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I'm Alia from the United States and I have Sam with me today.
Hi Sam, where are you from?
» Hello, I am Sam from England.
» So in today's episode, Sam and I are going to talk about our hometowns and we're going to imagine what it would be like if we lived in each other's city.
So, I grew up in the Los Angeles area and Sam grew up in London.
» Well, actually, I grew up just outside of London, but I spent a lot of time in the capital city.
» Okay, makes a lot of sense.
I also technically didn't grow up in the city of Los Angeles, but the Los Angeles region is really large and obviously connected to the city of LA.
So, I know what you mean about that.
» So, neither of us live in the city, but we live in the metropolitan region.
The metropolitan region is often the suburbs, the small towns, villages that surround a city.
It is very much like living in the city but just outside of the center.
» Exactly.
Exactly.
Everything is very developed.
You know, the local economy is built around the city.
Um, and so a lot of things about our lives um have to do with that major city, but yeah, we we live in those metro areas.
So, I have been to London.
Um, have you ever been to Los Angeles?
» I have been to the Los Angeles airport, but I have never stepped foot in Los Angeles.
» Okay, got it.
That's okay.
I think we can still um imagine what it would be like to live in each other's cities because I'm sure you know a lot of things about LA.
I'm sure you've heard a lot of different things about LA.
» So, let's both do this.
Let's start imagining if we had to move to for me London and if you had to move to LA, what would you what would your initial feelings be?
What would you think about that idea?
» Wow, that's a fantastic question and I already know the answer.
If I had to move to LA, I would be really worried.
I would be really, really worried for one reason and one reason only.
Money.
The first thing that comes to my head when I think about LA is it is so expensive.
It is so painfully expensive.
Uh just to breathe in in LA probably costs an arm and a leg.
Uh I can't imagine how much money you pay for your everyday life.
It's probably a lot.
So if I had to move to LA, I would be really worried about the money.
» Okay.
definitely a fair thing to worry about.
Although to be honest, if I was moving to London, I would probably have the same concern.
Um especially because I'm imagining living in I don't know, maybe the the center of the city or something like that.
And I know that um there's probably some neighborhoods where there's cheaper housing and there's probably some neighborhoods with some more expensive housing, but overall London is a worldclass city uh with a lot of people, a lot of people trying to
make a living and there's a lot of competition and for that reason you know it's not one of the the cheapest to live in.
So I think I would probably have the same idea moving to almost any large city honestly.
» Yeah.
Well, in terms of London, of course there are areas of London that are cheaper than others, but that does not mean they are cheap.
Uh I think all of London and pretty much all the south of England is really expensive.
So, even if you go out to the suburbs, if you go out to the metropolitan region, as we said before, the pricing is still really high.
It is not a cheap place to live.
» Yeah.
And it's exactly like that here in in Southern California as well.
So, I know exactly what you mean.
Okay.
So, this is something about LA that I think you might like.
What would you think about living in a place with the weather in Southern California or in Los Angeles?
» Now, I know people who are from California love to say that it has the best weather in the world, that it has the best climate in the world.
Um, so I imagine it would be pretty amazing.
It would be sunny all the time.
It would get to really nice temperatures, but because you live near the ocean because obviously LA is on the coast, you get really nice ocean breezes.
There's enough wind to sort of keep things a little bit cooler, especially in the in the summer months.
I'm not sure what winter would be like, but I imagine there is still not a lot of rain and I imagine it's still pretty nice, pretty sunny.
You can go out in a jumper and still enjoy yourself.
So, I think with the weather that would be something really great.
» Yeah, absolutely.
I live pretty close to the ocean in my town and it's definitely always a few degrees cooler here than it is more inland.
If I travel a few miles inland, uh, and I step out out of the car, I usually immediately notice, oh, it's like 3 or 4° warmer here.
Um, and there's less of a breeze than, you know, just a few miles away closer to the ocean.
Uh, so that's definitely true.
Um, and then yes, in the winter there, it's very, very moderate weather.
Uh, in Fahrenheit, it's usually about, you know, 60 to 70°.
Um, which I always forget what that is.
For the rest of the world, I say for the rest of the world, what is that?
» 60° F is 15° C » and 70° Fahrenheit is 21.
So that's okay.
That's like warm.
It's like temper.
» Yeah.
» It's not cold.
That's for sure.
» Exactly.
Exactly.
All you might need is a sweater or a light jacket, but nothing crazy.
And uh it's it's pretty comfortable.
Yeah.
Um there's some cold days, there's some rainy days, but it's not a lot.
Uh it's actually pretty dry here in Southern California.
And uh we honestly need more rain.
[laughter] But yeah, overall this is the main reason why so many people desire to live here because they don't have to [clears throat] deal with a harsh winter.
And so when I think about living in London, um, in general, I I like the I like the climate.
Uh, obviously it's something that has like it's something that fascinates me because it's so different from where I'm from, like the the glooier sort of like cloudy weather that people talk about.
Um, » gloomy is the right word.
Gloomy and miserable.
» Yeah.
I think very quickly, [clears throat] very quickly the fascination would fade and I would start to have trouble living with constant gloom.
you know, that would, I'm sure, affect my my mindset and uh my mood um after, you know, after maybe 6 months, I would say, when are we going to have a break from this, you know?
» Well, I'll be honest, you do get a break from it.
Summer in London is pretty nice and summer in London is actually pretty hot these days and there is definitely not as much rain as there used to be.
But for I'd say seven to nine months of the year, yeah, it is a pretty miserable place.
Very gray, very cloudy, and very wet.
The south of England is not particularly cold anymore.
We do have winters that can get down to zero or a couple of degrees below zero, but generally it's really not that cold anymore.
Um, summers get very hot, but the rain is a constant feature.
Um, we get rain all throughout the year.
Now in summers we get less rain but it is still there.
We do still get rain.
Um lots of people really struggle with the weather in the UK.
Lots of people find that it really really affects their mood that for big parts of the year especially through the winter months people get really sad, really upset and often quite depressed.
They get really really depressed in the winter months » because it's cold, it's constantly gray and miserable and raining.
And at the peak of winter, our days are very, very short.
So, you really don't see much sunlight.
The sun will go up at maybe 7:38 in the morning and it will be completely dark outside by about 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.
So, it is quite a challenging environment to be in.
» Yeah, absolutely.
I think after the excitement wears off of moving to a really cool city like London, that might be something I would I would feel for sure.
Let's talk a little bit about transportation because here in LA, we are very car dependent.
We have to use our cars to get everywhere and we don't have a really good public transportation system and I have been to London like I said and I really enjoyed taking the tube and also the buses.
It was very very easy to navigate the city without a car.
I'm curious.
So that is that is something that I would really look forward to about living in a place like London.
What do you think about the transportation situation in Los Angeles?
» Oh, it would be horrible.
It would be terrible.
uh it would be genuinely I think one of the most important things for a city is how the transportation flows right how the different systems connect with each other how easily you can go from point A to point B in the city when a city is so car
dependent it becomes very very stressful for me firstly ly because driving in general is quite a stressful activity.
You're controlling a massive heavy vehicle that is very expensive.
So, if you crash, it's going to be a big problem.
You could get hurt and you're definitely going to be paying a lot of money.
Then, you have to worry about traffic.
I know the traffic in Los Angeles is famous for being absolutely terrible, for being really, really bad.
Um, so you have to deal with traffic, with being late.
You have to deal with angry people who have road rage because they're stuck in traffic.
And then at the end of all of it, you need to find a parking space.
» Oh my god.
I imagine this is probably one of the most challenging parts of your daily life, trying to find parking spaces.
» Yeah, absolutely.
All of the things that you said are true.
Some people feel that it's worth it, you know, because they they love the other things about LA or Southern California in general.
But yeah, the transportation issue is something that really affects us on a daily level.
And it's like you said, also not a cheap thing to deal with.
We don't have cheap gasoline just because we drive everywhere.
The cost of like owning and ma and and maintaining and using a car is so high and it is really frustrating not to have other options because some people like to drive or they like to drive to certain places.
But if there was a better network of public transportation, at least within the urban areas of the metro area of Los Angeles, I think like I personally would be so much happier because there would be options.
» Do I have a question?
Do you have anything like is there a train?
Is there a bus?
Is there metro?
There must be some public transport, right?
» Yeah, there is some.
The quality is just not great.
Uh we do have a metro system with um you know I don't know a certain number of lines but they don't they connect like the major areas of the city but not um but there are not like a bunch of stations in a bunch of different neighborhoods that allows
you to get from one side of the city to the other.
Um, what happens is you'll end up having to connect to maybe a bus.
Um, or maybe you would then call a ride share like an Uber to like get to your final destination.
» But I'll I'll tell you this, » people who rely 100% on public transportation in Los Angeles, they use the bus system » mostly.
And the bus system is like not super reliable and » not super safe and it takes a lot of time.
So like if you're completely reliant on public transportation, you're you're going to spend your whole day in transit.
It's not efficient.
» Mhm.
I think if I moved to Los Angeles, the biggest problem I would find is that the city is just not walkable.
Um, everything that you need to do, I imagine you need to drive.
even when it's something as simple as going grocery shopping or going to the doctors.
» Um, in London or at least if you live sort of in a in a town or in a city in the UK, you can normally walk to most places.
Most places are accessible by foot.
Obviously, London is a really big city, so it does take a while to get around, but using public transport and walking, you can get just about anywhere in the city, right?
» And it's usually pretty efficient.
The underground system is absolutely fantastic.
» It is.
It is.
Having experienced it, it is.
Um, and at being there as a tourist, there was no place that I couldn't get to that I wanted to, you know, with maybe just one or two transfers.
Um, if even that.
So, yeah, I I totally I totally agree with you.
It would be a rough transition coming from a city like that to LA for sure.
Let's um change gears a little bit.
Let's talk about some of the things that I think well let's talk about some of the things that I do love about LA and some things that I think you would like.
So I want to talk about the food.
» So » Mhm.
Yeah.
our support.
That's fun.
» Also ties into another thing that I really love about LA, which is its cultural diversity.
So, since we have so much cultural diversity, we have probably some of the best food in the world.
There are a lot of immigrant communities that have restaurants with very authentic cuisine.
And it feels like, you know, the whole world is your oyster, which means there's access to like almost any type of cuisine that you could want.
And it means that we really enjoy we really enjoy the food that we have available to us here in LA.
Do you think that's something you would like?
» I really like Mexican food.
I I like I really love enchiladas.
I really like tacos.
Um so I I think I think I would really enjoy living in uh in Los Angeles.
I don't think my doctors would be very happy cuz I'm sure I would put on a lot of weight.
I would put on a lot of weight because I would eat Mexican food pretty much every single day, I imagine.
Yeah, » it's pretty common to eat Mexican food multiple times a week, if not every day.
I mean, it's just that accessible.
» Uh yeah, and it that's probably one of the best » options.
Although there's also really great, you know, Chinese food.
There's great » um food from, you know, all sorts of countries.
But yeah, the Mexican food is is definitely the the highlight of living here.
That being said, however, I'm sure the restaurants are absolutely delicious and they are completely fantastic.
However, food that I would buy from the American supermarket, » I believe it would be pretty low quality.
I imagine it would be pretty expensive for what you get.
And my guess is it would be very, very unhealthy.
I know that in America your food standards are not the highest.
The laws and the regulations around your food are not the strongest or the strictest.
Therefore, I do worry about the food I would be putting into my body because I know uh the American supermarket is uh not the healthiest place in the world.
» Yeah, that is very true.
There there is basically a direct relationship between the quality and the cost of the food that you purchase.
If you need to buy groceries on a budget, that food is not going to be uh it's not going to last as long.
It's not going to be as fresh.
» Um » and sorry to interrupt you.
If I lived in a If I lived in LA, I would definitely be on a budget.
That is for sure.
» I would not have lots of money after rent.
» Yes, for sure.
For sure.
Um, one thing that might be a little bit different about California than maybe some other states is that we grow a lot of produce in the central valley of our state.
So, and we send that around the country.
So, our produce tends to be fresh, but to your point, uh, it's not cheap.
And the there are plenty of of, you know, fancy grocery stores that are more expensive and where the quality of the food is higher, but yeah, you're going to pay a premium » for the the best quality » of the food.
» What about living in London?
What would your expectations of the food be?
» Yeah.
Well, funnily enough, I think I would probably be eating a lot more Indian food.
Uh, which would be totally fine with me.
Um, you know, my family is originally from India and I really like to try um Indian restaurants wherever I go and um I've had some excellent Indian food in London um as it is.
I also think that because there's a lot of cultural diversity in London that if I was ever craving something else that I would probably be able to find it.
Um, that would actually be pretty important to me.
I think » uh I'm used to living in a place where different cuisine is accessible to me and I think I would have that in London and be pretty happy with that.
» Yes.
Like you said, because of the cultural diversity in London, it is one of the food capitals of the world.
Now, English food often has a bit of a bad reputation, but restaurants in London are absolutely fantastic.
Restaurants in London are really, really good.
And just like you said earlier, you can find restaurants from any culture, any cuisine, whatever your fancy is.
I'm sure you will be able to find it somewhere in London.
» Exactly.
That would probably be one of the most fun parts about about living in a city like that.
Uh my last point um maybe is also related to cultural diversity.
I think in terms of going out and having like a social life and meeting friends, um, meeting people and and making friends, the cultural diversity would be important there, too, because I'm I'm used to living in a place with a lot of cultural
diversity and attending different, you know, public events and um, seeing that kind of on display and celebrated.
And I think that's something that I would find in London as well.
» You would, to tell you the truth, Alia, I think you would struggle quite a bit when you first got to London.
Um, well, it depends who you find yourself around.
I'm sure if you found yourself around lots of immigrants, lots of people who had moved to London, I think you would find it completely fine.
But if you found yourself around lots and lots of British people, I think you would find it quite difficult at the start » because I know in LA and in America in general, the people from Los Angeles have a reputation for being quite open, quite
friendly, very chitchaty, as we would say in England.
Whereas in England, especially the south of England, it is the opposite.
» We are a lot more quieter, a lot more reserved, and it takes us a lot longer to warm up to people.
» We're not really people who initiate or start conversations very often.
So when people start conversations with us, when they initiate conversations with us, um we're not always the most friendly straight away.
I would say we are quite similar to the New Yorkers in that respect.
» Mhm.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Um and I I'm sure it's generally true.
Uh we definitely have some cultural differences around socializing, small talk, um even our humor, things that we things that we find funny.
» Um things that we would consider friendly versus maybe a little bit too much.
Um although I will tell you when so I went to London about 10 years ago » um as a tourist like I said and I was expecting that I was expecting that that was the stereotype that I was aware of and I was expecting that although I stepped into a
coffee shop on my first day I think it was just like a Costa coffee or something like that.
Um, and I was I was expecting this customer service interaction to be kind of bland.
Uh, but [clears throat] I just uh I don't know.
I think when I ordered I said please and thank you » and maybe this is not maybe this is not that common, but that really charmed [laughter] » that really charmed the woman who was taking my order.
» Mhm.
So, I think I think you're misunderstanding us Bretts a little bit.
We are extremely polite.
Okay.
And we are very happy to have little interactions with people.
We are very friendly.
Um, » but it's getting past the little interaction.
It's developing an actual connection, an actual friendship with somebody which takes a lot longer.
» Um, so yeah.
Yeah, I mean I believe that that makes sense.
I think people in LA um maybe are a little bit similar.
I think on the surface we seem friendly, but to be honest with you, compared to other states, we're not that friendly.
We don't say hello to people that we walk by on the street.
you know, that would be unthinkable in some other places.
Uh there's simply too many people here to to say hello and be polite to everyone.
Uh a lot of people don't really care that much about people they don't actually know.
Um, but to finish » but to quickly finish my story uh at the coffee shop, she gave it to me on the house and that was like my first » experience after setting foot in London and I was like, "People are great here.
Everyone is so nice, you know.
I'm just joking."
But » that's um » that's very surprising.
That's very very surprising.
I've never heard of anybody getting anything free in London ever.
So for you guys listening, do not expect to get things for free in London.
It is not going to happen.
[laughter] » Yeah.
Um and I had like a couple other small interactions kind of like that.
So maybe I just had some good energy following me.
» Yeah, don't worry.
People are definitely very polite.
They're very, very polite as soon as you speak to them.
» Um, we're just not usually the most friendly, I would say.
» Yeah.
Were you going to say something else about » I if I lived in Los Angeles, I imagine I would struggle with the number of influencers.
I imagine walking down the street and seeing everybody vlogging, everybody taking photos, everybody being in their influencer era, as I know you Americans love to say.
» Um, I imagine I would find that quite difficult and it would probably annoy me a little bit.
Yeah, sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between someone who just wants like their photo taken uh by their friends and who is actually trying to be an influencer.
Uh I think this is something more common in certain neighborhoods of the city of LA.
uh out in the metro area, not so much, but uh you definitely do see people spending a lot of time getting their picture taken.
Like it has to be the perfect shot in front of this this cool restaurant in my » cool outfit, you know?
Um, definitely I think maybe the average person thinks about what they look like and what they look like online, especially even if they're not » influences really matter.
» Yes, but not always in a high fashion kind of way.
Sometimes it can really be in like a relaxed athleisure or beachy kind of way.
» Mhm.
Interesting.
I think in London appearances definitely do matter.
» Uh people do care a lot about the impression that they give off to people.
» But there is also a huge amount of flexibility in style.
People can really sort of take whatever style they want.
They can dress however they want and nobody really cares.
The important thing is you look put together.
You, you know, your hair is washed.
You're not dirty.
You've brushed your teeth.
That's the important thing that you're put together.
That you have a some type of style, I guess.
» Mhm.
Yeah.
I would say it's the same.
I would say it's the same.
even the more the more relaxed styles, they have a a specific look that that you're that you're going for and it it it should be complete, you know?
It shouldn't be kind of random.
It should be kind of complete.
But I also feel like with the sheer number of people that live here, um it's like 13 million people who live in the metro area, » really only a fraction of people care about that stuff.
Most people, » uh especially workingass people, they're just going about their lives like normal, you know.
» Cool.
So, I've had a lot of fun imagining what it would be like to live in London, which is a city that I definitely love um would love to go back to.
Uh what did you think about the activity, Sam?
Uh, I think it was a lot of fun to think about what it would be like if I moved to Los Angeles, but the truth is Los Angeles does not interest me as a city.
Maybe I would visit it one day, but I definitely would never live there.
» Mhm.
It's interesting for me to think about living in other places.
I am definitely open to the idea.
I'm interested in discovering other places, but I think at the end of the day, it will always feel like home.
Uh so uh » and I think that I'm sure I would experience some culture shocks or some difficulties related to some of the things that we talked about like whether » um or how expensive things are or whatever um if I did move to other places.
So I don't have as much experience living away from home as you do.
So, it's it's interesting to think about these questions.
» And what do you guys think?
Would you prefer to live in LA or does London sound like the better city?
Let us know down in the comments below.
We're going to read through all of them because we are really excited to see which city you guys would prefer.
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Thanks so much for joining us on the very first episode of the English Spongecast and we will see you in future episodes.
Bye-bye.
