I live in Orange County, California in San Clemente, a town about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. A unique characteristic of my life is that I live in an area inhabited by people of many different nationalities with a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and I regularly interact with them. I moved to San Diego, California to work for Sony, a Japanese electronics giant. There were many long-term Japanese employees there (including my first boss) who I had to meet every single day.

I went to Japan more than fifty times during my tenure at Sony. I acquired a taste for Japanese food; salmon sashimi is now my most favourite food. Sony also had employees from countries like Lebanon, Laos and Philippines. One of my responsibilities was to oversee a component manufacturing plant in Tijuana, Mexico. I had to go there several times a week and deal with Mexican employees; the plant manager was a Hispanic of Mexican origin from Texas who reported to me. I became familiar with not only Mexican food but their culture as well. In addition, I had many Hispanic colleagues in San Diego. Southern California is crowded with people from Mexico – legal and illegal immigrants as well as those who were born here. Population in the city of Los Angeles is 47 per cent Hispanic. My gardener is Mexican; Mexicans have monopolized the lawn care business.

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My medical doctor is Indian. I did not select him; it happened by coincidence. I like his personality and respect his medical opinion. My dentist is Vietnamese. There are many Iranians in this area. When the Shah’s regime fell in 1979, they found sanctuary in the greater Los Angeles area. If you are doing any business transactions, especially financial ones, you cannot avoid dealing with Iranians. I have developed a liking for Iranian food which is tasty, healthy and filling. Of course, there are many African-Americans, especially in the Los Angeles area. I have seen black folks everywhere I lived before but here they seem to be more sophisticated, urbanized and educated. Then there are Asians everywhere. In particular, the Chinese seem to be taking over the schools and universities in Southern California. Chinese students are smart kids who are excelling in academia. Thanks to their wealth and educational level, the Chinese are helping to boost both the property value as well as the quality of school districts. In addition to the Chinese, we have Koreans, Japanese and Vietnamese who are almost as good in their academic performance.

All these ethnic groups have established restaurants and other cultural outlets throughout the region. I love Korean food which is quite different from Chinese or Japanese food. There are also Mongolian barbeque restaurants although I have never met any Mongolian. Casinos in reservations run by American Indians are plentiful. I remember running into an Indian ceremonial event while driving near a reservation. I have interacted with people from other continents on different occasions: Syrians, Afghans, Saudi Arabians; Iraqis, Israelis; Egyptians, S. Africans; El Salvadorians, Brazilians and Argentinians. Even the native white folks seem to be more internationalized here. For example, almost all white people I have met know Indian food very well and are familiar with Indian cultural items, especially yoga, sari and Bollywood dances. The first-generation Europeans are more difficult to identify because their skin colour is the same as any other white American. However, I have had friends from Poland, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Hungary and Spain in my social circle. I will not even include the British and Canadians in my list. During my present retired life, I do occasional tutoring of high school and college students in physics and mathematics. Surprisingly, I get more non-white students, especially Asians.

Reasons for this international flavour are many: political refugees and immigrants attracted by California’s natural beauty and universities, influx of multinational corporations based on electronic and biomedical technologies, manufacturing companies with plans to utilize cheap Mexican labour from across the border, migrant farmers hired by agricultural farms, aspiring actors and musicians from all over the world drawn by Hollywood, IT engineers from India on H1B visa in massive numbers, professional sports teams attracting athletes from all countries, people on a spiritual quest drawn by mountains and oceans and last but not least, wealthy people interested in investing in the California real estate market. The Mexicans, American Indians and Chinese have been here almost from the beginning of the state. I lived in many other states in the US before moving to California. I lived in Wisconsin and Indiana for extended periods (about eight years each) and in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Maryland for shorter periods.

I visited Texas and Georgia numerous times to see my daughter who lived with her mother after my divorce. I found people in all those states to be friendly, trustworthy and helpful. I can honestly say that I never experienced any discrimination or ridicule of any kind during my life in the US because of my skin colour or accent. However, when I lived in those states, I always had this awareness in the back of my head that I am a foreigner; I really do not belong here. This is not my country. Surprisingly, I do not feel that way in California. I am just as much a Californian as my neighbours, Mr. Lee, Mr. Gonzalez or Mr. Behroozi. This is a good feeling. Although I prefer living in a multicultural neighbourhood, I do not like loud conversations in public places in a foreign language, strange outfits, various ethnic festivities in parks or streets and strange smells of cooking spreading in the air.. The appeal of Southern California is that everyone living here has been Americanized to some extent and there is uniformity in their behaviour patterns.

Everyone speaks English, wears blue jeans and eats taco, sushi and hamburgers. We are all Americans! In addition, people here are very laid back. If one wants to live in Southern California, one has to look cool. It does not mean that one must dress formally or casually; just feel comfortable and confident in one’s own skin. It reminds me of that Calvin Klein commercial from some years ago, “Be a man, be a woman, just be”. Many years ago, while visiting Rome, I was in a long line waiting to enter the premises of the Colosseum.

There were two young girls with obvious Japanese features standing in front of me. Out of sheer boredom I decided to start a conversation with them and show off my knowledge of Japan. “What part of Japan are you two from?” was my first question. One girl giggled in a typical shy Japanese style and said, “We are Americans; we live in California”. “Oh really?” I exclaimed, “So am I and I also live in California. It is a small world, Isn’t it?”

(The writer, a physicist who worked in industry and academia, is a Bengali settled in America.)