<p>Any current or former students from the Midwest, what is it like to live in California? My parents seem to think that I'm going to die without subzero temperatures and gray winters, and also continue to imply that I will hate it in California. Did anyone actually have these experiences?</p>
<p>Some days can get gray here (for parts of the day at least), and it does get down to 40 in the winter. Either way, you’re going to be home during dec-jan so you’ll get that cold feeling.</p>
<p>It’s a terrible burden to wear sunblock, shorts, flip flops all year round. If you must have snow, go skiing and cross country at Mammoth or Tahoe. If you miss shoveling snow, go to the beach and make sandcastles. If you want to feel numb from the cold, go surfing without a wetsuit. Methinks your parents are a little envious of your future lifestyle changes.</p>
<p>Our son had no trouble making the transition to the 70’s and sunny weather almost all year. September was a little hot, but he never complained. We had a ton of snow last year so decided to visit him for spring break. He comes home only at Christmas and we let him take care of all the shoveling over his break. With Southwest Airlines moving in to the Midwest market, we have been able to get flights for $99 each way to the Ontario Airport. Makes it easy to visit for a long weekend once in a while. </p>
<p>Our son drives a zip car when he wants to go somewhere and just tries to be smart about avoiding the bad traffic times. The colleges are in a nice residential area in Claremont which has a lot of foot traffic, little shops and restaurants. </p>
<p>I think the transition is more difficult for the parents than the student as it is difficult to hear your child tell you how much they love their new “home.” This is much better than hearing that the weather depresses them and they want to come home. You are welcome to PM me if you or your parents have any specific questions. </p>
<p>If you do end up in CA you’ll want to remember the sunblock and a couple extra pairs of flip flops. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>The heat at the beginning of September is tough to get used to to. Your body adjusts over to the new “normal” pretty quickly. This fall my daughter called to complain about the cold - the highs were in the low 70’s. The four week break at Xmas lets her get in all the xcountry skiing that she wants as well sledding and other winter fun. She is then ready to go back to LA.</p>
<p>Battlo said:“If you want to feel numb from the cold, go surfing without a wetsuit.”</p>
<p>hahahahaha</p>
<p>When people move to California, they generally fall into two camps, independent of where they came from:
1 - love it; embrace the flipflop way of life and cruise into the future
2 - hate it; from weather to people, seems too banal; then they leave</p>
<p>Rare for people to be between these two, but it happens.</p>
<p>Impossible to know which camp you will fit into; that’s a “fit” issue.</p>
<p>Good luck!!! </p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>How could anyone hate Southern Califormia? </p>
<p>Anyway, 18-22 yo’s can do anything. Dealing with sunshine shouldn’t be a problem!</p>
<p>D did miss the changing of the leaves and the temp, but having lots of sunshine and being able to wear flipflops year round definitely offset that!</p>