California dreaming. Part 3 -People

The people we have come in contact with in this part of California have, in most cases been incredible friendly, as opposeod to most of us stayed Brits that is. They have only been too willing to chat a few words to us, and when they say "have a nice day " they usually mean it. My only gripe is sometimes they are a little loud with the odd hooping, but hey its their country and if they want to hoop well its their right. I find the racial mix here very interesting, UCR, where our son works in 2007 published an analysis of their racial mix ; Asian Americans 43% Hispanic Americans 27% Caucasian Americans 22% African Americans 7% American Indians 0.5% others 0.5% The Asian component is made up of Chineese, Japanesse, Koreans with a relatively small Indian/Pakistani community. Walking around the campus, shopping malls etc it is interesting to observe very little inter racial groups ,even as friends and colleagues. Also these groupings tend to converse in their mother tongue. This tho to some extent supported by multiple tv programs available in their own languages. The US education system is conducted solely in english, which means many people are truely bi-linguel a skill much admired by myself.

california dreaming part 2 The motor car

The motor car has a huge influence on life here in Southerln California.From my observation if you walk sidewalks (pavements) and unless you are under 20 or are destitute you are considered a bit of an oddity. I guess this is a little harsh but there is a measure of truth encapsulated in it. If you watch US tv, with its copious ad breaks, in each one you can virtually assured to see a motor related advert. There is still a tendancy to have huge cars for personal use, and I still do not understand the attraction of having a truck as your main vehicle.There is starting to be a consideration about fuel efficiency (Callifornia is one of the better States in relationto this) but big is still beautiful here. Fuel costs have risen by about 60% in the years since we have been coming here, they are now about $4.40 a gallon, but bear in mind the US gallon is smaller than the UK gallon. The roads around the outermost parts of conubation of LA, which is what Riverside is, can be divided into two types. To get between the various towns one uses the Interstates and Freeways ( like the UK motorways). They are in general poorly maintained(they do not like spending money on them here)and can be up to 5 lanes in each direction. From the driving point of view there are no rules as to when and where you can overtake. Around the rushour they frequently grind to a halt and are a major cause of the smog. Local roads are mainly used for short journeys into and around the nearby stores and amenities . They too could be very wide, three /four wide lanes each way. At some junctions I. could feel a little agrophobic! There are virtually no roundabouts but a large number of crossroads. Here the rule is all vehicles have to stop, and then each vehicle takes it in turn to go. Pedestrians, though rare, are also awarded the utmost courtesy and drivers always stop for you to cross those roads without the automated pelican type signaled pedestrian crossings. On the sigmal controlled crossings, pedestrians seem to obey the red hand not to cross. This could be because the roads are too wide to cross without help! The other different rule for us Europeans is that you can turn right on a red light if no traffic is coming. On the face of it it seems a recipe for disaster, but it is not. Drivers seem to obey the rules and are considerate. I am impressed by their courtesy and general obeying of the rules of

California dreaming part 1

We have been coming to California to see our son for several years now; firstly when he was in Paulo Alto working for the USGS for a few months whilst doing a masters project, then for two years in Berkeley as a post doc and then for the last four years in Riverside where he now works at UCR.

California is and can be very seductive as a place for a Brit to live. Firstly the language makes it easy save for the odd couple of words. Secondly so much seems familiar to us from what we view on TV. Thirdly in a superficial way our views and way of life appear similar.

Living in Southern California Inland the obvious difference is the climate. Riverside is basically in a desert area. All year year round the temperature is warmer and drier than the UK. The summers apparently are extremely hot and our son encourages us not to visit during this season. We tend to visit between Jan and March when the climate is usually balmy though very occasionally it does rain. The climate is different from the coastal areas which suffers from a coastal fog year round usually lowering the temperature by about 10°F.

What I would like to write about in a series of blogs is my view on various aspects of life whilst we live amongst the locals.

The Gleision Mine Tragedy -Duw its hard.

When the recent coalmine tragedy at the Gleision mine at Cillybebych was announced on the news, it stirred feelings and thoughts in me that had lain dormant for many years. My first thoughts were of a Max Boyce song "Duw its hard". Many think of Max Boyce as just  a comic, but he also wrote and sang some quite thoughtful folk songs about Wales and its culture. He lives in the next village to where I was brought up and has been a miner himself.

The song tells of a time when the local mine is closed and how he was not really sad, because "Duw (God) its hard" because of the fear and conditions miners lived with every day.

Let me say why these thoughts of mining hit me more strongly than I thought possible. I grew up in Resolven, a mining village in the Vale of Neath, South Wales. The Vale of Neath is a beautiful valley with its river and waterfalls, and is a valley where the scars of its industrial  past are hidden on the mountain tops. Resolven was a relatively small village until the mid 19th century when the deep anthracite mines started to be exploited. The mine owners (Cory Brothers) built several streets of terraced houses for the incoming population who had left the countryside for industrial centres in search of work. Both my grandfathers were miners as were all of their brothers, uncles and cousins.

My paternal grandfather died 18 months before my birth as a result of the "dust" solidifying in his lungs. My maternal grandfather was retired from the mines in his mid-fifties with dust, my mother said it broke his heart when they retired him due to the loss of comradeship of his fellow miners.

In his 80's he had a bout of bronchitis and I vividly remember him coughing up black dust into his handkerchief. He lived to his early 90's and I was pleased to be able to chat with him about family and his life, time I value now greatly. He told me that to get to the coalface he had to walk a mile up the mountain, went down a mile in the cage and walked a mile underground. One day in the 1930's he walked to the mine up to his waist in snow only to be turned away. He was one of ten mining brothers who daily returned home from  work dirty and wet (there was no pithead bath in those days) to wash in the tin bath.

As a boy I remember miners in the village and remember the time of Miners Fortnight (when the mines closed for the annual summer holiday). The event that had the greatest effect on me happened when I was 16 and had been rushed into hospital with a burst appendix. Being an emergency I was deposited in a spare bed next to an old miner who took 2 days to die gasping for breath. When you are that young and relatively innocent the realities of life (and death)  do concentrate and effect your mind and beliefs.

When the miners strike occurred in the 1970, despite being from a welsh mining background and having social democratic beliefs I was against the strike. I understand the effect on communities, as shown eloquently in the film "Brassed Off", but I felt that the strike was lead by Arthur Scargill for his political purposes, but also the price of coal mining for the individual miners was too high.

The final point that contributed to my sad mood was the fact that one of those miners killed in the accident came from my village.

The accident brought back thoughts that had slipped from my mind, it shows we should never forget where we came from and what fashioned our beliefs