californication

the red hot chili peppers' song comes to mind -- at least the lyrics. we moved to california july 2003. it is now july 2011, which means we have officially lived in this state for eight years. two years in san francisco, four years in irvine, and now two more years in sf, one could say we are bonafide californians. but, we pride ourselves as true pacific northwesterners. deep down somewhere, we wear birkenstocks, eat granola and worship flannel. or so i thought.

the last time we drove from california to oregon was in winter, 2005; since then we have flown and it seems that the flying may have contributed to the romanticization toward our home state. don't get me wrong. we love oregon (i even bought a "heart oregon" sticker, which i seem to have misplaced), and have very fond childhood and college memories. but, something about driving to and from oregon for this last trip (we were there for two weeks in june), made me realize that we have become californians.

for one, the driving. oh, the driving. two lane freeways, upper speed limit of 65, jalopies dotting the road. really? two, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. i missed seeing statuesque coniferous trees, and lush, greenness. but, the scenery is unfortunately littered with roadkill, cars with gunracks. conservative propaganda (okay, this one is not exclusive to oregon, but still an eye sore), and did i mention jalopies? three, full-service gas stations. we had no problems adjusting, but my ca born and raised child wondered why "that guy is getting our gas." and when we informed her that we don't get our own gas in oregon, she excitedly exclaimed "hi guy! hi! thank you!" clearly, we could get used to this. four, the people. not a negative thing, but it always takes me a moment to adjust and realize that i'm not in california anymore. oregon is racially homogenous. no problem, i grew up among that. but, having lived in ca for eight years, it is still strange (again, neither negative nor positive) to be in such an environment. it took a couple of days, but i reverted to my pre-ca self, and became really excited when i saw another asian person around. example #1: we went to the enchanted forest, and only saw two asian people there the entire time. no big deal. i didn't really take note of that until i saw another asian person (not a family member) staring at me. our eyes met, and we both smiled and nodded at each other. the kind of nod that represents camaraderie, awareness, or just excitement to see another person that looked like us. example #2: enchanted forest again. there was only one other mixed-race asian/white family there with two hapa children. the asian mom and white dad made eye contact with me separately and smiled. i smiled back. this is something new that was not a part of my life repertoire. mixed-race asian/white families in ca (not so much sf, but in somewhere more remote, say pescadero) do the same thing. we smile, check out each other's kids, and sometimes engage in conversation. and, i digress...

the point is, driving past/through wilsonville, lebanon, medford, and other such towns made me realize that i have been californified. i am definitely not as laid back as i was eight years ago (one could argue that i was never laid back to begin with). my world is different and my expectations of my surroundings are different. and, i don't think i own anything flannel -- maybe a pair of pjs?. does this mean moving back to the pacific northwest is out of the question? not at all. it's after all, home, but i have to say that i would feel just as comfortable spending the rest of my life in california. i was thrilled when i saw sf in the distance as we drove on the 80, and i felt embraced by the long stretched out arms of the bay bridge. although we had driven for over 12 hours, and were exhausted, i was so relieved and full of adrenaline as we inched toward twin peaks, with the golden gate bridge as my passenger side view. we were finally home.