Fun in the Smog

Two things one notices when driving from the Bay Area to SoCal: 1) the air is terrible down here, and 2) the traffic is ridiculous. I guess they go hand in hand. There's a #3, but due to the current political climate, I won't go there, though it probably goes hand in hand with 1 and 2.

I finally got to meet the cousins who are staying at my parents' for the year, the two daughters of my dad's second-youngest sister. The last time I went to South Korea, they were something like one and three years old, so essentially this is the first time we've met (they are now 20 and 22). It's a lot of fun having cousins around. Until fairly recently, my family was the only one on either side of the family tree to move out of Korea (and I'm the first to be born in the US), so growing up, I never really saw any of them.

What are they doing out here for so long? Glad you asked. The culture in Korea these days is such that, if you don't speak English, you don't get a job. So most young adults their age are currently in the US or Canada, taking intensive classes and submerging themselves in the culture for a year to learn the language. It's impressive. And humbling. In just a few months, they've managed to reach a level with their English that far exceeds my Korean or French.

Today we headed to Universal Studios, and on our way there (this is a total aside), I asked my cousins if they had heard of a hip hop star in Korea named Dan Lee. Blank stares. Then I said, with a great amount of uncertainty, "Tablo?" and they freaked. "We love Tablo!" Dan Lee is Tablo, though he's no longer known by his American name. He's also Gina's freshman dormmate, and a pretty big deal in Korea. Gina, they want autographed photos. Any chance you can make that happen? They're big fans.

Anyway, back on topic. It had been ten years since I last went to Universal, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Was the studio still relevant in this digital day and age? And would my cousins be familiar enough with the culture to care either way? The answers were both a resounding yes. Lots of cool stuff on the tour, and the girls had seen everything we came across. One might say this stuff is truly...Universal (forgive me, it's late).

Here we are in front of the ubiquitous Universal Studios sign, followed by a fake backdrop of the Hollywood sign. No, Andrew, I didn't photoshop some Asian dude into the pictures. That's really my brother.





We started the day with the studio tour. Here's a shot of the sets from The Grinch and Psycho.



On the left is one of their more recent sets, for War of the Worlds. On the right, the girls are getting friendly with Tom Hanks in front of the Apollo 13 pod.



I couldn't get a great shot of this, but it's the bigature used for the boat that takes the crew to Skull Island in Peter Jackson's King Kong, along with the beast himself.



Anyone recognize this one? It's Wysteria Lane, from Desperate Housewives.



After the studio tour, we hit all the major rides and attractions, including Back to the Future, Shrek 4D (most impressive), T2, The Mummy (most thrilling), Van Helsing, and Jurassic Park (most photogenic).







The park wasn't too busy, so no line took longer than 20 minutes. And the attractions were all fun. We had a great time, and my pass is good for the rest of the year, so if anyone wants to go, I'm up for another trip. And from some angles, the air even looks clean:



Afterwards, my dad grilled ten pounds of Korean BBQ, and my mom brought out her homemade kimchee from January (ages like wine). I managed to down eight of the spareribs, and I'm still feeling full, 5 hours and a tennis match later:



It's been a wonderful trip, and I only wish it were a day longer so I could hang out with everyone. It's been a surprisingly long time since I've seen Eddy, Russ, Drew, et al. But I'll be down again very soon for work, so I'll see you all then. In the meantime, take shallow breaths, and use side streets.