Blogging Social Difference in L.A: Week 1

Hello,

Hello and welcome to my blog. Here, I will tell and record my many adventures that I have planned for the Fall in Los Angeles. Because Los Angeles is the most populated city in California there must be some many different people living in it and by exploring the city, I will be expanding my knowledge of social difference and solidarities among the people of Los Angeles and learning how these features produce a contemporary city. In other words, I will attempt to find answers to the main question: What difference does difference make?

To start off, I'm Anne and this is my second year attending UCLA. I moved to Los Angeles about a year ago for college. I'm from Oakland Chinatown which is located in California Bay Area and I've lived there all my life until now.

Honestly, I wanted to attend college in Berkeley because it was just twenty minutes away from my home. I thought I would never have to leave home and all would go well. However, I ended up here in Los Angeles and completely starting over by moving to a new place, meeting new people, and of course, learning all about "So-Cal" life, people and environment. At first I was really afraid to leave and live without my family; I did not want to leave my family because I used to be one who loves to stick around familiar faces and places. When making arrangements for my trip here, everyone warned me that there are differences between Southern California and the Bay Area but I wondered what are the differences? I am happy that I asked this question a year ago, and I am in the process of finding the answer through my experiences living in Southern California. Before I left home, I wondered how my life living here would be so different because both Oakland and Los Angeles are big, metropolitan and urban areas.

I thought that it was not a big deal to adjust to here because I've lived in the urban for all my life but I was wrong, and the more I stay in Los Angeles, the more differences I find. Of course, I also do find similarities as well. For example, I observe different cultures present here that aren't present in the Bay Area and transportation systems are so much more complicated here than in the Bay Area.

I miss my family while I'm here, however, I do like to travel and see new places. I think that one down fall of traveling and vacationing is becoming home sick, but by moving to Los Angeles, I have chosen the traveling path and I would like to continue to get to know Los Angeles better. This class will certainly help me because it forces me to leave the campus and explore more and this is one reason I am interested in this class. I am also excited about this course because I like geography in general and I am very curious to learn more about urban life for my minor in Urban Planning and Regional Studies.

The fact that there is a minor and one can study for years about the urban and cities can only mean that there are so many complex systems and aspects. Some feature that make up a city or is present in one is social differences such as race, class and status. With these differences mingled together, there become conflicts, inequality and solidarity. Furthermore, these results result in exclusion, groups and separated communities. I'm sure there is more to this and I am ready to learn more about this through the course.