Back to L.A. from Copenhagen

Remember Steve Caplan, the Angeleno who sold his house in the Valley hills to move to Copenhagen last year and work on the United Nations Climate Change Conference? He also started a blog about his family living as ex-pats over there. Well, they're returning to L.A. and Caplan today put up his final post for Commuting from COPenhagen. Excerpt:

During our year abroad our children made friends with kids from all over the world, learned a fair bit of the language, spent priceless time with their family in Denmark, and became pretty damn good at soccer. They also attended schools where worries about class size, union rules, and shortened days (or is it weeks now?) are concerns beyond comprehension for Danes, whose social welfare safety net is more like a California King bed made with Frette sheets and a goose down pillow.

I sat in cafes undisturbed by endless conversations conducted over ridiculous looking bluetooth headsets, or by blinking faux-news video monitors with “breaking stories” detailing how the latest reality star was seen doing coke in the bathroom stall at a Hollywood hotspot. And didn’t hear a single mention of a soy latte or a skinny macchiato. At least I don’t think I did. The coffee wasn’t cheap but the civility alone was worth every Krone. (The Danes have left the feeble Euro to most of the rest of the Continent.)...

He notes that the Danes are endlessly intrigued and impressed by California and never ask how you can stand the traffic, the smog or the crappy schools: "I guess that’s what we have New Yorkers around for. Especially the ones who have moved to LA."