Disclaimer: Pardon the cheesy. I tend to do that sometimes lol. Again, the stuff I write on my blog is basically what goes on inside my head...so while I apologize for it, I'm still going to write it lol. This blog was started for me to record my trip and exactly how I acted/thought/what I did when I was 22 and abroad for the first time, and thus it will remain. It's been really quiet here in Seorak, so I've been doing a nice bit of reflecting here with nothing to distract me. Therefore, this post is unrelated to my trip in Korea (it's just a long-winded recollection of my college experience, triggered from my remembering it's Halloween) and is totally unnecessary to read unless you want to (read: went to UCSB with me & will understand why I'm rambling on and on annoyingly about this lol).
I've realized that listening to waves crash and waking up/eating breakfast/cooking/reading while being able to glance up through the sliding doors and see ocean will forever remind me of college in Santa Barbara. How freaking spoiled were we by our college's location, fellow Isla Vistians?
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Halloween in junior year! Obviously I was crayons one night with some girlfriends. It was a success :) We actually came up with some seriously creative ideas over my four years in IV...I was even Captain Underpants one night :D Where are all my 90's kids at who know who that is?!?! However I have neither the time nor the patience to find all those costumes and post them lol.
So I was having my usual early morning cup of coffee and watching the weather report on TV when I glanced at my open laptop and noticed with a jolt that, what the hey, today's...Halloween?! This has officially got to be the weirdest Halloween I've ever had in my life. And with my last four Halloweens being spent in Isla Vista, this statement has some merit.
For all of you who are unacquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween, there are no words to describe it. Grab your best buddy, pack an overnight bag, and roadtrip it to Santa Barbara pronto. That is all. For those of you who are acquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween but have never experienced it, I'm delighted [and very sorry for all the parents 0:) ] to say that every single one of those rumors of what goes on is 110% true...and then some. Not to worry, it's all in good fun. I will be the first to admit we're young, silly, and sometimes irresponsible; however, we aren't stupid. We have all made it out of them unscathed (for the most part) and with many a fond memory (well maybe not so much memories, but we have that saving grace...pictures!!!). For those of you who are acquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween AND have experienced it...who else is grinning in amusement and feeling twinges of nostalgia for the utter madness that was Halloween? :D There's nothing else like it, except maybe Floatopia in freshman year, before the school started banning it. They're been cracking down on Halloween in recent years too. Buzzkills. Don't they know that all work and no play is no good? I live by my Dad's words of wisdom: "Work hard, Play hard". I always knew my Daddy was the smartest guy in the world :)
For all of you who are unacquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween, there are no words to describe it. Grab your best buddy, pack an overnight bag, and roadtrip it to Santa Barbara pronto. That is all. For those of you who are acquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween but have never experienced it, I'm delighted [and very sorry for all the parents 0:) ] to say that every single one of those rumors of what goes on is 110% true...and then some. Not to worry, it's all in good fun. I will be the first to admit we're young, silly, and sometimes irresponsible; however, we aren't stupid. We have all made it out of them unscathed (for the most part) and with many a fond memory (well maybe not so much memories, but we have that saving grace...pictures!!!). For those of you who are acquainted with an Isla Vista Halloween AND have experienced it...who else is grinning in amusement and feeling twinges of nostalgia for the utter madness that was Halloween? :D There's nothing else like it, except maybe Floatopia in freshman year, before the school started banning it. They're been cracking down on Halloween in recent years too. Buzzkills. Don't they know that all work and no play is no good? I live by my Dad's words of wisdom: "Work hard, Play hard". I always knew my Daddy was the smartest guy in the world :)
Remember running around in moshpits of people dressed in costumes (the term is used tentatively here) that stretch for blocks and blocks and blocks, avoiding police officers on horseback (and their poop, ew), being blinded by the giant white floodlights placed every intersection so people don't run over each other (they still do, the lights are superfluous University board, but nice try), walking in a long line holding the hands of your group of friends so you don't get lost for the entire night in the massive swell of humanity pressing in from everywhere, enjoying parties, dancing, house-hopping, chastising the hated out-of-towners (haha sorry, it still makes me grin how united all of IV was in our dislike for them) for that quintessential no-no of sitting on the curb (duh, insta-arrest), then waking up the next day, downing a Gatorade, and preparing to do it all over again? (Halloween is generally a 3-4 day holiday in IV). Instead, I am sitting at a glass-topped table, sipping coffee while the news is on, gazing at the crashing waves of the ocean, IN KOREA.
What.
What.
People say college is the best time of your life. I definitely enjoyed every single one of my so-crazy-but-was-totally-normal-for-SB college experiences. I made memories I will always cherish fondly, and grew up on so many levels in those 4 years. Even thinking back now, my life in IV had so many aspects that were surreal, but that my fellow Isla Vistians & I totally took for granted because it was the norm for us. Even when we suffered with coffee-driven all-nighters, endless hours spent everyday in long lectures, tedious study groups, and the infamous library (Ah Davidson. Pretty sure I clocked more hours in there than I did in my houses. I will never again not treasure an electrical plug after having to fight for them there for 4 years), we had so much good stuff to balance against it...like studying out on the seaside bluffs, going for runs on the beach, watching the sunset over water from your balcony, hiking up by the SB Mission, and having all your friends living just a few houses away when you want a beer or some froyo.
But I still don't think that statement about it being the best time of my life applies to me. I think the best times of my life are yet to come. It's like taking old childhood photos and making them into a scrapbook. I will always remember them happily, but they are what has been, not what will be. It's not a disregard of all college taught me; it's the starting of the next half of my life, the second chapter, the sequel. And I'm already making a dent in those good times while abroad now :)