When coming to Berkeley as someone from Los Angeles, I was completely shocked to find how different Northern California is from my “southern” roots. As incoming freshmen adjust to their lives in a new environment, they still have yet to see the full culture shock that the Bay Area brings to us SoCal students.
The weather transitioning into fall and winter really makes you feel as though you’ve chosen a school on the East Coast. Northern California is a different kind of cold. I find myself layering up to go to my classes, shivering vigorously throughout the day, the second I leave any room. Colder seasons really differ from back home in sunny LA where it tends to stay in the 60-degree range instead of a scary 40 degrees. Weirdly enough, in August and the end of the spring semester when it’s warmer, a 70-degree day leaves me sweating walking to my class, whereas I would comfortably wear a jacket around all day back home.
Although both cities have the same geography of beaches, mountains, and valleys, the vibes they give off are infinitely different. San Francisco is such an amazing city, and I’ve loved experiencing it in college with my friends. However, it’s much more of a city vibe than LA has ever felt to me, unless you’re in Downtown. The fog and dreary weather in SF took me by surprise. The other weekend, I took a visiting hometown friend to see the Golden Gate Bridge, and you couldn’t see it in the slightest because of the dense fog, which was quite disappointing. I love SF, however, I do find myself missing the beachy vibes of LA and the endless supply of palm trees everywhere I go.
Other random things I find myself missing is the superior Mexican cuisine in SoCal that my friends and I have decided is much better. I miss talking in my embarrassingly strong valley girl accent without the fear of people commenting on just how intense it is. I really can’t help but enunciate all my vowels and say “like” about 20 times in each sentence I speak.
This all may sound dramatic, because, at the end of the day, most students here are all from California. But as Berkeley becomes chillier and you live here longer, you really start seeing the stark differences that come with living in NorCal after growing up in SoCal. However, the beauty in that is that you get to experience a whole new environment that truly makes it a great place to live for college.