A Brit in the Golden State: an Interview with CalifLorna

Our guest this week is Lorna Harris, a Brit living in Orange County, California.  You can read her rambling about life in So Cal, adventures in travel and what she misses about the UK in her blog, Califlorna.
You can also follow her tweets on Twitter.


We know you lived in the UK before moving (back) to the States; how long did it take you to settle in to life in Orange County?

Although we were happy here as soon as we moved, I would say it's taken a good year to 18 months to really feel established. The boys have made genuine friends now, sleepovers and play dates are becoming more commonplace rather than just a token invitation because they're the new kid in town.  School doesn't feel so alien any more; in fact I think the boys would probably think it strange not to start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I'm googling less things, which I think is a good sign! When I first lived here it was without children. I was working over here and although there were still lots of differences, with children, I'm constantly coming up against things I don't know about such as baseball cleats.  We were told we needed them and I didn't have a clue what they were.


Anything you miss about British life?

I miss my friends most of all. I stay in touch with them as much as I can via email, Facebook and text but it's not the same as meeting up at the pub for a drink.

I feel I should say that I miss the BBC and newspapers but with everything being online now I'm able to read British news everyday and don't feel isolated.  That said, I do wish BBC America would improve.  I'm sure there are huge politics and budget issues behind their programming but it could be so much better.  It also seems that there is a vast audience here in the States for BBC America, it could just be an excellent service.


What do you like most about the States?

I love the sense that you can achieve anything - try anything. I'm not sure if that is particularly a Californian thing or not but we seem to be surrounded by people who have wanted to create or participate in something and just do it.  California seems to be full of over achievers!


Anything you dislike?

There must be something; I'm struggling to think at the moment.  I think, for me, as an expat, my biggest struggle is my accent.  I have been welcomed with open arms, no one makes me feel that I shouldn't be living here, but at times I just want to buy something in a store quickly without an inquisition.  It drives me mad that I need to complete an entire questionnaire before I can get a glass of water.  The answers are usually: British, I live here, I'm married to an American, yes I love it here, no I'm not homesick, no I don't know the Queen.


What do you think the USA could learn from the UK?

I wish they would learn how to do television news.  The local news is dire beyond words and the world news isn't that much better.  It's either too sensationalist or very US focused.  Watching CNN report on Gordon Brown leaving office and Cameron taking over was painful beyond words.  The presenter was really struggling to provide a running commentary on the events and let's face it, he'd had a few days to prepare!


And what could the UK learn from the States?

One of the things I'm most impressed by is an American's love for their country.  Once you've celebrated the 4th of July amongst Americans or watched them say the Pledge of Allegiance, you can see how proud they are to be American.  I admire that.

And the obvious one - service.  On a trip back to the UK recently, I was staggered at how bad the service was. Americans get a bad rap for being insincere but everyone I've come across who have visited the States acknowledge that it's not insincere, it's excellent service.  When you hear 'Have a great day!' they mean it, they really do want the rest of your day to be good.


Where do you think you will end your days and why?

Ooh, that's a really good question. I sound like some terrible retiring expat but I really love the weather in California and it would be really hard to leave that. However, I'd chosen the schools in the UK for the boys all the way up to 18, thought we were really settled and decided to throw that all up in the air and make the move to the US. So who knows? Hawaii? Australia? I'm now far more interested in living abroad and experiencing new environments.


Describe Americans in one sentence.

Compassionate, proud, tactile and giving.


What would you like to see on Pond Parleys?

E-mail your suggestion to:
MHMail55-MT AT Yahoo.com

or just pop it into the comment box.

Telly Talk

What do you think of the television in your host country?

Mike:

If you want to accentuate the single biggest difference between US and UK Television, the question should read, “Do Tits Belong on the Telly?”

Now, I profess to be one of those ‘sensitive’ type males you read about—I’m in touch with my feminine side, I feel the pain of women who are regarded as mere sex objects—but my answer to the above question is still a resounding, “Yes!” and not simply because I like to see women with their kit off.

I never truly appreciated how prudish Americans are (personally, I blame the Puritans) until I saw full-frontal nudity on the television and nobody here blinking an eye. Sexuality in Britain, and even more so on The Continent, is greeted with a casualness unknown in America outside of hippy communes, the impromptu party after the Senior Prom and the make-believe world of Sex and the City which, happily, leads me back to the telly.

Television seems more ‘real’ to me when I hear people swearing and see them doing things normal people actually do. And the best thing about it is, if I don’t want to watch normal people doing those things, I can turn it off, or surf to one of the three dozen or so channels broadcasting American shows.

As for the overall quality of programming, I think the Brits are the clear winners. I’m not saying Britain would end up as a wallflower at a “Crap Television” disco, or that the US hasn’t produced some cracking shows, but for my money (Note to the Americans: I mean that in the most literal sense) nothing beats a BBC documentary.

In America, sponsors fund programs, and sponsors have agendas. The BBC, funded by yours truly and 60 million other conscripted contributors, has the freedom to make shows simply for the sake of making shows and that has lead to some spectacular programs that otherwise would never have been made. Okay, it also led to “Lark Rise to Candleford” but you can’t have everything.

One thing I will say in favor of America is, I liked the programming schedule. While it may have become a bit less formalized in my absence, my recollection is that new programs started in the autumn, were show at the same time on the same day throughout the winter and in the spring went into reruns. Here, a new series, or a new season of a series, might start at any time. And the season might be four, eight, twelve or thirty-seven episodes long. If you watch the first two or three and really get into it, they’ll change the time or the day or both, and sometimes they’ll show several episodes in one week and then none for a few weeks after that.

It really makes it hard to plan your day, and I find it sort of sad that the only program I can really count on to be regular as clockwork is Big Brother.


Toni:

Well, once again, I find myself in a violent agreement with Mike. (We’ll have to find a topic that causes an “international incident” next time.) Anyway, yes, I find American TV to be woeful on the whole. I have cable TV which, I believe, gives me about 4200 channels, yet I quite often can’t find a thing to watch.

(I have to preface all this with the admission that I rarely watch TV. With a ten year age gap between the oldest and youngest sprog, my evenings consist of dinner, bath, bed, nagging teenagers about homework, proof-reading said homework, getting stuff ready for next day, blogging, bed.)

My viewing window is usually 9-9.30pm if I’m lucky, - a slot on many channels reserved for forensic crime shows (yawn) or “news”, which we know in the US means east coast, west coast and perhaps a bit about the Middle East. The “harder-hitting” news shows generally consist of whoever is trying to sell a book and can shout louder than everyone else. If I want to sink my teeth into international news, I turn to BBC America, where segments last longer than three minutes, the anchors really grill the guests, and the ads are relatively infrequent. Oh yes, and they cover events all over the world.

One thing I don’t miss on US tv are soaps. Most of the soaps here are on daytime TV and feature impossibly gorgeous people leading ridiculously complicated lives. I can’t even relate, but at least I avoid the coma-inducing “real life” or “gritty” British soaps like Emmerdale, Corrie and East Enders. The mere sound of the opening drum beats of East Enders has me reaching for a vat of gin to drown their sorrows.

So in summary, I eschew most US tv, except for my dirty little secret – American Idol. I’ve already picked my winner and they’ve only just announced the final 12!


Got something you want us to address? E-mail your suggestion to us or just pop it into the comment box