the OC...

I just arrived in California. I'm here visiting my grandparents in Orange County until Tuesday when I fly back to France. It's great to be here and see them but Southern California is a different world! I met my dad and step-mom at the airport(John Wayne Airport if you please) and while I was in baggage claim waiting for them the first thing I was greeted by wasa Sheriff on a segway! I also spotted a business woman dressed to the nines - wearing Crocs! And apparently here inSouthern California the men have adopted the skinny jeans look! Where did I land?

It's great to be here though and reconnect with my family. My grandparents moved into a new and smaller house 2 years ago just after the last time I visited. It's funny, their new house smells exactly the same as their old one, and withall their things I feel like they never moved! Here I am sitting on the little twin bed they've always had ready for guests, a quilted blanket that my great-grandmother made (as my grandmother proudly declared) typing this blog entry offline. As tech-saavy as my grandparents are they have not set up a wifi system ;-) So I'll post this tomorrow when I get online.

I'm so excited that I was able to have the time to come down here a couple days. A part of me wishes I lived closer to homeso I could come visit more often, but at the same time I know that even living in the States I wouldn't be able to come all that often. I love my family but I couldn't see myself ever living in this area, and so they are the only thing which draws me here. And since I'm the far-away grandchild (although now in Australia my sister is rivaling me on this one!) a special effort made for everyone to get together. My dad and step-mom came down from the Bay Area and my aunt, uncle and little cousin took the train up from San Diego :-)

Southern California is too much for me though, the endless freeways jammed with monsterous SUVs, and the countless strip malls that linethe streets, it truely is a concrete jungle in every way possible. It's a big change from the stories my parentstold me about growing up here, long lanes of orange orchards, instead of snowball fights there were rotten orange fightstoday you'd never know that it was named "orange county" for a reason! I've never seen the "O.C." but Orange County is hardly the glamorous place the previews make it out to be, but it is a huge part of my family's history.

Anyway it's time for bed.