No, I am not from “Cali.”
People from California do not, I repeat, DO NOT, call California “Cali” -- ever. The term was foreign to me prior to attending college on the east coast. Really, aside from hearing “Cali” used by Compton rappers and "Jersey Shore" characters, it was not part of my vocabulary. I can’t count the times someone has asked me if I was from “Cali” since arriving on campus. It is nails on a chalkboard for Californians. I'll tell you what, I agree to not ask which exit when you tell me you are from Jersey, if you don’t ask me which part of “Cali” I am from.
Timberlands are for work or hiking.
Unlaced Timberlands – or “Timbs” – are all the rage on campus -- often worn by guys in shorts. You have to wonder about the first adventurous soul who took that fashion risk: unlaced Timbs with tongue hanging over and shorts in public. I am betting he was hungover. But once the first guy did, the herds soon followed and the outfit is now ubiquitous. When first confronted with this get up, most west coast people are heard to audibly snicker. In the west, Timberlands are worn by people in the construction trades or the odd Pacific Coast Trail hiker. And they are always properly laced.
Pro basketball jerseys as spring utility wear.
Legend has it that the swallows instinctually return to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano each year in mid-March. Similarly, as if controlled by the same instinct, groups of guys in pro basketball jerseys suddenly appear at the first spring-like day in mid-March on east coast campuses. Even though temperatures may only approach the 50s, Nets and Knicks tank tops become ever present. And for a brief period they are visible in every setting -- student union, quad, and classrooms. Thankfully, as suddenly as they appear the jerseys seem to disappear by the time finals arrive.
Where is the fresh fruit?
People from the west have fresh fruit year-round. Once winter sets in, that is not the case at east coast schools. I literally crave berries, grapes, and most of all, avocados, from mid-October on. I replenish over winter break understanding that when I return to campus the dining halls will carry only a seemingly random assortments of apples, oranges and bananas until late spring.
Everyone is on time and sometimes even early.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things I like about the east. One of the weird things I appreciate is that people are on time. People in the west have a much more flexible – perhaps “relaxed” – version of time. Frustratingly, that means if you are meeting friends at 2:30, it is likely to be 2:45 or 3 before people roll in. Not so in the east; no relaxed time here. People arrive on time, or perhaps a little early, which alleviates the need to set artificially early meeting start times.
