American's favorite activities at the beach include (but are not limited to)
Playing volleyball Playing frisbee Kite-flying parasailing surfing jogging building sand-castles Covering people up with inordinate amounts of sand Getting drunk
Yeah, we do all that too, but beach cricket is more of a spontaneous thing that you sort of do when you're having a beer and cooking a BBQ and just kind of want to stand around doing not much but looking like you are kind of thing.
Or to get the kids out of the way. Or to meet cute boys. It's kind of more casual than volleyball but more organised that frisbee and stuff.
We lie on the sand. Do nothing. Turn over after 20 minutes. Read magazines. Listen to our respective portable audio players and try to ignore the millions of loud brats around us. Go in the ocean for maybe a total of 30 minutes. Eat food. Start drinking on the beach, and then go to someone else's house after the beach to get properly drunk.
Ant, dearest, you are assuming that most Americans get to the beach, I think. Recall, if you will, the geography of the US. Not as much coastline proportionally as in Australia. The lists above are what we usually do when we do actually get to a beach, but there are folks who live their whole lives in the US without seeing an ocean more than once. Sometimes never. :P
We have lots of space in the middle too, but nobody lives there on account of it is too far from the beach. Right now I live the farthest I have ever lived away from the ocean and that's only because I live on a bay, so the actual real ocean is like an hour away. The beach is still only about 10 minutes though, but it's not like a real beach because the waves are small.
My closest real beach is probably the one made immortal by the classic film 'Point Break' starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, Bells Beach, though the beach used in the film was actually in South Australia. I really wish I had a Point Break icon to use for this post now, because that movie is hilarious.
How do people in America not get all claustrophobic and go crazy?
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antpower
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-19 06:25 pm (UTC)Playing volleyball
Playing frisbee
Kite-flying
parasailing
surfing
jogging
building sand-castles
Covering people up with inordinate amounts of sand
Getting drunk
no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:20 am (UTC)Or to get the kids out of the way. Or to meet cute boys. It's kind of more casual than volleyball but more organised that frisbee and stuff.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-19 08:51 pm (UTC)-collect shiny rocks
-surfing
-skimboarding
-boogieboarding
-flying kites
-bulding sandcastles
-play volleyball
-eat yucky food
-sunbathe (*gag*)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:30 am (UTC)Ultimate frisbee is actually a sport in America that lots of college students play. it's not super mainstream, but it exists.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-19 09:17 pm (UTC)I think that's about it. :o)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-19 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-20 11:30 am (UTC)My closest real beach is probably the one made immortal by the classic film 'Point Break' starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, Bells Beach, though the beach used in the film was actually in South Australia. I really wish I had a Point Break icon to use for this post now, because that movie is hilarious.
How do people in America not get all claustrophobic and go crazy?