Pepperdine University
- Local Atmosphere

5 Fun Facts about Malibu:
• The Chumash Indian word malibu means “noisy waters” (better than that other sleepy California town, Lompoc, whose name means “stagnant waters”).
• It hosts the annual Malibu International Film Festival, as well as the annual Malibu Chili Cook-Off. Pepperdine’s frats and sororities often join in the latter competition.
• A mysterious surfer organization known as “Malibu Locals Only,” or MLO, protects its home turf by picking fights with non-Malibu surfing citizens and by spray-painting its three ominous initials onto cement surfaces.
• Baywatch was filmed on Malibu’s voluptuous golden beaches.
• On several nights between March and August, at high tide, the Southern California coastline becomes besieged by “grunion runs,” the bizarre spawning ritual of thousands of little translucent fishes called grunion. These grunion runs—the timing of which is based on the moon cycle and can be predicted long in advance—make for very interesting marine biology field trips.

Famous Malibu Residents:
You name it! Everyone who is anyone in the entertainment industry has at least one home in Malibu. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself jogging around Pepperdine’s track with Pamela Anderson or if you see Dick Van Dyke dancing with his grocery cart at a Ralph’s grocery store.

Local Slang:
The ’Bu – Abbreviated form of Malibu.
Chill – Used as an adjective or a verb, as in “I was chillin’ with this really chill girl.”
Plus the hippest and latest surfer culture expressions—nothing you haven’t heard on MTV