My Older Daughter Is Going To Los Angeles Next Month - What Should She Know?

[zbuzz]

You might have mentioned this and I just don’t see it, but how long will she be here and will there be other kids she knows in the program in the area?

And is the host family expected to do anything with her or be involved in any way or are they just providing her a room to stay in while she’s here?

edit
ah just saw it’s 2 weeks and meals

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

@Moonrise

What’s the Washington Boulevard-Jefferson Boulevard area like?

Pretty typical of West LA. There’s a Hyatt on one corner and a big cinema plex on another. Definitely not shabby, but it ain’t Beverly Hills, either.

[SCAdian]

Advice from Tom Lehrer:

“Just two things of which you must beware:
Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air!”

[madmonk28]

@Moonrise

I imagine that the organization had made plans with another family who ultimately cancelled, so they had to find a replacement at short notice. This is not a rare phenomenon in exchange programs, I knew a guy who had that very problem. Twice. While he was already in the host

I used to work on an exchange program in Russia, preparing kids to go to the US. It wasn’t uncommon to have to change a family at the last minute; sometimes one of the host parents got transferred, or sick, or any of the many other things that can happen in life.

[DesertDog]

@LSLGuy

That idiot woman from New York did not know what she was talking about.

It was a quote about Oakland, not the Southland.

@carrps

Oh, and the Kosher Burrito was owned by a Korean family.

Only in California…

[madmonk28]

@DesertDog

It was a quote about Oakland, not the Southland.

And Stein was from Oakland. Her meaning is ambiguous; she had just visited the site of her childhood home and found it no longer existed, She might have meant her old home was gone.

[DrDeth]

@Moonrise

I left it at that but here come my first questions. A bus, really? Is it feasible, or even recommended? What about the metro? Wouldn’t a taxi be a much better option?

It depends on where she will be staying. A LOT. Culver City is kind of central to a lot of things, but NOT Hollywood.

Uber or other ride sharing might be better.

@LSLGuy

Knowing which “Los Angeles” we’re / they’re talking about will be important.

As a general matter, public transit sucks.

Yes to both. It also depends on the airport. Note that LAX is a bit of a nightmare.

@Velocity

She should bear in mind that LA can be cooler than one may think.

Certainly. Right now it is rather nice and cool at nite. But if she is coming in July- it will be hot anywhere but the coast.

@Stranger_On_A_Train

In fact, Los Angeles of the first half of the 20th century had an extensive system of streetcars, cable cars, and funiculars (of which only Angels Flight remains in semi-functional form) which were systematically eliminated specifically to facilitate the the freeway system, which was designed for distributed suburbanized growth.

This is a bit of an Urban Legend. The Red Car was very slow, in fact as a kid my Mom and I rode it several times- when it slowed down at a corner, you just trotted up and got on. It ran with surface streets and had issues with vehicle traffic.

@Stranger_On_A_Train

The hike up to the Hollywood sign, on the other hand, is…not worth it. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is about 15 minutes of mild amusement.

I agree to both.

But there is also the two Getty Museums, both or which are worth the trip, not to mention Disneyland down in Orange County. Universal Studios is fun also. The La Brea Tar Pits is great and educational, and The Santa Monica pier is interesting, especially if she is staying in Culver City.

[Moonrise]

She arrived in L.A. yesterday.

Her flight went well. I couldn’t help tracking it troughout the day. I had a bit of a scare when she flew over Greenland because the position switched to “estimated” for about an hour but apart from that, it was uneventful, and I saw that she had landed safely just as I was about to go to bed. She sent me a text almost as soon as she got off the plane and then… nothing.

I finally got another text just two hours ago. She’s happy, her room looks really nice and three more teenagers are going to join her tomorrow. She’s planned to go to the Walk of Fame today. Not wasting time, I see. That’s my girl !

I’m really happy to see that she’s doing something that she’s dreamt of for a long time. As I wrote above, she’s always been very shy and hesitant to speak for herself. I love to see her becoming more confident, even though she did look very nervous at the airport yesterday. I’m proud of her.

I’ve relayed the tips that you’ve mentioned above to her. She found them really cool and wrote them down. Now, she has two weeks to explore.

Thanks a lot for your advice. This means a lot to us.

And now, her younger sister wants to do something like this too…

[Elmer_J.Fudd]

@Moonrise

three more teenagers are going to join her tomorrow.

You buried the lede. She’ll be fine and have lots of fun.

[Moonrise]

@Elmer_J.Fudd

You buried the lede.

Hey, I didn’t know either !

[zbuzz]

Since she is going to be there for a while, a reach activity to do with the other kids could be spending the day at the San Diego County Fair. It’s about a 2 hour train ride, so maybe it’s a bit too adventurous for kids from another country, but if they want to experience something outside of LA, it’s an idea. I wouldn’t recommend it solo, though, rather as something she and the other kids can do together as a group.

[Moonrise]

That’s a good idea, I’ll mention this to her. I know that she has a long to-see list but it could be nice to do something outside of L.A.

She asked me to call her today (early morning here, evening there). She was waiting for an Uber after exiting the metro because someone was acting weird and holding something which “looked like a knife”. I stayed on the phone with her until she got back home.

She didn’t seem too shaken by that experience, I guess she just wanted to hear my voice on the way back as it was getting dark. She may have overreacted, but better safe than sorry.

Apart from that, she’s already ticked several of the boxes on her list, and I feel that she’s still trying to find her bearings but already enjoying the ride.