UCLA is rich in its culture and full of traditions. One such (relatively new) one is the ever-lively Undie Run. By the time I arrived on campus in the fall of 2004, it was a blossoming tradition that I had heard of, but didn’t really know much about. I spent my first year hearing the rumors, but not knowing anyone to go with or where to find the gathering, I never tried to join in the festivities. My second year I returned, eager to find my place and I did so by joining over a dozen organizations on campus. As I spent my time going from meeting to meeting, social to workshop, I didn’t quite find the bonds I was looking for. And so in the spring, I opted to pledge for Alpha Kappa Psi, a co-ed business fraternity on campus. My time was sucked up by that, but I still managed to meet some new friends who were the type to party it up. In them I found Undie Run enthusiasts, so I prepared myself for my very first participation in such an event.
Blocking off the road.
Undie Run started back in 2002, when some guys who were frustrated by the tight control around finals week, with people not allowed to loiter or participate in Midnight Yell and other such things that restless college students are bound to gravitate towards. As the quarters went by, it grew exponentially and soon thousands of students would gather together on the Wednesday night of Finals Week, then head off at midnight in a herd of skimpy outfits, going along a route that ultimately led to campus. It was a great way for students to do something just to let loose a little bit in the midst of the stress that intense studying brings (or for the lucky few, celebrate the end of another quarter). Once word got around and it grew big enough, the police started to block off the roads and monitor the path to ensure everyone’s safety (what would you do if you were driving just after midnight and a hoard of half-naked 20-somethings were running toward you, completely blocking the road?). As it become more popular, it began to attract random people from the neighboring areas and even other schools, who would line the route and observe the madness pass before them.
For my first time, in the spring of 2006, I got some cute frilly underwear (black with pink hearts and completely useless as normal underwear with way too much poof) from Urban Outfitters on 3rd street and wore a plain black bra. We congregated at the bottom of what was known as “Rape Trail” (now Saxon Trail/Steps), right on the road where Landfair meets Gayley. The closeness of the crowd provided warmth in the cool night as we got ready for our journey. At some point, the front part of the group began to to scream and run and we all followed suit, flying down Gayley, passing through De Neve Court, continuing down Bruinwalk, then up Bruinwalk, and making our way to the destination at the fountain in front of Powell Library. (Yes, we like to run scantily-clad and scream and sing right outside the library where students are still studying for finals.) Along the way, some creepy guys were standing around just staring and a few more were waiting at the end of the run. There’s always a bit of a downside to everything, right? Some were taking pictures and video and others were just scanning the crowd.
Splashing around!
At Shapiro Fountain, we found that somebody had soaped it up before we arrived, so many of us gleefully jumped into the sudsy water and splashed around. It was warm and slippery and messy and exhilarating all at once! A few ambitious students managed to climb the trees flanking the fountain while others were hoisted onto their friends’ shoulders for a better view. It was a scene of blissful mayhem and certainly bizarre to the unsuspecting soul. Many people in the library paused their studies to come get a glimpse of those brave/insane enough to make it out that night. There were all kinds of odd costumes and even a few socks-only guys running around, making us seem like some wacky mix between Halloween and Mardi Gras. In the other runs I did, I saw a girl with pasties and another with a scarf as the only thing covering her top half. There were a variety of thongs and TMI moments that just added to the hilarity of the event.
Wheeeee! Fly down that hill!
We spent a good half hour to hour prancing around that space, dancing to the music provided by those creative enough to bring instruments to play. Conga lines formed and dispersed and LOTS of pictures were taken. At some point the police decided that we had had enough fun and began to chase us off, driving towards us and flashing their lights so we’d get moving. The crowd would reluctantly begin to make its way back to the res halls and apartments on the other side of campus. Sometimes we would take a pause on the rolling hills by Janss Steps, playing in the grass. When I went with another group two years later, we did cartwheels and made human pyramids for quite awhile, before rolling down the hill. Cooling down and calming down, we’d make our way back to the Hill, where much of the population would get Bruin Cafe to eat. The rest of the crowds disappeared into the apartment area, possibly to continue their drinking, possibly to chill and rest. Quite a few went right back to studying for a final at 8 AM!
Herding us off.
Alas, all those good memories came to an end for me just before the university decided to end this de-stressing adrenaline rush. Due to damage to university property that always seems to happen along with the event (hey, with 10,000 people trampling around, it’s bound to happen), as well as concerns over safety from the increasing numbers of visitors unaffiliated with UCLA who show up on those nights. I’m sad to hear this decision, since it was always a hilariously fun event for me, though I kind of saw it coming with the route changes they kept making and the tighter and tighter restrictions imposed. The university has been threatening to shut the operation down for a long time now and I guess it finally plucked up the courage. But as the founders of the tradition say, the police can’t arrest you for running around in your underwear at night unless you are vandalizing property or being a public (usually drunk) nuisance. So perhaps they will be forced to allow Undie Run to persist in some fashion or another, because if they don’t work with the students, they will just find another way. Only time will tell now.
I naturally do not have double eyelids, merely single ones, but as a child, if I rubbed my eyes a lot, sometimes I could get a temporary crease. When I went back to China after high school, I took some glamor shots at a studio, where they taped little clear crescents onto my eyelids to simulate the look. It was fascinating to me that they would do that and I’ve always wondered if it really does look better. It certainly gives my eyes a little more dimension and now eyeliner applied along the top layer of lashes wouldn’t get buried in the depths of my eye when I opened them. It makes for more “Western” eyes, which, perhaps, is the point? It feels weird though, to have this crease in my eye, with skin folding up around it and sometimes I wonder if it’s one of those things like a displaced joint that needs a little boost to get back into place. There’s certainly a kind of pressure there and opening my eyes larger makes that feeling even more pronounced.
Sometime while I was in Singapore (and I didn’t notice at all), I somehow developed a double eyelid. That’s right, just one. So now my eyes are uneven (much like everything else in my body) and I wonder if one eye looks bigger because of this incongruency. It’s kind of cool and it has been pretty permanent, but I wonder how long this will last. Will the other eye change too? Will this one go back? Or am I stuck with one single eyelid and one double eyelid? Since I have no idea how I got the first one to begin with, I have no idea how to make my other eyelid like that, or undo this one. I guess it’s fun though, to observe the differences side by side and feel the differences when I open my eyes.
So, I’ve convinced myself that once I work for a few years and go off to graduate school, I will not be able to work for UCLA anymore. After all, the positions they offer wouldn’t really justify it and I should be focusing on truly building my career by then. That’s when I’d really need to know what local businesses are in the environmental arena (or maybe I’ll be ready for start my own thing by then). With that in mind, I am doggedly pursuing UCLA careers so I can fulfill one of my heart’s desires. I haven’t really been picky, considering all jobs that look about entry-level and don’t require a very technical skill that I know nothing about. From Housing to major departments to the Office of the Dean, I’m trying them all, though my hopes really are on that one with the Institute.
As luck would have it, I also won a raffle item and chose to take home the mug. I was a sucker for the gold trim and black and white image of Royce Hall. I was almost tempted to get the mouse pad, but then I realized I never use one. This clocks in as the second mug I’ve won and one of many that I have unofficially collected over the years. I will never forget my beautiful black mug from Gallery and Toff’s (two nightclubs in York), which I got during Fresher Week when I first arrived for my year studying at the Uni of York. I think it’s the sturdiness, yet fragile nature of them that make me feel they are valuable enough. Everyone’s a winner when I win things, because I get really excited and that brings a smile to most everyone’s face (except for the super bitter who reaaally wanted to win too, I suppose).
It started Saturday with dim sum, where we also ate with Cherry (who was also an Orientation Counselor with us last year) and Envie (Panda’s brother). It was really nice to catch up with Cherry, who just completed a rigorous summer program, and meet Brother, who I’ve heard about over the months, but never gotten more than an impression of. After we filled our bellies with delectable tidbits, we went across the way to a photo sticker machine place and took some fun shots together. Between the six of us we managed to squeeze into one booth and split the sixteen copies of the four shots we printed, then split off. I took Panda, Envie, and Cherry back before spinning back to get Opti and Doc, who had gone back to Opti’s so she could pack for the overnight.
As I thought, the wait was drastically shorter than the guy told us, so we were seated about an hour after we had originally arrived. Unfortunately, restaurants of this type work at a slow pace, casually letting you soak in the atmosphere and enjoy your soup and salad before the chef shows up to entertain the table. We were ravenous and didn’t get fed substantial food until about 10 o’clock. The performance was fun, but not as flashy as others I’ve seen and the fried rice was very tasty, but the chicken was a bit chewy and bland. The vegetables were juicy, but not my favorite thing to eat and the shrimp was pretty good with the provided sauce. Overall I felt the experience was average and probably not worth the money, so I think I’ll look for cheaper alternatives to this type of dining next time. It was nice to share it in a double date kind of setting though.
This morning, Panda woke up early and couldn’t quite get back to sleep, but the rest of us slept in until we lethargically pulled ourselves up and decided that we were due for some brunch. We walked down to a cafe that serves breakfast all day and uses fresh ingredients to make tasty sandwiches, burgers, and of course, the standard breakfast foods as well. From there, it was time to resume our carding craze until dinner. Throughout the game, the boys got chastised by the girls, who were both whooping the boys for the majority of the time. We can get pretty sassy and have a fun time bantering back and forth flirtatiously. The guys learned that they just couldn’t win unless they placated us. 😛
