Home is far away for many students. Students said many things about how the distinct, coastal Malibu and greater Los Angeles culture came as a shock in contrast to the communities they were raised in.
Students said they chose to study at Pepperdine to break out of their hometown bubbles, meet new people with different backgrounds and grow as a person.
“I wanted to get myself out of the Dubai bubble — the happy, safe bubble,” sophomore Jason Piedade said. “While this world is great, it didn’t represent the rest of the world and I wanted to expose myself to grow.”
L.A. was not at all what Piedade expected it to be. He said he was raised watching YouTubers, rom-coms and movies like “La La Land,” so he built up a romanticized idea of the city, putting it on a pedestal.
“As I drove by the Warner Bros. Studio, I found myself absolutely shocked that movies were filmed in buildings like that,” Piedade said. “It took away the magic a bit.”
Piedade said people in Dubai seem to take their safety for granted. He said there is more censorship in Dubai than in the United States, but there is more safety at night in Dubai. Between the United States and Dubai, there is a give-and-take between safety and freedom, Piedade said.
“Growing up, my mom wasn’t worried if I left the house at the middle of the night and was walking the streets at 4 a.m.,” Piedade said.
Piedade noticed the politics are different. He said Americans seem to have more entitlement when it comes to their ideas about how the country should be run.
“People in Dubai are a lot more confident in their leaders,” Piedade said. “They have no real complaints to give about how the country is run.”
The biggest shock when coming to L.A., Piedade said, was the kindness in small-talk interactions. Piedade said he was shocked at how willing people are to spark conversation.
One of Piedade’s first interactions at Pepperdine was in line at the on-campus Starbucks, he said. A woman behind him was so excited to start a conversation about how they share the same drink order of a caramel macchiato.
“Americans are a lot more small-talky,” Piedade said. “No one cares in Dubai and go about their day with tunnel vision.”
Piedade said he has grown in confidence since coming to Pepperdine. He loves that Americans are so in touch with people’s emotions and seem to genuinely care about how those around them are feeling. He said being in the United States pushed him to develop his emotional side as a man.
Junior Melia Wade, from Oahu, Hawai’i, also said her experiences thus far on the mainland pushed her to grow in many ways.
Wade described how Hawai’i is a melting pot of different languages, including a form of English called “Pidgin.” Pidgin is the same as English, but more culturally based with certain slang terms, Wade said.
Wade said the warm hospitality in Hawai’i is pivotal to its culture. She described how there are people to welcome you immediately with a fresh Hawaiian lei and warmth as you step off the plane at the airport in Hawai’i.
She said Hawai’i operates as more of a collectivist society. She noticed how people on the mainland are helpful and caring toward one another, but are self-focused and individualistic.
Wade described some stand-out differences between the Hawaiian island and the mainland. Hawai’i has many deeply rooted Asian influences that make up the Hawaiian culture. Wade found it shocking that people on the mainland leave their shoes on in the house, she said.
Wade additionally found it a culture shock that people in L.A. call those of authority by their first names. Wade said where she is from, it’s not disrespectful, but it’s culturally expected to speak to those of authority as if they are above you at all times. For example, when meeting a friend’s mom, she calls them “Auntie X” instead of simply calling them by their first name.
Sophomore Niccie Jamitkowski also noticed some substantial cultural differences between the west coast and the east coast where she is from.
Jamitkowski said she loves the old, colonial buildings in her hometown of North Andover, Massachusetts. She said she misses the cozy, “Gilmore Girls“ vibe.
“It’s nice to have a fall day inside with a warm drink in hand,” Jamitkowski said. “It’s technically colder there, but the vibes are warmer.”
The accents are polar opposites and the rough, stereotypical Boston accent is very real, Jamitkowski said. She described the California accent as being rough in a completely different way.
Jamitkowski also noticed some other differences between her hometown of North Andover and L.A.. She noticed there is much more excitement and things to do in L.A., such as concerts and places to eat. She also said one is less prone to seasonal depression when the seasons change because it is mostly sunny in L.A..
“I did not expect the overall good vibes here and high spirits,” Jamitkowski said.
Before coming to Pepperdine, students pictured L.A. as an idealized place with many influencers and celebrities. Soon, their picture of L.A. became real, as opposed to imagined and idealized. Despite this, Piedade, Wade and Jamitkowski each said they are glad they came to Pepperdine.
“I met so many people different than myself,” Wade said. “I grew way more as a person over the last two years than I would have if I stayed in the island bubble of Hawai’i.”
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Contact Samantha Wareing via email: samantha.wareing@pepperdine.edu or via Twitter: @WareingSamantha
