A Yankee Girl Down South!

I moved to North Carolina from New York State this summer and, although I knew it would be different, it has proven to be different in unexpected ways. Sure, I was expecting the accent and the heat, but there have been other things that came as a surprise. So, here are some of the unforeseen differences I have noticed since moving south.

1.     If you need to make a left-hand turn into a parking lot you will probably have to drive down the road to the next light and make a U-Turn. It is crazy to Google map something and see the line on the map go past your destination and come back around.

2.     And since we are talking about driving…I have never been so amazed or frustrated or confused in my life: down here, people actually drive UNDER the speed limit. What??? I can be all about the journey…sometimes. But the other times, I need to get there, people!

3.     I love that I can go anywhere – and I mean anywhere, and a get a decent glass of iced tea.

4.     Did you know that the sky is actually blue? I think somewhere in the hidden recesses of my mind I knew it, kind of like I know the world is round, the ocean is deep, Antarctica is cold… You get the idea. Those things are all true, but I have not experienced their reality for myself. I now know for myself that the sky is blue because I have seen it. And blue is a much better color for the sky than grey.

5.     It is October. Sweater weather. Falling leaves. Pumpkin everything. But I have yet to see the beautiful fall colors. This makes me sad, as autumn is my favorite season. My head keeps telling me it is fall, but there are no leaves changing colors, and we have yet to have any cool fall-like temperatures..

6.     I don’t know if this is every city down south or not, but in Charlotte, it seems like there are two streets that will get you anywhere you want to go. For example, I went to a mall today; I had never been there before, and I wasn’t sure where it was or how I would get home—since I went directly there from work. When I Google-mapped directions home, the directions said to get on a particular street. I thought, “I know that street. Could it possibly be the same street I am familiar with?” Yes, it was the same street. And that street seems able to get me anywhere.

7.     Most of the churches down here have a choir in addition to a worship team. I think this is great for many reasons. First, four part harmony is awesome. Also, a choir gives a much larger number of people a chance to participate in the music ministry of a church. Finally, you can really build the dynamic of a song by adding in 50 voices.

8.     The last difference between north and south that I want to mention, and perhaps most important one (in case you didn’t know it already): the south is Biscuit Heaven! Seriously, so many restaurants have awesome biscuits, and biscuits are one of my favorite foods! I suppose this is kind of a mixed blessing.  If I ate every biscuit wanted to eat, I would look like a biscuit. And that wouldn’t be attractive. Biscuits are supposed to be round and fluffy, but people? Yea, not so much.

There are things I really like about living in the south and things I just don’t understand. You are probably wondering, is this northern girl going to turn into a southern girl? Probably not… I don’t know anything about Nascar and I don’t like country music.