One thing I definitely don’t take advantage of is walking. In LA culture, we hop in and out of our car without a second thought no matter how close our destination was…you’re driving. Since I got here I’ve been hopping in and out of taxis ready to direct the driver to my next destination written in my notebook. Two things I want to change about that approach is actually learning to say, “I want to go to _______, ” when I do decide to take a taxi and the other is just taking more time to walk. Walking gives you the ability to stop and see your surroundings in more detail versus a quick pass through. With that said, on my walk the other day I found this nice park. After being convinced that the city was nothing but go, go, go, here I was with local families and groups of friends being active or just hanging out. There was a good amount of badminton being played, which explains why that sport may have been so popular amongst the native Vietnamese folks in high school. There was also an intense hacky sack game, but it wasn’t a hacky sack, it looked like a badminton birdie with a weighted washers on the end giving it a resonant clicking sound every time it was side sole kicked 20ft into the air. The flora and fauna in these parks were unbelievable as well. I appreciate that parks are internationally universal and share similar functions and purposes to bring communities, families, friends together. Although, I came there alone I felt very much a part of the community just being there.
