CSULB Underground Music Society

#csulbUMS

Last week I received the greatest news straight from the Daily 49er, after over one month of musical isolation in Long Beach, they announced the official arrival of the CSULB Underground Music Society.

Bringing together local musicians and music lovers UMS kicked things off with an opening meeting and event on Thursday 26^th September.

The meeting was a chance to meet fellow fans from a variety of underground genres, setting the scene for an exciting year, followed by a live show in The Nugget featuring four underground local bands.

Animalia kicked the evening off with a bang, grabbing the attention of anyone within ear shot. Some strong tracks struck out in their set, but unfortunately a crash course in harmonies was needed as the vocals left much to be desired.

Next up The Moderates, a classic rock band from Long Beach, took to the stage with full force. Don’t be fooled by their youthful appearance, these guys are one to watch; with strong instrumentals, ringing the bells of some respectable influences, and a truly outstanding voice leading the show.

Digging up some punkier sounds was another Long Beach band – Struckout, tearing it up with some meaty bass and kickass drums.  

For the final act of the night The Two Tone Boners filled The Nugget with their smooth grooves and rhythmic ska sounds, enticing everything from toe-tapping to full on skanking. Keys, trombone, sax, guitar, drums, bass, and an exciting trio of vocals created an intense and powerful penetration that leaves a funky echo ringing for hours.

I for one can’t wait to see what else the CSULB Underground Music Society can cook up. To great friends, great music, and many nights to come – Cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/CSULBUMS

Weekend Antics

Sunshine, splashes, world records and roller-coasters...

On Saturday 21^st September I joined over 100,000 spectators at Rainbow Harbour for the Red Bull Flugtag in Long Beach. 

28 teams created crazy flying contraptions which mostly plunged straight into the water from the 30 foot pier, but one team succeeded in breaking the world Flugtag distance record. The Chicken Whisperers flew 258 feet, knocking the competition out of the water. 

Taking our own exciting journey on Sunday, we rented a Zip car from the CSULB campus and drove to Knott’s Berry Farm theme park. I was amazed at the lack of queues as we walked straight on to some of the biggest rides. Top rides of the day: Silver Bullet and Xcelerator 

To end what was a tiring but enjoyable weekend we took a scenic drive to Laguna Beach to watch the sunset. A perfect summation of life in California!  

Dentistry Disasters

Throughout the last few years I have gained a laughable reputation for getting seriously ill at the most inopportune times. Studying abroad is clearly no exception.

Things have been quiet on the blogging front (and the attending class front) over the last week for just that reason. What started as an ear infection escalated to an emergency dentist appointment and having four infected wisdom teeth extracted. Ouch!

Its fair to say that I missed my mum, and the NHS, during this time. Nobody likes to be ill away from home, and the stress of figuring out insurance and the American health care system was an undue burden.

However, I'm on the road to recovery and feel a few words of thanks are due. Many people received panicked phonecalls and emails last week and everyone I spoke to was incredibly supportive.

The staff at UH and their insurance provider went a long way to make sure I felt reassured. The Disabled Student Services here at CSULB were also very helpful about the correct procedures and support available.

The biggest thank you of all goes to my A-Team family in the dorms; for lifts to the dentist, suggesting soft food for after the op, going shopping for me and just generally making sure I was okay. They made me feel as close to home as possible when you're over 5000 miles away.

Goodbye from the Beach

This week someone's study abroad journey was cut short. One of our friends from UH had to return home, so to say goodbye we had a bonfire on Sunset Beach for her last night in California.

While this was devastating news, and a shock to us all, you just have to make the most of the time you have. I hope we gave a good send-off and left some lasting memories for what was still an incredible journey.

We gathered on the beach with marshmallows and made s'mores around the fire. Watching the night close in around us in the breathtaking surroundings of my new home, I couldn't help but feel a reflective mood taking hold.

Recently I had been starting to feel homesick, missing my friends and family and the small home comforts that you don't truly appreciate while you're there. The thought of travelling home to see the ones you love must be something that crosses all of our minds at some point.

Now someone was really leaving, and it makes you hold on to the opportunity you have in a new light. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and its more important than ever to make the most of it.

Week of Welcome & Labour Day Weekend

With the arrival of the US students CSULB offered a Week of Welcome, hosting events around the campus. 

Sunday kicked off the week with a Welcome BBQ, bringing burgers and corn dogs, candy stalls, and representatives from the Greek houses onto Los Alamitos lawn. For me this was followed by a night off campus, spending the night with friends from home and my new roommate.

Monday was the first day of class for most students, with building meetings that night. This was a chance to meet the other people who are living in our building. Probably not a bad idea considering the close quarters and shared bathrooms! Our building are interestingly called the The A-Team (Hillside A), after the Ed Sheeran song. I’ll leave you to think about that one…

Skipping Tuesday’s event of watching Fast & Furious 6, I had my first experience of real Mexican food. While driving to a hole-in-the-wall and sitting on a street corner while a 12 year old serves your food may not seem the most appealing, I can highly recommend a Californian Burrito. Apparently this is carne asada, cheese, guacamole and French fries rolled into a flour tortilla. It was delicious but I wouldn’t eat one too often!

The entertainment on Wednesday was an 80’s themed College Kick-Off. I’m not too sure where the 80’s theme came into it; it certainly wasn’t the music or what anyone was wearing. For British students who undoubtedly learnt during Fresher’s that alcohol is the answer to any awkward situation, the night wasn’t off to the best start. But eventually you just accept that you are under 21 and have fun anyway.

To end the Week of Welcome there was a Casino Night at the Pyramid. With “Dress to Impress” plastered on the promo, this proved a challenge for those of us who only have 32kg worth of clothes! There was a nice atmosphere and lots happening, but it was too crowded to really play at any of the tables. I chose to keep my complimentary chip (an imaginary $100) as a souvenir of the evening, and save the real gambling for my 21^st in Las Vegas.

Labour Day Weekend saw most of the US students heading home to spend the holiday with their family. This left the International students a chance to explore, and for our first excursion we headed to Universal Studios in Hollywood. For CSULB students there was a great offer of just $69 for an annual pass, and by using your free bus and the Metro, transport there cost just 50 cents.

The Studio Tour is a must-see, from the fake cities to well-known locations, you can really feel your place in Hollywood. I would also recommend some of the simulator rides, for enjoyment factor and impressive graphics. However, the shows are cheesey and the American humour didn't translate well with our British group. The Citywalk was a great way to spend the evening, browsing the shops and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, one of my personal favourite places.

That night in LA we drove around to see the sights, such as Sunset Blvd. and Rodeo Drive, followed several hours later by a crazy midnight swim. We won't be forgetting that night for a while! Saturday provided a too-cool LA brunch and trip to Venice Beach. Venice Beach has a great atmosphere with lots happening and a funky LA buzz. A hot-spot that I plan to return to in the near future!

Week 1: Classes

Study Abroad isn't all about trips to the beach and getting the best tan, we are actually here to study.  This year I am taking a major in Journalism, as this can only be taken as a minor as part of my Mass Communication degree at home. I’m hoping that this will give me an opportunity to have a more in-depth study of journalism, and to gain valuable experience that will help to further my career.

J310: Writing for the Daily 49er

This module encourages students to get involved with the media on campus, by writing a minimum of 15 articles a semester for the student run Daily 49er newspaper. To me, it seems incredible to be getting class credit for things that I would usually do in my own time. I think this is a great program to encourage student involvement, a must for any future journalist.

J374: Written Communication for Public Relations

After having some hands-on PR experience in a summer placement I thought it would be interesting to take a module in PR during my study abroad year, as this is something that isn’t available at home. I feel like I’ve been thrown in at the deep end, as my past experience is mostly based around journalism. This seems to be an intense class providing an opportunity to create PR material for a local non-profit organisation.

J316: Feature Writing

To balance out the heavy news focus of the Daily 49er module I decided to take a features class, as this is a style that I find interesting and enjoyable to write. So far it seems to be a fairly basic class, considering it is a third year module. Aspects of what makes a feature are repetitive and mostly common sense. However, the assignments offer a sense of freedom in feature writing so there will hopefully be something to show at the end of the semester.

J320: Advanced Reporting

There seems to be a lot of cross-over between each of my modules, especially in this class which combines aspects of both news and feature writing. There is a change to develop a more investigative style which is something new to me, but otherwise this class is currently falling short.

www.daily49er.com

Overall, my first impression is to wonder what the Long Beach students have been studying for the last two years. The repetition of content that has been drilled into me since day one at UH is very mundane, and the cross-over between modules suggests a lack of specialism in the different areas. Basic concepts are drawn out, with an array of unnecessary reading and homework assignments. I feel like I’m back in high school! On the plus side, the variety of written assignments in each module will hopefully be filling up my portfolio by the end of the semester!