I liked the time I spent there, because it was different from anything I had experienced before. However, I don't think I would have been able to stay there for more than 3 years or so, and I definately would not want to settle there. I had heard that Northern California was the place to be, and Southern California was all congestion and sucktitude. Well, I didn't get the chance to visit NoCal, but SoCal wasn't as bad as I had feared, in some respects.
What I liked about California:
- Tustin. It's a nice suburb of the OC. It wasn't as slick or yuppie as Irvine, where I'd drive past the apartments and say "yeah, I ain't gonna be able to live up in here for a loooong time, if EVA!". It wasn't as beat-up/ghetto as Santa Ana or La Brea, where I'd drive through and say "don't these people ever clean up the place?" Tustin had the perfect mix of upper-middle class and blue collar-class, for me at least. My apartment was the right type for me at the time, too bad I didn't have any furniture for it :D It just felt "real". I just wished I could have gotten to know more people around there, but I'm a quiet guy anyways.
- The Orange Coast SDA church. Beautiful people, multi-cultural church, all that's good about so-called "California Adventists" and nothing bad...at least not from what I saw in my three-plus months over there. It was a bit weird to see the church go out for dinner at Soup Plantation after church, but to each their own. Pastor Ken was a really wonderful pastor, and I always had a blessing whenever I went to church there.
- Bible study at Russ and Megumi's place. Their house was the first place I went after I moved to California, on the emailed advice from Pastor Ken, and this bible study became the high point of my week. The people I met there had a great impact on my spiritual life, and Russ and Megumi really helped me during my stay in California in more ways than one. I'll never forget them, and they've got a friend for life in me. Open line for any assistance I can give 'em! Special mention to Courtney and David as well :)
- Anything I wanted was within 10 minutes drive. From Ikea to groceries to chinese food to car marts to Barnes and Nobles to sushi to movie theaters...you name it, and it's around close enough. Coming from small towns in New Mexico and Virginia, this was enough to make my head spin...and I loved it ('specially that B&N thing, hahahaha.)
- Variety of scenery. When I was driving to Tustin from NM, all I saw was desert, and the two-hour stretch from the Arizona border to Bakersfield, CA (where I-40 merges into I-15 N&S) was probably the second worst stretch of driving landscape I've had the displeasure of passing through. I'll describe the worst in another travelogue. Anyways, I was surprised when I headed south on I-15, and saw the whole range of scenery! From desert to snow-capped mountains to beach scenery, all within 3 hours of driving. The range in the OC wasn't too bad either. I went out on a drive a couple of times, and took a bike ride a few days before. The first drive was through the south mountains, and the second drive was through Malibu with Lauren. The bike ride was along one of the trails to the beach, but I didn't get to the beach. I did find this really nice small park, and had a good meditation there. My point is that California does have a good range of climates.
- Traffic. Freakin' Traffic. Sodding, bloody, disgusting, traffic. Let me tell you, I have experienced rush-hour traffic in Jamaica every morning heading to work. I've driven in NYC, and I've been in the best of beltway traffic in DC on many an occasion. None of those in any way prepared me for the horror that is Southern California rush hour traffic. It has to be seen to be believed, but let me give you an idea. Imagine a 12-lane highway, 6 lanes running one way, and 6 lanes running another. Now imagine this highway packed to the brim with cars that aren't moving, for about 30 miles or so. That, my friends, is I-405 every day after 5 pm. I mean, I lived about a 10-minute drive from my office at a regular time. Leaving early in the morning, I would make it in about 15 minutes or so. Coming home in the evenings, if I reached home in an hour, I was lucky. It made no difference if I used the freeway or tried to find local roads, it was clogged either way. Traffic would have played a major role in making me leave Cali if I had kept my plan of working for a while in that state.
- Heat. The whole place was just MUGGY, and the fieldwork I was doing in the Inland Empire (near Loma Linda and San Bernardino) made me aware that smog is really REALLY bad around these parts. If you live near the coast, you might catch some breeze, but other than that, you salt.
- High cost of living. I never did understand why everything was so overpriced over there. Was I supposed to pay for the privilege of living in this "wonderful" state? sheesh! From rent to movies to groceries, it was all high-priced. I learned a lot about living on the cheap...
- Fakeness of people. It said a lot to me that in my time in California, the only friends I made were people who were not native to California. Every last one of them came from somewhere out of state or out of country, or even out of SoCal. I never knew that people could be so two-faced until I experienced OC natives.
- Being black in California. I had my first and only DWB experience in California.
- Earthquakes. I experienced two tremors in my time there, and it only reminded me that the Big One is overdue. If you live in California, keep on dreaming that it won't come. People in New Orleans thought the same thing about the levees.
And i never even got a chance to truly go through Los Angeles...but that was probably for the best.
My favourite memory of California: Visiting Whistler Island (if that's the name) on July 4 with the OC young people. Beautiful place, and it got me into kayaking. Honorable mention goes to my bike ride through Costa Mesa towards the beach, the Monday Bible studies at Russ's place (and James's place sometimes), and the times I spent hanging with Bev and Lauren, especially with Lauren and her friend at that free Jars of Clay concert at Angel Stadium. Also, finally getting to meet Rachel!
Not so cool memory of California: Traffic, feelings of confusion after my experience, feelings of being BROKE, uncertainty of the future, speeding tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment