There I was in Salem, Oregon ““ shaking in my Converse sneakers and donning my pathetic excuse for proper rain gear. I tried to cover myself from an ice-cold downpour with an umbrella that had flipped inside out from a gust of northwest wind.
Despite my initial reactions to Salem ““ feeling dumbfounded and freezing cold ““ I have never been happier to leave my jaded life at UCLA in order to experience the world outside the artificial Los Angeles kingdom.
I decided, months in advance, to expand my horizons beyond my L.A. haven. I chose to visit a part of the country where the temperature varies somewhere outside the mid-70s and is located more than a convenient car ride away.
My good friend, Anna, offered that very opportunity over Veteran’s Day weekend. She suggested I visit her at her college, Willamette University, which is situated an hour outside of Portland and hosts a student body that is just under 2,000.
For an Angeleno through and through, this was a big step for me. Only on rare occasions do I choose to leave the West side. I’ll admit that every ounce of my blood holds a whole-hearted connection to the City of Angels.
I’m a terrible driver. I’ve witnessed every ridiculous mind-and-body trend, from wheatgrass juice to Kabbalah, to pilates.
I complain when the weather dips below 75 degrees and I’m forced to ditch my flip-flops for a pair of shoes that require accompanying socks.
And I decided to not stray too far from my hometown in order to attend college in the city I know and love best.
That said, I arrived on a calm Friday evening in Oregon greeted with light showers, cool temperatures and a legitimate excuse to wear a pea coat.
I was initially amazed at the traffic-free roads as I made the one-hour trip down the freeway from Portland into the city of Salem.
But I would receive the biggest surprise when I actually entered the quaint and charming little neighborhood surrounding Willamette University.
The streets of Salem were lined with golden-red leaves as though they had been strategically scattered about with the exacting calculation of a set designer. Salem had all the attraction of a picturesque small town ““ complete with mom-and-pop coffee shops and a plethora of antique stores.
Of course, this was a huge culture shock from the hustle and bustle of L.A. life that I am used to. And I’ll admit that my first introductions to the city of Salem and Willamette’s campus proved difficult.
Coming from a school of UCLA’s size and scale, I was originally unsettled by the peace and quiet. After all, UCLA boasts an undergraduate population of around 25,000 and is situated in thriving West Los Angeles. So the idea of being outside a big city, visiting a small liberal arts school, was a completely alien concept to me. But I eventually and reluctantly learned to appreciate the subtleties of campus life at a small liberal arts college and revel in the tranquility that originally disconcerted me.
And, even more surprisingly, I learned to enjoy what it was like to leave my metropolitan bubble.
After all, Anna and I both grew up as city girls who are accustomed to everyday realities: traffic on the 405, heat waves in mid-October and an overdose of non-fat frozen yogurt.
But unlike me, Anna chose to leave it all for an unfamiliar, but still rewarding, college experience.
Despite the two very divergent paths we took for our four years as undergraduates, we both ended up pleasantly and unpredictably happy.
For that reason alone, I am completely satisfied with my getaway.
Because, despite my initial difficulties with small-town adjustment ““ and despite the wind and rain ““ there is a lot that Salem has to offer that L.A. can never give me: a legitimately quiet place to clear my head and a location where the names “Paris,” “Nicole” or “Lindsay” don’t stir up any local tales of post-adolescent debauchery.
But of course, when my plane finally landed in LAX and I stood around listening to honking horns and angry drivers spitting insults as I waited for my shuttle home, I couldn’t help but smirk.
It was, ultimately, nice to be home.
Send your small town tales to Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.