West Coast Best Coast

Gabrielle Banner

Professor Sakovich

English 100

Revised 5/20/14

West Coast Best Coast

        I’ve spent half of my life on the east coast and the other half living on the west coast and I consider myself very fortunate to have done so. Growing up in Washington D.C. exposed me to a lot of historical beauty, such as the Smithsonian Museum and the national monuments, while my time in California showed me breathtaking natural beauty.  California’s coastline was like something out of a movie and also had sunsets unlike any I had ever seen before. Each state in the US has it’s own very unique culture and life style, but I prefer California’s mellow vibe to that of the hustle and bustle of Washington D.C.  

        I had a wonderful childhood growing up on the east coast, but then again, that was all I had ever known. I lived in the suburbs of Washington D.C. until I was eleven years old.  I like to think that my childhood was pretty typical. My closest friends were the other children in my neighborhood, whenever I complained of being bored I was ordered to go play outside, and nothing was more exciting than the daily anthem of the ice cream man’s truck entering our cul-de-sac every afternoon.  Although my childhood was very similar to what I would imagine any normal person’s childhood would look like, one very atypical aspect of my childhood was the amount of American history and culture I was exposed to at a young age.  Most American children take a week-long trip to Washington D.C. in 8th grade, but I was fortunate enough to experience this kind of field trip since entering elementary school.  Going on a field trip to the Capitol building to meet senators was not an uncommon experience for me.  I was lucky enough to also visit quite a few national museums and monuments on school field trips as well.  All of this was wonderful for an avid learner like myself. However, I knew there had to be more to the world than US history and how our government worked.  I was unaware that I was about to experience a major culture shock from the moment I stepped off of the plane and my feet touched California soil.  

        Moving to California was a complete culture shock to me, and I was about to experience many different things for the first time in my life. I wan’t exposed to the ocean, sand, or anything “California” until I made the 3000 mile move across the country to Newport Beach, CA at age twelve.  I had made the cross country trek with an idealistic vision of what California should be like and I was in absolute awe from the moment I exited John Wayne Airport.  Driving to our new house in Orange County, California, I could not get over how many palm trees I saw lining the roads.  Everywhere I looked, low and behold, a palm tree would stand.  There was even a palm tree in the front yard of my new house.  The laid back coastal lifestyle I found here in California was very shocking to me at first.  California was this completely new world where seemingly everyone had sun bleached blond hair, perfect tans year round, and spoke in a cool, edgy surfer dialect.  This was a far cry from the “normal” people I was so accustomed to associating with on a daily basis.  Everyone looked like they had just stepped out of “Baywatch” to me, and I fell in love with the west coast immediately.