Hey everybody (which right now means you, Lotti)! I know I've been completely useless in updating this thing so far, so here's a quick attempt to keep you interested.
I just finished up my third semester, which means I've been living in southern California for about a year and a half now. Where does the time go? I guess I've been pretty busy down here, so the time has kinda flown by.
Another thing that means, hopefully, is that I'm about half done with this program. When I think back over how much I've learned in the time here so far, it's honestly kind of staggering. I don't think I could even begin to list here all the things I now know and can now do that I didn't and couldn't just a short 18 months ago.
It hasn't been all learning and work, however, even though I have been busier here than any other time in my life. I've managed to do a lot of surfing since I've been here, and I'm finally starting to get kinda good at it (finally!). It's a lot easier to progress down here than it was back home in Oregon. For one, I only have to drive about 10 minutes to get to the nearest break, so it's worth it to go even if I only have an hour or two free. Beyond that, the surf in general really is just better down here. I've seen some great days on the Oregon coast, but the wind just tends to ruin it more often than not. That's much less of an issue down here. The abundance of clean, well-formed waves really allow for a lot more practice.
I've made a few friends down here, too, although not very many. As busy as I am, it's really hard to meet anyone outside of research/school, and a lot of the people in my program really aren't the kind of people I can get to be very good friends with. If nothing else, I finally have a pretty good roommate situation. It was really hit or miss (mostly miss) for me for the first year or so I was down here, so I really appreciate the guys I live with now. And in case I never mentioned this to you before, I live about 50 yards from the beach...
On that note, I guess I should get some sleep. I have to be up before dawn to go out and catch more fish to tag, all in the name of science. I'll try my damnedest to remember to write another update before the week is out so I can give you some details/updates on the research I'm doing. Thanks for reading!
