Tijuana and Seaworld!

Friday night was one to remember. We scored a deal with a limo bus which took a good 60 I-Housers across the USA/Mexico border to Tijuana, which is the border city (in Mexico) 20 minutes south of San Diego where the legal age for drinking is...yes you guessed it, 18! Our destination? A party at Balak club, which boasted a remarkably Sultan-palace-like facade, which hosted "College Fridays". Transport, unlimited drinks and cover were all taken care of with $25. The bartenders did expect tip for each drink though. Making the most of the new location, legit drinking status and free drinks, I had a night out which was truly one of the best I've had in a long, long time. We would sit down on a table and receive a drink we ordered a minute ago, and the waiters would ask whether we wanted more drinks. We would say "It's ok", but they would persist and say "You really sure?", and of course we would then say "Another Pina Colada and Corona please?" Free! Over and over again! So incredible it was, that the night shaped out to be one of the best I've ever had - on the tables, around the bar and on the dance floor.

When the announcement was made to return to the limo bus at the border, we had to get through border patrol officers, who checked our passports and documents to ensure that we could leave Mexico. One of my friends however was caught with an expired I-94, and was alone left stranded while the bus had to leave. Apparently he had photos taken and questions bombarded at him while under Mexican interrogation. Scary it would've been for him. Especially for the duration of 3 hours before finally getting "rescued".

Early the next morning, I had a dysfunctional left eardrum which was weird. Anyway, Seaworld was the big item on the agenda. Being one of the major attractions of San Diego, it lived up to its world-famous name, and more. The sea otter and dolphin show were very impressive, and the "Believe" show performed by Shamu (famous Seaworld killer whale) and the other killer whales was truly incredible. My eyes almost fell out when the drinks guys at Shamu Stadium were selling soft drinks for $8.99 each (NZ $13.50!). We went on an exhilarating (and refreshingly thirst-quenching) ride which got some us absolutely soaked, and saw a myriad of beautiful marine creatures (polar bears, penguins, beluga whales, walruses, and many more) throughout the day, some which I had never seen first-hand before. With time running out, we only managed to mission through half the marine park before the sun set over us.

Time ticked that night towards the Lunar New Year. We feasted on scrumptious Kimchi Jjigae, Sam-Gyup-Sal and Soju, played traditional Korean games (Go-Stop and Yut) which got the foreigners intrigued at the complexity (for them) of the simple (for us) games, and had a deep and meaningful Spin-the-Bottle truth game to finish off the night with few secrets left.

Tomorrow, since it is Presidents Day, some of us are thinking of going on a hike up gorgeous Stonewall Peak in Julian. And it's raining in San Diego tonight (which poses a greater danger of slips and falls)...which will make the hike more the memorable! Watch this space!

Spirit Week

UCSD implements a six college system (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Roosevelt, Warren and Sixth) where there can be intense rivalry between them, especially during Spirit Week. The past week at UCSD was Spirit Week, an annual spirit contest between the colleges where the colours of UCSD blue and gold were painted, draped and decorated all around campus. The week started off with Superbowl XLI, where a huge projected screen showed the Indianapolis Colts take out the title as champions of 2007. Various other college vs college competitions such as the Battle of the Bands took place throughout the week, climaxing at Spirit Night (Friday night) which included basketball games, a fireworks display and a school dance.

The UCSD Tritons men and women basketball teams were victorious in their home games which kicked off Spirit Night. The atmosphere in the UCSD arena was an experience that reflected college student life stereotyped in all those American teen movies we have seen. The arena was packed with enthusiastic fans dressed or completely painted in blue and gold, cheering the Tritons on throughout the entire match. Free throws were aided by the Tritons good luck finger gesture. A star Korean point guard (transferred from the UCLA bball team!) drove our team to victory. The cheerleaders came on throughout the match and for the halftime show, somersaulting and flipping their way into the limelight. Players trash talking on the court, smartly dressed coaches rallying their teams, and ally-oops during the game all matched and even surpassed my expectations.

An impressive fireworks display on the fields outside the arena was followed by the Geisel Dance. Sounds ironic doesn't it? Basically it was a dance party with a huge sound system, held right outside our Geisel library. Kinda crazy? Seeing that the library opens till late on Friday nights, it was very interesting to think about the students studying for midterms right across the wall at the time.

On a completely contrasting subject, there was a conference about sleep that I attended, held at the Salk Institute the past two days. Salk Institute is a biomedical research laboratory founded by Francis Crick (the guy who discovered the structure of DNA). It was interesting, but very intellectually challenging, hearing and taking in the discussions between research scientists specialising in such a little-known area which is so essential our lives.

An IRB Rugby Sevens tournament is currently being held here in San Diego over the weekend. I won't be able to make it to any of the games this time round, but I'm sure NZ will have it over Fiji this time!

A pretty shocking experience one night on my way back from grocery shopping: on the bus that took me back to UCSD, I overheard a brief conversation where this one man said that he'd been living on the streets for 25 years. I was wondering who's comforter (NZ: duvet) it was next to my feet! When it was time for him to get off the bus, the very old African American man got up, stumbled his way to the tattered comforter which I made way for, then collapsed headfirst onto the pavement where the bus stopped. Shocked I was, as the bus driver helped the old man. On the same bus, another man was psyching himself up seemingly for a confrontation with someone else for a girl. I could hear him talking to himself, making alpha male gestures and rehearsing self mantras. For normally such a mundane thing, it sure as heck was one memorable bus ride.

Balboa Park

San Diego is world famous for many things, and amongst them are the arts. The city boasts the largest urban cultural park in the nation, Balboa Park. This park is truly massive, housing 15 major museums, as well as the world renowned San Diego Zoo. I spent the afternoon there today. With performers playing the didgeridoo, the harp and some clowns performing public shows, the park was a great place for families to enjoy. It seemed as if Balboa Park was quite the destination for a romantic date too (we saw more than enough couples making out).

We explored the Museum of Man, which contained exhibits relating to anthropology: giant stuffed Neanderthals, glazed mummies, fossils of early hominids, and gigantic Mayan statues just to name a few. There were also many stand-out monuments and gardens outside which failed to lose our attention. A whole afternoon was spent at the park, but we only got to see one museum and a tiny fraction of the park (that is how large the place is). We also saw a stunningly black Lamborghini and a shimmering white Hummer limousine. I'll certainly be coming back to this gorgeous place again.


Memorable moment: Toby, my roommate has a pet snake, called Jamal. He is a harmless ball python (he's awesome..the first snake I've held). Anyway, he normally feeds Jamal frozen lab mice every few weeks, but this time, decided to do a bit of a Steve Irwin and give a live mouse a go... to give Jamal a challenge, and to also YouTube it. So we go to a pet store and ask where their live "feeder" mice are. The counter lady says that the shop doesn't sell live "feeder" mice. We look around, and see a much more expensive $5 mouse running at its little wheel. We decide that it will be worth it. However, little do we know that the lady in charge of the cage keys is...yup that same lady. Toby: "Uhh...we were wanting to buy err...that mouse?" Lady: "You asked for feeder mice before." I could feel the awkwardness of the situation...and yeah, we ultimately leave without a mouse.

On Thursday night, we went down to Black's Beach, which is famous for its surfers, but notorious for its old nude men. It is a 5 minute walk from I-House. There was this monthly event at Black's called "Drum Circle" held at the night of the full moon. As a group representing I-House, we strolled down towards the beach, following the rhythmic beats of the drums as they gradually sounded louder. Students congregated around a campfire, dancing, singing, playing percussion instruments of all categories (trash cans included), and all just having a great time. There were stuntmen/women juggling sticks of fire, and the smell of pot was always there. A great night it was.

As for the midterms, they went ok. The exams were surprisingly informal, as we could start the test as soon as the lecturer handed the papers out to us in turn, and I was right next to the fellow student on the left and right of me with bags at my feet. One of the classes that I am taking, Biomechanics, is way beyond the equivalent of what we should be taking back at Auckland, as it assumes a decent level of knowledge in Continuum Mechanics (something we haven't even touched yet). The other is Principles of Bioinstrumentation Design, again, above our level. The other two classes are Systems Neurobiology and Tissue Engineering Seminar. I have noticed that some students here talk in a very smart fashion (going off in smart sounding tangents), and the majority have this different way of talking compared to many in NZ. This may seem academically intimidating at times, but something tells me that I may be able to cope better than I initially thought.

Oh, and one more thing to mention. It rained earlier this week. Drizzle. For the first time since I got here a month ago. People were taking photos, writing in their diaries and calling their parents ("OMG, it's actually... water falling from the sky!") lol.