<p>You’d obviously be a social pariah, Hanna.</p>
<p>Brrrrr. That would make things mighty chilly.</p>
<p>I finally made up one so I would quit getting invitations!</p>
<p>How about sex segregation at dinner parties? Here the women sit in the kitchen with the wife while she preps dinner, and the guys go outside and grill and talk. I don’t like being relegated to the kitchen and figure the guys MUST be talking about something while they’re grillin’ that’s more interestin’!</p>
<p>I’ve been a New Yorker, a Bostonian, and a Virginian (and learned not to leave the house without make up and hair done as a young girl in New York, imagine that!). </p>
<p>Obviously, I’m fairly well traveled. I’d say the only real oddity I’ve found about some southerners is an interest in Greek life and carrying on a family legacy with a particular organization (some people are actually hiring pledge consultants?!?). I sometimes have a feeling that young people can be a little more focused on getting married in the south as well, but I wouldn’t say that’s universal. Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with either of those things. I just see a slight cultural difference there.</p>
<p>There were definitely times in the past when I opened myself up for Yankee jokes, mostly about food requests. It’s hard to believe there are still people out there who have never had a cannoli. Or baba ganoush. Or naan. </p>
<p>I’m making myself hungry. :)</p>
<p>I do need my fix of naan from time to time! I am a big fan of Indian cuisine!</p>
<p>That’s one of the most curious things to me. My southern friends eat absolutely NO ethnic food, except Americanized Chinese or pasta Italian (with not enough garlic). Some have never had good Korean, Indian, Moroccan, Ethiopian, Middle Eastern…some of the yummiest cuisine!</p>
<p>My family has been down here for ages. I can trace direct descent from Nathanael Greene via my paternal grandmother, and my maternal grandmother can trace her roots back to plantation owners (:o) in Virginia in the late 1600s. I’ve had several arguments with friends about the relative merits of the South and North, but they were friendly. Mostly. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>In case you misunderstood, I <em>am</em> a northerner who lives in the South. </p>
<p>Yep, even midwesterners think NJ people are the meanest in the universe.
(I don’t know how to do those winky faces, and that is probably why I’m often misunderstood. . .) So winky winky all you rude Yankees (including myself). </p>
<p>Regarding the church thing, people always ask, “Have you found a church home?” When I say, “Yes, I go to Saint Such and Such (Catholic),” they leave me alone. I do like the fact that there is no problem with saying “Merry Christmas,” or displaying a creche. </p>
<p>I agree with the lack of ethnic food. There is also a problem with foreign languages/accents. The only foreign language is Spanish. One neighbor pointed at a Chinese girl and said, “My kids don’t understand her–she’s always speaking Spanish.” I said, “That’s Chinese.” She said, “Whatever. . .”</p>
<p>Don’t know about your friends, am, but we eat whatever good ethnic food we can find. I’d die without Cuban black beans, rice and plantains, <em>good</em> sushi, Greek food - especially yogurt with honey and walnuts (yum!), Indian naan, and so on.</p>
<p>YUMMMMMMMMMMM!</p>
<p>Ato, to make the winky, do a semi colon ; plus a right parentheses)</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>I like the so-called rudeness of the north. A person can know where she stands. That “bless your heart” that southerners like to use is just so passive-aggressive. If you flip me off, I know you’re ****ed. If you sound sweet, then I will likely go on doing whatever is bothering you.</p>
<p>I am an English immigrant and I have lived in Italy, New Jersey, and North Carolina. I have traveled around the world and seen many places: Germany, Tunisia, Turkey, Sweeden, France, Switzerland, Austria, etc. I’m still presiding in NC and I find it to be the most intolerant and dogmatic of all the places I have been. If you are not a conservative right-wing, “godfearing” christian, who supports the death penatly, then you had better watch out for the mob, as they are on their way to lynch you. A comment made in class epitomizes my experience with southerners “but they’re Mexicans, not people”. The confederate flag is waved around with an inextricable pride, which in my eyes is ignominious. Southerners may claim that it represents “southern pride”, but in actuality it represents the enslavement and reprehensible treatment of a race. I feel incredibly sorry for African Americans, who have to see that flag every day and be reminded of their maltreatment and sordid history. I don’t think southerners ever stop to think about the damages they have caused and they would rather just pent their anger towards the north. I have discovered that many still believe caucasians to be the “superior race” and when I ask for people to defend their belief in god they respond with the Kafkaesque reasoning of “because he just does”. I try to avoid generlizations and I have met some very cool southerners, but they are far and few, leaving me to believe that the south is void of hope. Now as an English/Irishman I cannot claim infallibility, but my country doesn’t wave around a flag that exemplifies the maltreatment of Indians (Asians). I cannot wait to move to California.</p>
<p>Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock.</p>
<p>A friend told me once that in the North, it’s common to lay the money down on the counter instead of putting it in the cashiers’ hand. I’ve only been up North a couple of times, and didn’t notice one way or the other (and it was a long time ago that I heard this). Anyone noticed this?</p>
<p>BHG, it’s true that some areas may never recover, especially where the ground was soaked with benzene from the Murphy Oil spill. No telling if that land will ever be usable again. I heard some families are planning to keep their land in the hope that maybe in 5 or 6 generations their descendants can live on it again, but I’m not sure if any settlement they get from Murphy is going to allow that. Other places just may not come back because there aren’t enough people interested in rebuilding or able to do it. In New Orleans East, even the Home Depot and Walmart are still shuttered, which tells you not much is happening or expected to. The mall and the strip outlets are all closed in NO East too, near as I can see.</p>
<p>You asked about the state, federal and local agencies. I think there’s plenty blame (and credit) to go around. I keep cutting this post back, because there’s just too much I want to say, good and bad.</p>
<p>
On that we can agree. We can’t wait till you move, either. 
Adios. Be sure to write.</p>
<p>I am a southern girl who has lived in the Boston area for almost 30 years. I had total culture shock when I moved up here. I thought the people were so mean and I really felt like a fish out of water. Thirty years later, I can not imagine living anywhere else. I still love my southern roots, but I have a great appreciation, love and respect for the New England lifestyle. I tell my friends up here though to not mistake southern niceness and good manners for a wimpy personality…the title of the movie “Steel Magnolias” really does sum up the inner strength of southern-bred women. OK - now I will hum “I Am Woman” as I fade out.t.t.t.t.t.t.t.</p>
<p>conyat, That’s right, the oil spill. Heard about that. You should open a thread about it here. It’s facinating to hear from an eyewittness. Many would like to hear about it from you, offer support, you could vent. Did you leave? I had heard that there were folks who were armed and prevented droves from entering some suburbs for fear - fear of looting, crime, worse… Gosh, the whole thing is so unbelievable. So hard to give up one’s home. It must be depressing to have so much devastation and yet the to the rest of the country it’s business as usual.</p>
<p>quilde: I’m sure CA will welcome you with open arms; if not, there’s always “Sweeden.” Bless your heart. ;)</p>
<p>I’ll be sure to write, but can you read?</p>
<p>qwilde… bless your heart. I am sorry you are having a hard time adjusting to life in NC, but we are not all monsters.</p>