1.The roads are so awful. Really, they are bad. There are pot holes and cracks everywhere. Sometimes there are just big metal sheets that are essentially part of the road. After watching 9th East get torn up and redone every summer for the better part of my life, the awful roads were very apparent my first weeks here. The other day I drove on a new road and it was a beautiful moment. When I realized what was happening, I gasped, turned to Tiffany and said “look at this road!” If you are exclaiming about the quality of pavement, there is obviously a problem.
2.This is the land of the Prius. I bought a Prius before I moved here and I joked, “now I will fit right in in California”. I had no idea how not a joke that was. I swear, every three cars is a Prius. Don’t believe me?
3. It is also the home of Tesla, which means they are everywhere. I remember a few years ago my brother saw one and said, “ooh, look! A Tesla”. And I was like “What the heck is a Tesla?” Well, after listening to a biography about Elon Musk, driving past a Tesla dealership on a regular basis, and sitting in the driver’s seat of one, I now know all about this all electric, luxury car.
4. As stated in a previous post, if you want a bag at the store, you have to pay for it (retail stores included). This extra cost takes the whole “I can bring in all my grocery bags in one trip” to a whole new level. Now it’s a game of, “I bet I can stuff all this food in my arms and successfully get into my house without buying a 10 cent bag”.
"This is what living in California looks like"-Tiffany
(her diet of cereal and ice cream is #goals)
Despite going to the grocery store on a regular basis, I have forgotten to bring my canvas shopping bags multiple times. You think buying a 10 cent bag wouldn’t be something you think twice about, but I’m just saving the environment 10 cents at a time. See how California I already am? Before I would have said “saving my wallet” but now I care about the earth. My Prius is rubbing off on me.
5.Starbucks are everywhere. Picture this, you walk past Starbucks and go into the grocery store, and are immediately greeted with a mini Starbucks. Occasionally at work, marketers bring in Starbucks for people. As someone who doesn’t drink tea or coffee, things can get tricky. When offered a green tea I had the following internal debate in my head: “Is green tea okay to drink? Is it like herbal tea? Its not hot, it looks like a green milkshake and there is whipped cream on top…can I drink this???” I declined and said I was someone who likes to “eat their calories”. Thank goodness Starbucks has baked goods. Now I just request coffee cake or banana bread, and have “Tasty Starbucks Drinks without Coffee or Caffeine” permanently pulled up on my browser on my phone.
6.There is traffic, and parking is a pain. Traffic is a phenomenon I will never understand. There is no rhyme, reason, or pattern. Sometimes it’s bad, sometimes it’s not. Some days it takes me 2 minutes to get on the freeway, other days it takes 20. Inconvenient parking however is something I am very familiar with. Coming from off campus Provo BYU housing, I am use to bad parking. So nothing new there.
There of course are other differences, but I will spare you because apparently the only differences I have noticed have to do with cars/driving, and food (I have so much more to say about driving). Write what you know, ya know? I didn’t even comment on the high “cost of living”, but that’s just a given. It’s expensive here. End of story.
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