dogs a lot though.
Those are just a few things that have occurred over the last few weeks. There is plenty more but I can already see this post has become way longer than I expected….
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