5 Years in North Carolina
Posted in The Life of the Historian and tagged with Lists, Me, The South on June 29, 2010
As of today, I’ve been a resident of North Carolina, and thus the South, for 5 years. Or at least this is the day that I celebrate my move here (it’s hard to determine which day I actually moved when it was a week-long process).
As a celebration, I thought I’d share with you some insights I’ve found into the South:
1. You don’t find guys named “Grant” in the South. Not surprisingly, there are plenty with “Lee” as their first, middle, or last name.
2. Raleigh is actually populated with a lot of Northerners. Probably made my assimilation easier.
3. The Southern accent isn’t quite as annoying as it sounds. Actually, I only notice it when I first meet someone, after that it just becomes a part of their own unique voice.
4. North Carolina prides itself in having the largest number of state-maintained highways in the country. It’s not a good thing, I promise…”maintained” is used loosely.
5. The Wake County school district (the one I’m in) is the 18th largest district in the country. Once again, it’s something they take pride in. North Carolinians apparently need to learn that bigger does NOT equal better.
6. Chick-fil-a is addictive.
7. Most Southerners aren’t as obsessed with the Confederacy, states’ rights, and Southern pride like you’d think.
8. But sadly, race issues are still a big deal.
Long live the South…and the North. =)
June 29th, 2010 at 1:38 am
I have no idea what Chick-fil-a is. I’ll have to Google it I guess. I doubt it’s something we have here in Vancouver, Canada.
June 29th, 2010 at 5:18 am
You may not be far enough South to really get the Southern Pride thing. It’s pretty obvious in Alabama.
June 29th, 2010 at 7:22 am
I will keep my southern mouth closed, except to say we sure are glad to have you here! :)
June 29th, 2010 at 8:42 am
I was a northerner in the south for 5 years (New Yorker in Georgia). I also loved it, though not the weather. Besides the fact that it didn’t snow, I could have stayed there. Lots and lots of Northerners in Atlanta, as well, though I worked for a hotel chain so dealt with lots of people local to small towns throughout the south. So much fun! Some of the folks from Alabama, though, our accents were SO different, it was almost like speaking different languages! We’d both have to ask each other to slow down and repeat what we said. The first time one guy heard me talk, he asked if I was from England! I guess that’s just how different my accent was from the deep south accent :)
June 29th, 2010 at 8:44 am
Thank you very much…and there is always KANSAS and COLORADO.
June 29th, 2010 at 10:47 am
I’ve lived in KY for the majority of my life (20+ years) and let me tell you about bad southern accents. Being born in MI, I tend to think that I don’t have a bad one at all. As for as NC goes, I’ve visited Charlotte once and loved it. It seems like such a nice place… but I was on vacation, so everything seems “better” and “nicer” than my own home! Oh and I LOVE chik-fil-a… sounds like a good idea for lunch!
June 29th, 2010 at 11:13 am
I definitely think the highways here are maintained very well. Then again, it might depend on where you come from, because they certainly aren’t maintained in Pennsylvania…
And I loathe Chick-Fil-A. I’ve lived here three years and no thank you, ha.
Happy “moved to NC” anniversary!
June 29th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I was born in N.C. and still love it. But now I’m a desert girl. You describe life there perfectly.
Mary
June 29th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Marilyn: Maybe one day. There weren’t any in KS when I was growing up, but I think they’re slowly expanding north.
Veronica: I meant to but a “so” in there…the Southern pride is there, but not as much as I expected!
Cheryl: Thanks ;)
D: I guess I picked a good day to grab Chick-fil-a for lunch, huh? (I wrote this some time ago, so I didn’t remember what post it was!)
Mindy: I had it for 4 years at college and only thought it was okay. Then I moved here and became addicted. Maybe you just need to give it more time?
Twitter: heythere_ann
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June 29th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I have been a midwestern gal all my life. It’s nice to get to see a little bit about southern life… but I have never had Chick-fil-a… whenever I’m around there, maybe I’ll have to grab some
June 29th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Stopping from SITS! I could say many of these things about South Carolina.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:13 am
I’m with Veronica and Cheryl…lol. You haven’t been in the right places for the accent. My mom is from Lenoir, NC. I was born and raised in NC and still can’t half understand what they’re saying in Lenoir. It’s a completely different world. Also, let me just note to you Northerners in the South, JUST BECAUSE WE TALK SLOWER AND OFTEN MOVE SLOWER DOES NOT MEAN WE’RE NOT AS SMART AS THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. Ok, I feel better now. :-)
July 4th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Wow, I’ve never made that association with the names Grant and Lee before! Shows you how far away I live from the south!
July 5th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Speaking of Southern Accents, when my Mongolian husband and I went for a visit to New Orleans back in 2004, I had to be his English-to-English translator! He speaks excellent English, but he could not catch onto the accent for anything! He kept looking at me with that helpless look in his eyes. It was pretty funny.