Back to School

Last night was my first Korean class. I signed up for the beginning level, even though I knew some of the material would be review for me. This is my first time studying Korean in a formal way, and there are some gaps in my knowledge. I think it was the right decision. Although I know the hangeul, I get hung up on the pronunciation of consonants, and the teacher explained the sounds in a way that

Looking Up

Yesterday we took the bus to Grand Performances in downtown L.A. The bus creaked along, stopping every five minutes as it wound along Third Street through Koreatown. It took forever. Now I get why no one rides the bus* here.As we hiked up Grand Avenue, I found myself craning my neck to look up at all the old buildings.Downtown L.A. is the only place in L.A. that feels like a real city, with

Serendipity

When you have a baby, it's easy to meet other moms. The lives all new mothers are more or less the same, a fog of feedings and diapers and sleep deprivation. But when you have a six-year-old, it's harder to make new parent friends. It's not so much that people are unfriendly, but they already have their friends, and they aren't in the market for new ones.I was beginning to think my lazy-summer

Pink Flamingoes

We pass this house daily. Every time I see it I smile, because it's so very L.A. It's called Youngwood Court.Rumor has it that the owner put up a single replica of Michaelangelo's David, and the neighbors complained that he was bringing down their property values. So he added a few more.The rest of the houses in the neighborhood look like this:Maybe I would be mad if I were one of his richy-rich

Ye Olde Prop Shop

One of my favorite things in this neighborhood is a big junk heap on La Brea, full of weird and wonderful things like pink formica tables and 1980s arcade games and giant plastic Clydesdales.This chair would be perfect for World Cup viewing, no?

Settling In

So we've been here a week now, and we're settling in. I enrolled Bella in the neighborhood school, which seems lovely. I also put her on the waiting list for the Korean dual-immersion program, but it looks unlikely that she will get in. So in the meantime, we signed her up for a weekend Korean class. It's for beginners, and the curriculum sounds fun. I'm also going to be taking a Korean class

First Impressions

Our original plan was to live in Koreatown. My husband's commute would have been a breeze, and I liked the schools. But after a lot of back-and-forth, we decided it wasn't a good place to raise a kid. Of course many kids live there and turn out just fine. But my husband grew up in an edgy L.A. neighborhood and he didn't want that for Bella. Neither did I, actually. So we are one neighborhood