old sorry (march 9th) Long Beach and Jandles, Playing and Princess Buttercup

Sorry its been awhile i think. so many things~

Favorite Kiwi phrases and words
~ Keen
Cheers
wee (like little)
Jandles (flip flops)
Tramping (hiking)

Developmental Psych and Improv class
Both going well. Right now we're doing prenatal to early childhood cognitive, neurological and perceptual development. He says its the most boring part, but i think its cool so far so that's a good sign i figure. I feel like everyone should take this class before having children, and i also find myself thinking that i wish i had learned more when I was little. There's a bell curve of when your brain has the most synapses- the things that connect your brain basically, then the connections that aren't used and stimulated go away and you can't get it back. So its much easier to learn say language or an instrument in the gap before you loose connections in your brain. Too late now.
Improv class is awesome. I wasn't sure about the Professor, I thought he was a little weird at first but I quickly discovered how awesome he was. He makes up the class activities as he goes i think,in true improv form. We basically spent the first class getting to know each other and getting used to being spontaneous. We talked about improv as being similar to playing when you are little. Making simple things into something extraordinary. Basically he said we were going to play. I'm totally cool with that. It surprised me at how many students felt awkward and uncomfortable being spontaneous though. It was a little sad. You can play every day even if you grow up.

Making friends with the locals
So I guess I couldn't give you a good Under the Tuscan Sun story, but it seems that I am kind of dating a Kiwi boy now, on the bases of I'm not going to be here all that long so we'll just see what happens. We met at a party kind of randomly about two weeks ago and he and one of his friends made sure me and another girl got home safely. He asked if I'd like to get coffee some time, and I figured why not he's cute and really nice. So we got coffee maybe a week ago and ended up spending the day together going to the museum and the butterfly gardens and the botanical gardens. Then yesterday he and his flat mates, who are really cool, took me to the Peninsula to a cute garlic festival and then to a beach on that side of the bay. It was a bit cold so we all went back to their flat and watched Princess bride, because what else is there to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon? He made me spinach curry for dinner and then to top off the evening we all made chocolate pudding and had a dance party in the kitchen, haha. His flatmates were particularly impressed with my 80s music selection. All in all a good day.
For all parents/concerned family members I know you worry about me with new people being that I am thousands of miles away, but try not to. This is not something so serious. I'm just having fun with new friends. I trust myself, and I'm only here for a little while. I'm not going to run off to New Zealand forever so don't worry. And so that you can feel a bit better about it I will gladly tell you about Andy. Oh yah, his name is Andy.

Random Andy Facts~
Andy is 24, I'd say medium height and build. Blond hair and beautiful blue eyes that seem to be a New Zealand thing. His mom is a teacher and his dad works in wind energy technology. Andy is an x-ray technician/radiologist and is studying nuclear medicine, I can't remember exactly what that entails, I'm pretty sure its not quite as cool as it sounds, but its still impressive. He seems to really like it and tells me about it and jokes about it, honestly I don't always understand the medical jargon but its still cute. He lives with one of his best friends from when he was growing up, Matt, who is a medical student, and another guy, Ian, who is originally Canadian and I think getting his masters in something about submerged volcanic something and then Ian's girlfriend Kitty (maybe a nickname?) she is awesome. She is a Kiwi and lived here all her life but her parents are both originally American, she works in design. And then there is a new flatmate, Ryan who is a second year Kiwi student at the University. They are all really cool and we got along well almost immediately. They decided it would be important to teach me lots of New Zealand slang which was funny, and I was also introduced to the New Zealand specialty, Hokey pokey ice cream. We went to get ice cream and I was like "what's Hokey Pokey"? I immediately heard a simultaneous gasp from Andy, Kitty, Ian and the store clerk. Followed by the store woman asking me "where are you from"?! So I didn't have a choice but to try it and it was good, kind of caramel like. I also found out that the dance exists here as well, you know, put your right hand in, put your right hand out...anyway Back to Andy-
-he loves to cook and seems to be quite good at it
-he can pretty much recite the Princess Bride by heart
-he knows the name of every bone in the human body
-he has a large collection of Flight of the Concords and international movies
-he loves to laugh and be silly- but he also think very practically
I'll keep you updated, but so far we have fun together and it's really nice to have Kiwi friends. Now you can all say awww.

Long Beach= best place ever
On Friday I went to Long Beach with a lot of my American friends. There were about 20 of us at some point. It was pretty awesome. Long Beach is about 25 min away from the city and probably one of the most beautiful beaches I've been to. The drive was beautiful but a little scary on the side of the mountains going the wrong way on the road. It was like Costa Rica but paved.
We camped in a cave and stayed up late listening to music around a campfire. It was nice to look out of the cave opening at the stars. They are so bright out here, you can see more of them away from light pollution. The roar of the ocean a few meters away drown out the crackling of the fire and I fell asleep watching the shadow of the flames dance on the cave ceiling.
I woke up at dawn to see the sun rise with a few of the others. We huddled together quietly to resist the morning chill. The soft glow of the sunrise crept in and the sun rose slowly beyond low clouds. I felt like I was such a part of the rhythm of life. Night Sky, sun rises, sun sets, waves in, waves out, tides in, tides out. Never changing and always changing.
I felt like running or moving or something even though i didn't get much sleep, so I did. But the sand was cold on my feet, and i stopped and stretched and just soaked it all in.
One of my neighbors Chris and I walked down the beach to explore. We decided it must be at least a mile judging by the time it took us to walk up and back. It was so quiet, like we were the only people around for miles. Not many of the others were awake so it was quiet, but it was nice to have a friend to walk with. We each had our own quiet solitude, but with company. Exploring the shore we found all kinds of cool shells and types of seaweed. Sometimes we would meander together or one or both of us would stop to pick something up. It was like we each had someone to share our momentary treasures from the sand with. If I could just get up every morning at dawn and be here, and exercise or walk and then stretch and meditate I know I would be the most peaceful person.
Later we played Frisbee in the waves. It was so much fun. You'd jump to get the disc and the waves would end up coming and knocking you sideways. It was great. We hung out in the sand and stayed until almost 4. I think there is less ozone here so we had to put lots of sunblock on. I did somehow get burnt under my arms. I guess I just didn't think to put sunscreen there. Here are some pictures, but they don't really do it justice. http://picasaweb.google.com/melaniebeth.martin Sorry so long, I hope you all have a lovely week. ~