Friday, November 4, 2011

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. 

6 comments:

cary said...

Welcome back to the states.

Sorry we couldn't meet up during your drive.

Glad you are safe and sound, and it sound like you are happy where you are.

Next time you're out west, you really oughta stop in.

Semper Fi, brother.

Anonymous said...

John,

Great to hear you're stateside. We were wondering where you might be, but always remember, you're always welcome to the Free State Of PIG.

On behalf of Hambo, we welcome you back.

Porcus

Dan O. said...

Well, I hacen't been posting or reading blogs much recently, so this is way late, but Welcome Back, John and Thank You for your continued sevice.

Dan O

Elaina M. Avalos said...

I know I'm late to the party but I could not agree more. That has been one of the hardest things for me being in California all this time. Though it's small town living here in the Stumps, it's still California. And with that comes all the rudeness that made me want to not live here in the first place.

As a So Cal native, I don't mind saying that it sucks here. :) I miss Eastern NC like crazy for the reasons you mention...and many more.

I hope you and your family had a great Christmas! Happy New Year!

Just John said...

Thanks, Elaina! I enjoyed my two tours at 29 Palms, but we certainly prefer North Carolina.

Just John said...

Dan, thanks for the kind words. I haven't exactly been updating this blog much either, but I'm not really keeping score! Cary, I look forward to meeting up with you in the future as well. You're certainly on the short list of folks that I'd like to shake hands with.

Porcus, as always, it's good to hear from you.