Friday, May 28, 2010

Being Southern In the North

Please don’t take me wrong there are many things that I LOVE about Michigan. These are just some of my observations since I have been here and I have never actually talked about this before.

When I moved here almost five years ago ( October will be 5 years) it was severe culture shock to me. I was actually born in Ohio, but had lived in Florida since I was four. Now, I know that some people will say that Florida is not the South, but it is. There are a lot of transplants there, but since I lived there all my life with the exception of six months in Tennessee, I lived there until now. When I first got here, sweet tea was only found in like three places and they all had BBQ.

So many things here that were not there and vice versa. Although in the last couple of years, Mc Donald's and Wendy’s have started to sell sweet tea. Now Mickie D’s sweet tea is really good! Sonic is now up here and there are Cracker Barrels up here. It was hard when I first got here because people ( by people I mean Doug’s sister) called me a hick.

Maybe I was. I am still as Southern as I can be, but it is hard sometimes because here in Michigan there are places that are country, which I love. The city is difficult for me because of the closeness and all the concrete. I have a hard time with where I live because the houses are so close together and it is like people are on top of me.

When I let a ya’ all fly people look at me like I have two heads! It has gotten somewhat easier, but sometimes I feel like I am losing my Southernism sometimes. Like it is slowly slipping away and one day it will be gone. I really hope not! It is who I am and who I have been. Being Southern in the North is not an easy thing. But like I said there are many things I love about Michigan. I have found quite a few places that I love here. Well, I am going to run.. Ciao!

Kiss

 

4 comments:

  1. It is funny about the y'all's ... I have said that only forever and people have always thought I was from the south because I speak slowly and I have a slight drawl.

    But when it comes to the closeness of the houses and all the concrete, I have to say that I like that better than being splatted down on a plot of land out in the boonies!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great entry Tawnya!! I understand a lot about this... I'm a northern transplant living in the gateway to the south. And when we moved to Florida, wow... total culture shock! I also lived in Texas for about three years and picked up the slang of ya'll... which I swore I would never use... but now do often. LOL! And I have grown to absolutely love McD's sweet tea and southern sweet tea!! I will never, ever adapt to the southern heat though.
    Lisa in KY

    ReplyDelete
  3. i lived my 26 yrs in city/ suburbs, been country living it as they say lol for 4 yrs. id never go back! i like the slowe pace life and less traffic etc. i always say ya'll its normal to me. have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You should embrace your southern-ness! There can't be too many ya'll's in the world and people should be ashamed to look down on you for that. It's part of who you are and you should shout it out into the world!

    ReplyDelete

Tell me about yourself....