Nearly 2 weeks in LA... It's felt like an odd and somewhat disconnected time overall. The job is great, and the people turn out to be even more excellent than their first impressions led me to believe. Nice (and rare) when that is true. The odd part is being so clueless about where I am and needing all kinds of basic help (where can I go for lunch? where's a used book store? is that neighborhood far?) It's been a long while for me to be so out of it in a living-there type situation. I'm certainly feeling like a traveller -- only I'm supposed to have moved here. Hm.

For a place notorious for its cars, LA has a lot of trees. Looking around for an apartment, it seemed I was constantly turning a corner of some central city street and landing on another suburban block. It seems most blocks between the big streets here are filled with 1- and 2-story homes with lawns in front. Where I'm staying (Santa Monica according to my host, Sawtelle according to the Thomas Guide), it seems there's always someone out walking their dog. No matter what time of day or night.

High contrast to Koreatown, where I'm working, which oddly keeps reminding me off different places in the Philippines. Not fully, but every now and then. There's a boba tea/coffee place around the corner with a little outdoor deck that feels kinda like Boracay except that it faces a bank parking lot instead of the beach. I can pretend it's a beach...

As for the job, I'm learning tons about viruses, bacteria, and a couple of parasites. Even more about epidemics and public policy (or the lack of it). And I feel like a part of this little documentary-making machine, not just a side note. That's a nice feeling. For that, I'm sure that it's all going to be good. The verdict on the rest of my world down here is still to be determined. I suppose my sense of place will improve as I learn my way around and as I get some friends so I don't simply return home to read more about plagues, eat cheese and crackers, and wait until after our cell plans go to "evening minutes" to talk to Troy on the phone.