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I moved to Durham in August of 2011 and it was very different from where I used to live in Massachusetts. Of course, the weather was different, but the people and the culture were different too, and I had to get used to it. I’m really glad I live here now.
When I lived in Massachusetts, it was sometimes very hot in the summer, but the air cooled down at night and you could sleep with your windows open to enjoy the cool breezes. A lot of people didn’t have air conditioning; they didn’t really need it except for maybe one or two days in the year. Here in North Carolina I’d die without AC in July and August. It’s just too hot! I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. Also, in Massachusetts it used to snow a lot in the winter. The winter before I moved, it snowed so much that there was nowhere to put it when you tried to shovel it out of the driveway, and then the plow would come and push all the snow from the street back into the driveway. It was so frustrating, and back-breaking work. The snow was pretty when the moonlight reflected on it, but it was a lot of work, too. Here in North Carolina it doesn’t really snow. We just get icy rain that makes the roads so dangerous that they have to cancel school. In Massachusetts they almost never canceled school because of the weather. It would have to snow a lot to even get a two hour delay! The places are the same, though, because they both have four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. It’s just more of a difference in temperature in New England.
Where I lived in Massachusetts, most of the people were white and Catholic. There were some black people and some Hispanic people, but most of the non-native English speakers were from Brazil and spoke Portuguese, not Spanish. There were also some Protestant Christians, but most Christians were Catholic and there were a lot of Catholic churches. Here in central North Carolina, I haven’t met anyone who speaks Portuguese. Most of the non-native English speakers are from Mexico and Central America, and most of them speak Spanish. There are also a lot of African-Americans. The Christians here are mostly Protestant. The places are the same, though, because in both places I find people who are different from me and I am friends with all of them.
The culture is the one thing that feels really different between Massachusetts and North Carolina. For example, driving in Massachusetts is a lot harder because drivers aren’t as patient. Here in North Carolina they let you merge and don’t try to cut in front of you. Also, in Massachusetts, if someone invites you to a barbeque, the meat might be beef, or chicken or pork. Here in the South, barbeque always means pork. If they are going to have a different meat, they will call it a picnic, or something else, like “grilling.” The biggest difference is my favorite thing: using the word “Y’all.” In Massachusetts, if you try to say “y’all” to mean all of you, they will look at you funny. Here, I can say “y’all” or even “all y’all” to mean all of you, and no one bats an eyelash. It’s just the way people talk. I love that. I suppose the one cultural thing that is the same about Massachusetts and North Carolina is that people are crazy about their sports teams. In Massachusetts, the fans’ love of the Red Sox and the Patriots is like a cult religion. Here in North Carolina, people are crazy for basketball and the rivalry between Duke and UNC gets very emotional in March.
After living in North Carolina for over eight years, I am definitely glad I moved. I really like the weather here, and the people and the culture. I have only shoveled snow once in eight years, and I have made a lot of friends. I really appreciate how polite everyone is (except during basketball season when they go nuts) and I wouldn’t want to go back to live in Massachusetts, even if I do like to go back (in the summer) to visit my old friends.