CITY & ITS PEOPLE

Live in LA long enough and you'll…

A few years in LA and your tipping gives you away. It doesn't happen overnight; it seeps in a little every year. Year 1 to year 20: find which year you're in.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Full text

1. Year 1 | The First Year

   You always hit the highest option on the tip screen, every weekend has to include a sight, and getting your first Costco card feels like leveling up in life. 'This year, LA is a tourist attraction.'

2. Year 2 | The Reality Check

   Your first street-sweeping ticket, and from then on reading a parking sign takes five minutes; you finally get that "Let's grab coffee sometime" isn't an invitation. 'LA starts sending you bills.'

3. Year 3 | The Local-ish

   You automatically put 'the' in front of freeway names, and "I'm 10 minutes away" really means 25 more. When friends say they want to see the Walk of Fame, your first line is: 'Eh, you don't need to.'

4. Year 5 | The Body Knows

   20°C (68°F) feels chilly, at 15°C (59°F) you're in a puffer, there's always a yoga mat, a jacket and a bottle of water in the car, and back in Taiwan you start saying 'you guys here.' Your body became an Angeleno first.

5. Year 10 | The In-Between

   Back in Taipei you complain about the crowds and the heat, but you still hit the night market the first night; your Chinese starts snagging on words, and during a 4 you keep scrolling. Both sides start to feel a little unfamiliar.

6. Year 15 | The Anchor

   Doctor, dentist, hairstylist, mechanic, all locked in (in LA, that's an achievement); you've seen off several rounds of friends moving back to Taiwan, and newcomers start asking you 'which area's best to live in?'

7. Year 20 | The Two Homes

   You call both places 'going home': in Taipei you miss LA's sky, in LA you miss Taipei's alleys, and the suitcase still never gets put away. 'This year, you don't have to choose anymore.'

8. Same moment ① | An earthquake hits

   Year 1, you hide under the desk and call family in Taiwan; year 3, you open MyShake to check the magnitude; year 10, you wait for it to stop before deciding whether to put down your coffee; year 20, you find out from the news.

9. Same moment ② | The tip screen swivels around

   By year 3 you can do the math: 18–20% for a sit-down meal; year 5, you hit 'No tip' on a takeout coffee and feel guilty all day; year 10, you check the bill for a service charge first.

10. Same moment ③ | A friend's coming to visit LA

    Year 1, you're the full-time tour guide; year 5, it's 'Uber on your own during the day, dinner together at night'; later, you just hand them a copy of Los Angeles + Las Vegas. The shorter the tour, the deeper the love.

11. Living here is counted in 'firsts'

    The first time you drive yourself to urgent care, the first Lunar New Year in LA without going home, the first time you tell your family 'I'm going back to LA' instead of 'I'm going to LA.'

12. LA didn't change you

    When you first arrive, you think LA will turn you into someone else; later you realize it just gives you time and space. 'It just gives you time to become yourself.'

Places in this story

• Hollywood Walk of Fame

In this series

• Taiwanese folks in LA come in about 6 kinds
• People who move back from LA to Taiwan come in about 5 kinds
• The truths nobody tells you before you move to LA
• Where to go in LA when you're homesick

Read it with the slides →

An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).