Relocating to The South

My family and I have just relocated from Okinawa, Japan, to Eastern North Carolina.  We spent some time on leave in California in order to visit family, followed by a circuitous drive across the nation.  I've made some interesting observations during our transition.  I used to think that people in America were very rude compared to the people of Okinawa; that belief was effectively dashed upon driving through and settling back into The South.  


Folks on the coast of California met my expectations:  Rude, impatient, and linguistically challenged (family and friends didn't seem to fall into this category).  As we worked our way eastward, we met more folks that made me ashamed of the fact that I'm from California. 


When we got to The South, we were reminded of why we liked it here so much in the past; the people are really that much nicer.  If you look at someone on the sidewalk, they say hello.  If you slow down and ask someone for directions, they help you out, and might even give you directions to their competition's place of business.  The folks in the restaurants don't care that you sound different; they go out of their way to help you and make your meal pleasant.  Many of the things I've seen here would be met with anger or violence on the Left Coast.  It made me thankful that my parents raised me the way that they did (Neither of them are from California).


I have to say that our moving to North Carolina has reinforced my belief that California is a terrible place to live.  Even with a huge hurricane on the way, this place is just so pleasant that it sneaks up on you.  Coming from the jungles of Okinawa, the bugs here aren't even that bad.

I typed this out when we first got here, and it holds true today.