A Totally Different Challenge

Judy Bonhiver

In 1987, at the age of 35, I was offered, and accepted, a position with my company to move to the West Coast. The first eighteen months of my West Coast experience was in Seattle, Washington. This was an area not very different from my home turf in Minnesota and although I got homesick I had a good friend who helped me meet people and acclimate to the area. Then I was offered and accepted a position here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Leaving Seattle wasn’t too difficult because I hadn’t had time to plant any deep roots, but coming to the Bay Area was a major culture shock. I’m not sure which was more difficult, the expensive cost of living, the difficulty of meeting and making friends, the volume of people, the inability, at the age of 36 to not know what were the “safe” neighborhoods, the ethnic language diversity, or the heat (I was in Fremont and had a sales territory that included cities where during the summer it got up into the low 100° F/37.6° C on a regular basis.). I wasn’t familiar with the local signals or signs and had no history to help me.

In Minnesota I had never seen homes in nice neighborhoods with bars on the windows. I’d never had to pay for a long distance phone call to call someone just five miles down the road. I had wanted to buy a home, but I simply couldn’t justify buying something that would cost around $60,000 in Minnesota or Washington was going to cost me at least $175,000 in the Bay Area. I was used to skiing in Minnesota and Washington, for under $25.00 a day on the weekends and for under $10.00 during the week. Prices here were at least double that. And, every time I went into San Francisco I had a bridge to cross with a $1.00 toll!

Since there were so many new things for me deal with, I realized I’d have to pamper myself and try to build some sort of place of safety where I could feel confident and stable. My first decision was to find an apartment where I felt safe and the price was reasonable. Although I later moved into the city of San Francisco, my settling into suburbia for my first year was a good move. I quickly met my neighbors and became friends with some of my business associates. I joined a ski club and even rented a winter cabin with a group of ski club members. Bit by bit, I learned to reach out and test the waters, expose myself to these “foreign” things. After the first year I felt so comfortable I rented an apartment in the Marina in San Francisco. There I experienced additional challenges, but my antenna was adjusting and I was more comfortable trying new things. I still settled into a middle class WASP part of San Francisco, but I started venturing into new things and found I could handle it; in fact I found I thrived on it and feel exhilarated by new opportunities more than ever. Now, at the age of 47 I look for new experiences and enjoy them. My first indication that I’d acclimated successfully was during a return trip to Minnesota. I arrived at the airport, looked around and wondered what seemed so strange until I realized most everyone was WASP.

I love the diversity of the Bay Area and I will miss it while I’m gone but look forward to new opportunities to grow and experience other cultures in other places.