First Impressions of Southern California
Southern California comes with its stereotypes: the health consciousness, the Kardashian look-alikes everywhere you turn, the traffic, the hiking, and the avocados. After spending a month here, I will tell you that these things very much exist. However, there is so much more depth to these stereotypes that you wouldn’t truly understand them until you lived here. SoCal is not as shallow or as glamorous as one would think. The facade of the big Hollywood sign, the large mansions in Beverly Hills, and the TMZ celebrity tour buses undermine the rest of the Southern California experience. There is so much diversity out here in the food, the people, and the places that you get more than you bargain for when you visit. SoCal culture is very enriching and each time you go somewhere you discover something new.
Beyond the valley girl accents, the people here are more genuine than you would believe. I have never met a more insightful group of people until I came here to Southern California. This place is filled with people from different walks of life all across the country and whom are still trying to find their way. Their stories are inspiring and many times eye opening. I have noticed that the reason people settle down to this part of the country has to do with their desire to be independent and to figure out how to navigate through life on their own. Some want to start over and others just want to create a new connection to other people living here. But the things you learn from the conversations and interactions with Southern Californians is life changing if you are from a small suburb like me.
You can never get bored here. From Orange County to Los Angeles, the amount of activities to do is almost endless. From the beaches, shopping centers, museums and tourist destinations, you can find yourself discovering a new piece of Southern California every time you make the decision to step outside. The variety of food here is mind-blowing. Though it is not as authentic as traveling to the actual countries to eat their cultural dishes, you can get pretty damn close here in Southern California. From Vietnamese Pho to Ethiopian injera, you can find it all within Ubering distance. California’s massive amounts of immigrants enhances the cultural experience and exposes you to different parts of the world without having to leave the country.
As someone from the East Coast I must confess that the scenery is to-die for. The view that I have from this side of the country is much better. Compared to the flat wetland of Florida, the large mountainous and hilly terrain is always breathtaking. It’s a whole new world for me and I can’t stop staring at my new surroundings.
