5000 Miles Away From the Beach.

Today marks one year to the day since I flew to California. One year ago I was sat in Heathrow Airport waiting for my flight to take me on my adventure, the biggest I've ever had. I was reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac, an American writer of the Beat Generation, and these words stood out to me, I've had the page bookmarked ever since:

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies." - Jack Kerouac, On the Road 

I thought of how appropriate the words were in that moment. Just a few hours before I had said goodbye to my family and I was now alone, but I was only excited for what awaited me. Going to the USA seemed like a dream come true, I had waited years for this and had completely surprised myself by not being nervous at all; I realised I was ready.

Just a few highlights

Now this quote is relatable again. It reminds me of all the people I've met and had to say goodbye to over the last year, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I've had the time of my life and had experiences I could only dream of before. I can't believe it's been a year since I went, time has flown by. It has been a hectic, crazy time and I've struggled to keep up with this blog but I'm determined to finish it, even if it is a little late!

I now have to look forward to what comes next, to keep the memories I have made, the lessons I have learnt, and use them. I have to look towards another dream to pursue and I have a few, most of them involve travelling of course. I think once you've experienced just how easy it is to pack up a car or book a cheap plane ticket and go see a new place in a day, a weekend or a week you don't want to stop seeing new things. It's a big world we live in and I want to continue to experience, in Jack Kerouac's words, the "crazy ventures" it can bring.

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller

I have two more posts on New York and San Francisco and then I will finally have finished documenting my time in America, 5000 miles away at The Beach!

Huntington Beach

The day after LA I went to Huntington Beach for lunch. It was one of the hottest days there had been in SoCal for a while so it was a great day to be there. There appeared to be a kite competition on. Here are a few photos:

More posts to come!

Semester two: Changes, The Beach, LA and MOCA.

After my Christmas at home in England with my family and then my fun but exhausting trips, I was excited to settle back into life in Long Beach. I had decided to move into on-campus dorms where the majority of my friends live as it is much more convenient. I was even going to be living in the same building as friends, where I had spent a lot of time in my first semester anyway, so I felt very lucky and happy with my decision. I checked into my new room, met my new roommate and with the help of my friends moved my stuff in. That first night was really fun, seeing everyone after so long, it felt like the beginning of my year abroad again!

My new classes started the next day and I was making a change from the first semester in which I had taken all film classes. I was now taking a mixture of subjects, 'Religion in American History', 'The U.S. in the Twenties, the Great Depression and WW2', 'Celebrity in American Culture' and 'Women in the History of U.S. Film'. 

That day we also got some good news (for us anyway) that Steph and Sera had missed their flight connection to Sydney and so would have another day to spend with us in Long Beach. So the next morning, we got up at 6am to pick them up from LAX. It was surreal as we had already said our goodbyes, but they were excited to surprise everyone and I was excited to see them again! We spent the day on campus as we were all tired, them especially, but it was great for us to have more time with them before they went back to Australia.

The only photo I have of the day, Steph sleeping:

The following weekend was Kim's birthday and I tried Sushi for the first time which I enjoyed, but I can't say the same for Sonnee and Sara! It seems to be something that people from California grow up with, unlike us Europeans. The other highlights of the weekend were the basketball game and also going to see American Hustle at the cinema.

At the beginning of February was the Superbowl. I don't really enjoy American football as I still don't have any clue what is going on, but I watched it anyway and the team I was rooting for, the Seattle Seahawks, won 43-8 against the Broncos, a huge victory!

On the 21st February I had a great day when I went with friends from my building to the beach to have a bonfire, play some American football and have S'mores. Then the next day I went with Sonnee and Sara to LA using the Metro blue line. We got off in Downtown LA where we saw the City Hall, the Courthouses and the Los Angeles Times building.

The beach at sunset:

The LA City Hall:

The Los Angeles Times building:

We then went to the Old Town part of LA (El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Park), which has a pretty church and the famous Olvera Street. This is filled with colourful Mexican stalls and restaurants and the traditional music played by live musicians gives the street a charming atmosphere.

The church:

Praying:

Olvera Street:

We then walked up to the Disney Concert Hall which is a very impressive building, designed by architect Frank Gehry. It opened in 2003 and is still one of the most impressive structures in LA, serving as home to the LA Philharmonic Orchestra. It has become an iconic building, and seeing it in real life did not disappoint.

Walt Disney Concert Hall:

We then grabbed a burrito for lunch before heading to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) which had a great student price and some very interesting art including a very eery clown piece.

Some of the artwork:

Heading home at sunset:

The following weekend was rainy, the worst it has been the whole time I've been in California. There was thunder and lightening, making it hard to do anything very exciting, but we did go to Seal Beach for brunch and kept ourselves entertained by watching the Oscars on TV. It was weird that the awards were happening so close to us, if only we could have gone and met some celebrities! 

Thanks for reading, I have more exciting posts coming up! :)

Hawaii

After spending the Christmas holidays at home with my family, I was excited to head back to the USA for more exciting adventures. Before I started my second semester I still had time to explore and had trips planned to Hawaii and Seattle. Flying to the USA this time was made more interesting by having the company of Sonnee and Sara. We arrived in LA at about 7pm after a ten hour flight and then had one night in Long Beach before we left for Hawaii early the next morning. We got up at 5:15am to go to the airport once again, to take a 6 hour flight to O'ahu, Hawaii! I was unbelievably jet-lagged but so excited, not only to go to Hawaii but to see Steph and Sera again!

Flying into Hawaii the scenery was breathtaking, the island of O'ahu looked stunning from above, and the colours in the ocean were amazing! As we came into land I also saw Pearl Harbor.

After settling into our hotel, Steph and Sera came to meet us! It was strange not seeing them for so long over winter break, and they were super-tanned! We walked down to Waikiki Beach to explore a little and realised just how beautiful Hawaii was, and how hot it was for JANUARY! Sonnee, Sara and I had come from cold, rainy Europe to 30 degrees Celsius heat! We soon settled in to the relaxing lifestyle, over 7000 miles away from home!

Diamond Head Mountain:

The beach:

Beautiful ocean:

We decided to get an early dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, before heading back to the beach to watch the sunset and then the firework display put on by the Hilton hotel. The sunset was one of the best I've seen and the atmosphere so tranquil. We had fun on the beach, digging holes and throwing pebbles in the ocean before we sat down to watch the fireworks which were really good.

The Hard Rock Cafe, Hawaii-style:

Sunset:

Fireworks:

The next day we got up and headed to the beach. The weather was perfect, but this would soon change in typical Hawaiian fashion as a rainstorm rolled in. However, we did have some time to relax on the beach before the rain, and when it did come we embraced it and went back to our hotel and got in the hot tub. We definitely made the most of it!

That night after dinner we walked around Waikiki, and saw the changing of the Guards at King's Village. We also saw some Hula dancing, which was great to experience and it was good to see that the cultural heritage is still alive!

Changing of the guard:

Hula dancing:

The next day we got up early and went to visit Pearl Harbor, which I had never expected to go to in my life. It was surreal, as was even being in Hawaii, somewhere I never thought I would get the chance to go. We looked around the museum and learnt some more about that fateful day. We then went on a boat to the Arizona Memorial, which is above the sunken ship. It was hard to believe that so many people died there. There was still oil leaking from the ship, just over 72 years later, as you can see in some of my photos.

The Arizona Memorial:

The sunken wreckage:

The Memorial:

The people that survived the attack have the option of being laid to rest with their fellow shipmates in the sunken USS Arizona when they die, showing their dedication to the Navy.

The Memorial:

In the afternoon of the same day we hiked up Diamond Head Mountain, which was quite a distance and hard work but the amazing views made it worth it. I still could not believe just how beautiful the mountains are.

Mountains:

This was after our walk just to get to the bottom of the mountain; we still had to actually climb it:

View of Waikiki:

View of the crater:

On top of the world!

The next day we hired a car and drove around the island. The scenery just kept getting more stunning; more shades of blue in the ocean, more shades of green in the mountains. We stopped quite a few times to take photos and take in the views.

Kuloa Ranch:

Contemplating life:

We stopped for a relaxing lunch at Turtle Bay resort:

We then found the beach which is renowned for its Turtles and we were able to spot a few!

A turtle:

Then being the big fan of the TV series LOST that I am, I had to see a location that had been used for the show so we stopped at the first beach that was used for filming. This was where the plane wreckage was!

Here it is now and in the show:

Apart from just being the LOST beach it was actually really really beautiful. The others really liked it because the water was SO clear! So my fascination with the show actually meant that we found a great spot that we could all enjoy!

Paradise:

We went for a swim:

While we were in the water a massive rainstorm came and we had to run to the car soaking wet, not only from the sea but also from the rain, with not much hope of drying off in the sun anytime soon. However, this only made the experience more memorable, and it is Hawaii after all!

The aftermath of the rainstorm:

As we had time before arriving back in Waikiki to drop off the car we stopped to see the churches that were used for the LOST finale. They are adjacent to each other and the first, St. Patrick's Church, has been used as the exterior, and the second, The Sacred Hearts Academy was used for the interior where some of the last moments were filmed! I'm so happy I got to see where LOST began and ended, something I never thought I would experience.

The next day, our last day, we spent at the beach and did paddle boarding which was really fun! The weather was really warm and the day was a perfect end to the trip. We had dinner and then Yogurtland while we watched the sunset, before we had to be ready to leave for the airport at 7. My next stop was to be Seattle to visit family!

Paddleboarding:

Saying goodbye to Steph and Sera was hard, we thought we wouldn't be seeing them for at least six months but little did we know we'd be seeing them again very soon...

Also Happy Birthday to Sera, all the way away in Australia!!