Two dumb thoughts on Los Angeles…
Friday, March 27th, 2009
A couple random, uninformed thoughts from someone who has only been here three months:
- Los Angeles is stuck in the year 1986. Seriously. Everyone still skateboards, everyone wears speedos at the pool, all of the architecture and Day-Glo looks feels like, well, the 1980s. I’ve got a South Korean friend in school and I asked him if visiting Koreatown felt like going home. He said “Koreatown is bullshit. That is not Korea. That is Korea in the 1980s.” I told him that’s how I generally felt about Los Angeles.
- For some reason, every major road gets an article. It’s not “I-10,” it’s not “10,” it’s “THE 10.” (Likewise for 405, 5, 101 and 110). I can’t think of another city in America where the roads are referred to as such. Back home no one calls “I-95″ “THE 95.” (Or 495, 355, 395, 695, etc.) We call it “95″– and guess what? It’s a more important road than any of the freeways in Los Angeles. Sure, there’s “THE Jersey Turnpike,” but at least “The” is followed by a proper noun and not a number. So what’s up with Los Angeles? I think I figured it out. In Japan they call all mountains “san.” It’s not “Mount Fuji,” it’s “Fuji-san.” Meaning “Mr. Fuji.” In Japan they treat their mountains with reverence and respect. Here, it’s the freeways.
A couple random, uninformed thoughts from someone who has only been here three months:
- Los Angeles is stuck in the year 1986. Seriously. Everyone still skateboards, everyone wears speedos at the pool, all of the architecture and Day-Glo looks feels like, well, the 1980s. I’ve got a South Korean friend in school and I asked him if visiting Koreatown felt like going home. He said “Koreatown is bullshit. That is not Korea. That is Korea in the 1980s.” I told him that’s how I generally felt about Los Angeles.
- For some reason, every major road gets an article. It’s not “I-10,” it’s not “10,” it’s “THE 10.” (Likewise for 405, 5, 101 and 110). I can’t think of another city in America where the roads are referred to as such. Back home no one calls “I-95″ “THE 95.” (Or 495, 355, 395, 695, etc.) We call it “95″– and guess what? It’s a more important road than any of the freeways in Los Angeles. Sure, there’s “THE Jersey Turnpike,” but at least “The” is followed by a proper noun and not a number. So what’s up with Los Angeles? I think I figured it out. In Japan they call all mountains “san.” It’s not “Mount Fuji,” it’s “Fuji-san.” Meaning “Mr. Fuji.” In Japan they treat their mountains with reverence and respect. Here, it’s the freeways.
