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.