CARA VAN METER
Living Editor
Post-9 p.m. eating and entertainment options include Jack in the Box and … well, Jack in the Box. Blockbuster has been the latest in a long string of college-friendly businesses to desert us. Few local businesses boast about the Waves or post orange and blue posters on the walls, much less offer student discounts. These are all symptoms of a greater ill.
At some point every Pepperdine student has thought it, and most have said it: “I wish Malibu was more of a college town.” Well, the time has come for us to stop wishing for what will never be and start pretending that it is already. To help you on your way to achieving a successful Pepperdine-friendly Malibu delusion, there are six easy steps that you can take to pretend you’re living in a real college town.
First, choose a place to make your home-away-from-home in Malibu. Those nutty New Yorkers in “Friends” had Central Perk. On “Saved by the Bell” Zack and Slater consumed countless baskets of fries in The Max. Everyone in Stars Hollow joined the “Gilmore Girls” in Luke’s Diner when they weren’t busy with town meetings and holiday festivals. Granted, these are not specifically “college shows.” However, they are the shows that today’s average college student grew up watching.
The concept of the official hangout is key for the survival of any group and none more than groups of campus-weary students. So pick out a local business, and make it a point to go there regularly and hang out. Get to know the people who work there. Ideally, it should be a popular place but not too popular. Crowds are overrated. Local hole-in-the-wall joints with greasy food and cheap soft drinks usually work well.
The second step provides a simple fallback for those who are short on time and need a college-town fix quick and easy. Go to Malibu Yogurt.
Malibu Yo should not, however, be your official hangout. Though tasty and tempting, it does not provide the wealth of space or comfy chairs needed to accommodate hours of aimless existence. It’s also too popular and too busy to make a great hangout.
The same merits that disqualify Malibu Yo as a hangout make it the perfect candidate for the entirely separate category of step two. Malibu Yo’s central location and almost guaranteed Pepperdine representation every day of the week ensure that you will run into at least one other college student every time you make the trip, thus serving the illusion that Pepperdine students are all over this town and it is, in fact, a college town.
Next, students who wish to pretend they’re living in a real college town should always strive to be friendly to everyone they come across. Act as if you know everyone in this town. Since Malibu is noticeably short on a little thing called community, students must simply create their own community. Making friends with (or at the very least being civil to) the locals will not only make you feel better about the town, it will also make it a more pleasant place for future generations of Pepperdiners as Malibuites learn to appreciate and someday (hopefully) reciprocate the good attitudes, friendly smiles and courtesy of Pepperdine students.
Fourth, get off the highway. If at all possible, try to deviate from PCH. There’s something about that long, lone stretch of asphalt that seems to shunt students — everyone really — straight through the town with no hope of stopping, cruising or even enjoying the view. So find your way onto a side street. Even the Malibu Village area will do, although a little more in-depth exploration is likely to yield far more interesting results.
Fifth, try to congregate together in new areas of Malibu. Large groups of college students (not necessarily all one big clump, but made up of smaller subgroups perhaps) are a surefire indication of a college town. This doesn’t mean students should only go to the same places that everyone else always goes. After all, you really can only hit up Ralphs, Howdy’s, and Starbucks so many times before it just becomes way too predictable to be fun (this statement does not apply to the unique “hangout” spot that you should cultivate according to step one).
Instead, visit new places like the Malibu Public Library or the park in Malibu Canyon. Just be sure to tell all your friends about these fresh treasure sites so that Pepperdine students can slowly take them over.
Finally, when all else fails, go to Westwood. If you can’t make your town into a college town, make a college town into your town. Though the Westwood area falls into the category of undisputed UCLA turf, there is plenty in this area to share with other schools, like Pepperdine.
Visit Diddy Riese, where you can buy a custom-made ice cream sandwich for $1. See a 1 a.m. showing of the latest teen movie at the Fox Theatre. Stroll around the still lit-up neighborhood at 2 in the morning.
If you are still struggling, the final and most desperate step you can take is to buy some Bruins gear, perhaps a UCLA hoody, and try to blend in with the crowd. Good luck.
01-26-2006
