Tales of a Dubliner in Davis, CA

Sun, sea and palm trees…that was what I expected when I discovered, quite surprisingly, that I would be spending my junior year in California. Six months later and I’ve discovered that the Hollywood image is further down the 101, in the far depths of So Cal.

Coming to Davis from Dublin, Ireland was quite the adventure. Not only was I travelling across the world to study, I was coming to America for the first time. Arriving in Davis last September the majority of my American expectations disappeared immediately. Yes it was hot, (really hot for me) ‘the bike capital of America’ was not where I had envisaged living, let alone biking around.

Within a week however I was sorted with a place to stay,I’d registered at UC Davis, and I had that new student necessity, the coveted electric blue cruiser. I had entered the Davis ‘bubble’, and quite frankly I was enjoying cruising around it.

Then it rained.

The novelty of biking immediately washed away and off to the bus stop I went, no raincoat, no waterproof shoes – I thought I’d left the dreary rain of Ireland behind. But to my great pleasure the buses are free for students! The buses in Davis beat Dublin’s hands down not only are they free and frequent, in Davis there are real timetables instead of Dublin’s ‘this bus leaves the terminal at this time and should arrive at the destination at this time, please feel free to take a completely random guess as to when it will arrive at the stops in between because we’re not going to tell you’–if you’ve been there you’ll understand, if you plan to go in the future be warned! Unitrans was a revelation.

Although wonderful, free bus rides in the rain and biking in the sun are not my favourite aspects of Davis. I think I should be worried if they were.

The top-spot is uncontested and goes to the community in Davis, it has simply amazed me. I’ve found it difficult to speak to anyone in Davis, at university, downtown, or even whilst grocery shopping without being asked where I’m from, what has brought me to Davis and my opinion of it. The enthusiasm with which I’ve been welcomed in to the community has been a pleasure to experience. I am yet to witness any real antagonism between the local  people and the students, the sort that exists in many university towns in Ireland and the UK, (Picnic Day may be the one exception, I’ll have to wait and see). It is clear from the abundance of restaurants, cafes and frozen yoghurt shops that Davis is a community centred place and the Farmer’s Market has to be the best example of the strong ties between the residents; both the temporary students and the permanent locals.

Davis, the city and the university are about as far from the media generated image of the sunshine state that’s pumped into Europe, and whilst the last six months have been unlike anything I’ve ever experienced it couldn’t have been better for my first taste of America. The Davis bubble is just that; a tight knit community of students and Davisites, surrounded by greenery worthy of the English climate. Once you’re in, it’s hard to imagine leaving, and so far it has been the perfect college town.