Days Out in Long Beach

In between classes and on those lovely long weekends we do our best to get out into the local area and make the most of our time in Long Beach, so I thought I would share a few pictures of my most recent excursions.

Belmont Shore Chocolate Festival 

Saturday 8th Feb saw the 10th Annual Chocolate Festival in Long Beach, which meant an outing with my lovely dorm friends. For the small price of $10 you received 12 tokens which could be exchanged for tasty treats from the various vendors partaking on 2nd Street. Frosted Cupcakes and Sweet Jill's Bakery are well worth another visit, and we even got a small taste of our favourite BJ's Pizookie!

Chocolate Fest with the best! 

Acoustic Show @ Royal Cup Café 

This day out was followed by another evening with the CSULB Underground Music Society, as we hosted our first off-campus Acoustic Show at the Royal Cup Café. Showcasing sets of original and cover songs were local artists Justin Mitchell, Sasha Pyslarash, Jeffrey Allen, Mike Sanjuan, King Satan and Miguel Esquiviel. This event was a huge success for UMS and we hope to have many more like it in the future.

CSULB UMS @ Royal Cup Cafe

Wednesday Afternoon Adventures 

With a class finishing unexpectedly early +Emma Langschied and I decided not to waste the sunshine and to go out exploring. A quick Google for "Free stuff to do in Long Beach" resulted in this little find: The Skinniest House in America

Needless to say, in a moment of spontaneous randomness, we jumped straight on the bus and headed for the Skinny House. Finding ourselves near 4th Street we then took the short walk to Retro Row, stopping for pancakes in a quaint little Irish pub garden on the way. After browsing the vintage finds we had iced blended mochas in Portfolio, acclaimed as the best coffee house in Long Beach.

Beats being stuck in a stuffy classroom!

Afternoon Adventures

Spring Semester Classes

Last semester saw me specialising in journalism, but now I’ve taken a change of pace and gone for more variety in my classes, crossing over into the paths of creative writing and women’s gender studies. I’m hoping that this semester will be more enjoyable while still expanding my experiences and building on my professional portfolio.

ENG 205: Creative Writing Fiction

Working outside the journalism writing style and delving into fiction, this class develops elements of fiction writing including: character sketch, plot development, description and dialogue. Taking a workshop format we will be developing short stories and giving class feedback, working towards a portfolio of manuscripts at the end of the semester.

WGSS 216: Hollywood and Beyond

This class explores the ideologies of gender, race and sexuality in the movies. During this module we will be looking at contemporary Hollywood films from a feminist perspective. This is something that has always held an interest for me through studying media, and I’m looking forward to taking a more specialised approach.

JOUR 305: Media Design

I’m hoping that this class will help to develop my very basic knowledge of InDesign, which is a valuable skill in the print journalism industry. This class gives us the opportunity to design newspapers, PR materials, photo spreads and reinvent logos.

JOUR 480: Magazine Production

Gaining hands on experience of magazine writing and production techniques by producing content for the monthly campus publication DIG magazine, and content and design for an issue of Beach Byline magazine. Hopefully the added experience of different publications will prove a valuable asset to my journalism portfolio!

Home for the Holidays

As my first semester at CSULB came to a close it was time to return home for the winter break. I had been feeling homesick and was missing my family, so I couldn't have been more excited to be flying back to England.

But it's funny how your new perspective can change the way you see things. Even once I was past the jet lag, I still struggled with an uneasy feeling. While it was incredible to see my family again (shocking to see how much the little ones had grown!) something wasn't quite right. California was calling me and I found myself counting the days until I could return to Long Beach.

Never the less, I had a lovely time with my family and some old friends. Christmas and New Year's Eve is a time for family and a tradition I am sworn to keep. With days out to Winter Wonderland, Secret Santa, leaving parties and more, this was family time at its best.

For many of my friends this semester will be their last. It's a strange feeling that I'll be seeing them graduate before returning for a final year without the people who made the first two years of my degree so memorable. But this is a small price to pay for a year at the beach, and I wish them all the best of luck!

Studying abroad is an incredible opportunity and sometimes it takes a bit of distance to realise it (over 5,000 miles to be precise). I never took my place for granted but now I know for certain how much the experience means to me. I've never felt a strong grounding in England and have always had dreams of travelling, and now that it's become reality my heart is set.

I have one more semester in Long Beach which I plan to enjoy to the full before coming back to finish my degree in Hertfordshire. But something tells me this won't be the end of my journey...

One Semester Down

My last post ended November with Thanksgiving in the dorms. In keeping with the theme of food, December kicked off with a home cooked roast dinner, introducing an American family to an English tradition which has been sorely missed. 

My English roast was followed by another incredible show at The Observatory, with The Devil Wears Prada, The Ghost Inside and Volumes. 

This month also opened the doors to another show with The Two Tone Boners, where I discovered a new favourite - Papafish. Never would have guessed my time in California would be spent between metal and ska shows! 

One of my musical highlights has to be a much anticipated trip to San Diego for Wrex the Halls, where I was lucky enough to spend the night watching Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, Vampire Weekend and Queens of the Stone Age. One of my most impressive line-ups!

The Underground Music Society at CSULB also hosted our last acoustic show and end of semester show at The Nugget. I'm looking forward to seeing what more we can bring to campus in the Spring!

For CSULB December means Finals week, which for me fortunately only involved one final exam. I can't say I've been completely on-board with the American education system, but I've had some good writing opportunities and hopefully my Spring modules will open up an even better experience. 

For my final weekend before heading home I took to the beaches, visiting Newport and Huntingdon. 

I've met some incredible people from around the world this semester, and I'm sad to be seeing some of them leaving. We've all been a part of an incredible experience, and as much as I'm looking forward to visiting home, I'm even more glad to be returning to California in January.

Happy Holidays! 

Christmas Party in the Dorms

Christmas Party with the Internationals

Some of my favourite moments of the semester, from arriving in Long Beach, multiple trips to the beach, Universal Studios, San Francisco, Halloween, Las Vegas, San Diego and more! Thank you to everyone who has given me these unforgettable memories!

One Semester Down - slideshows

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Celebrating this all American holiday can leave international students at odds. While everyone around us is returning home to be with their families, our options are limited while all we really want to do is head home.

I found myself staying in the campus dorms as one by one people left for home or to travel for the break. My thanksgiving was spent with two lovely gentleman in my building and a home-cooked (albeit microwaved) meal. 

The peace and quite with rare time to myself left me considering my thanks. I am extremely thankful for my family, especially the four gorgeous children who are waiting for me at home. I regularly exchange postcards with my niece, nephew and cousins so that I can hold on to a little piece of them while I'm away. Nothing brightens my week as much as those few words and drawings from those I love most in the world. 

When things get rough and homesickness is creeping in, I am fortunate enough to have incredible friends who have supported me through so much. Whether they are here beside me in California or standing by me back home, I don't know what I would do without them. There's no need to name names, you know who you are. I can never thank you enough. 

Finally, its impossible to consider what I'm thankful for without recognising where I am, and the opportunity I'm experiencing. After years of dreaming, hard work and determination, I landed in Long Beach for the year of my life. I try to take the time to take in everything around me and the things I'm lucky enough to be a part of. 

Time has flown by. I can't quite believe how soon it is until I'm flying home to spend Christmas with my family. I've had so many great experiences so far in America, and there are even more to come in the new year. It's still hard to believe I'm really here. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

What Happens In Vegas

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, at least before the internet.
Turning twenty one in California could mean only one thing...

Las Vegas has been on my list of places to visit for as long as I can remember and I always hoped my twenty first would be spent under the lights of Sin City. It just goes to show that studying abroad really can make your dreams come true. Grabbing some friends and taking to the road, I couldn't imagine a better way to be spending my birthday. 

Unfortunately. the weather was not on our side and the journey took a lot longer than expected as the downpour brought traffic to a halt. But once we arrived all was forgotten as the drinks were flowing and we started taking in the sights.

It's safe to say I feel like we saw everything, journeying to the strip we visited the MGM Grand, New York New York, the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, the Venetian, the Rio and so many more. We covered tourist spots and casinos, a burlesque show and many bars along the way.  

Being something I had dreamed of for so long this was an amazing experience for me. It was non-stop, soaking in the atmosphere and buzz that surrounded us and celebrating in style before heading home on a drive through the desert and into the sunset.

There were many people from my family and friends who I missed greatly this weekend, but I'm very thankful to those who made it there with me and gave me an incredible weekend to remember. (P.s. thanks for the pictures Vicky & Rachel!)

In two nights I feel like we got a true taste of what Vegas has to offer and I definitely plan to return in the future for an even bigger and better weekend!

November Update

@ Cold War Kids

Things have been enjoyably hectic recently so I thought an update was due for all the people who have hardly heard from me! My last post was for Halloween, and now it's almost Thanksgiving - the weeks are flying by.  

In the last 10 days I've been to an impressive four shows. Starting with Cold War Kids at The Observatory followed by Senses Fail at the Troubadour, which threw me firmly back onto the hardcore scene. I've been to the House of Blues in Anaheim and to see August Burns Red and Blessthefall at Club Nokia in LA. 

Check out my write-ups of Senses Fail and Speaking The King's

Incredibly intense shows filled with all the stage diving, crowd surfing and mosh pit antics that my fellow music fans have come to expect of me. In spite of the bruises and bleeding (don't ask!) I've seen some outstanding bands at legendary venues, even ending up backstage!

Blessthefall & August Burns Red

This may seem extreme, but if you're going to do something, do it right. If I'm learning anything this year it's to make the most of every opportunity! 

Today I have just started celebrating my 21st birthday, which has been a long time coming. It may have been a few hours early, but as it hit midnight in England it was time to open the cards and packages from my family back home.

http://instagram.com/kealiemardell

All of the cards, gifts, drawings, banners and excessive sprinkles were a lovely reminder of the amazing people waiting for me at home. I can't pretend things don't get rough here, there's days where all I want is to curl up on the sofa (not the couch) and share a packet of real English biscuits with my mum. But these little reminders of home just keep me smiling and I can't wait to see everyone at Christmas! 

Tomorrow will be my official birthday in America and I'm heading back to LA to see Tonight Alive and Echosmith on The Other Side Tour. The prospect of buying a drink from a bar (legally) seems like a long lost novelty from the past! 

Next up: Las Vegas. Wish me luck on the strip...