I moved to North Carolina when I was 6 months old and apart from my angsty teenage phase, I've never seriously wanted to leave. Last year however, I stumbled upon an opportunity to move to Chico, California for a year and attend CSU-C as a National Student Exchange Student. The hope for a year of new experiences, paired with the irony of the fact that it was the same school and program that my mama had participated in 25 years before pushed me to apply, and later accept, the position.
It didn't take long after getting off the plane in Sacramento that I realized I wasn't in Kansas anymore-- or in this case, Wilmington. Although the initial shock has worn off, there are a lot of things I have learned about Californians that are a LOT different than the good ole folks back home.
Guys: There are NO southern gentlemen in California. Sure, there are plenty of nice guys, but no one like the ones at home. Most of it is just little things, but they make all the difference. Like holding the door for instance. I've gotten so used to guys doing it back home that I find myself awkwardly standing in front of doors when I go places, only to realize that they're waiting for me to open the door and get out of their way. Another big difference is the way that they dress. On a typical day at UNCW, you're bound to see at least 100 guys in polos or button downs. I've lived in California for almost 8 months now, and I can tell you that I haven't seen 100 button downs or polos since I've been here. Guys wear tshirts and shorts-- no matter how old they are. Their ideas of "college bros" is anyone from SoCal, and I'm pretty sure that half of the guys don't even own shirts with sleeves. Don't get me wrong, being in California has been an amazing experience, but it didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't going to meet the guy of my dreams here.
Style: All of my friends teased me when I was leaving to come to California because they said that everyone would be wearing Patagonia and tie dye everyday. Well that's not 100% true, but they definitely dress differently than I do. When I first got here none of my friends knew what jacks, norts, croakies, or monograms were and they just thought that Lilly was a friend from back home that I really missed. My style hasn't changed since being here, but it's definitely given me a better appreciation for the shopping we have back home and the fact that I won't have to pay to have everything shipping out to me anytime I want to buy something.
Labeling: I came to California expecting for everyone to label me as the preppy new girl and call it a day. One of the most shocking lessons I learned in my first few weeks was that my style wouldn't even be considered preppy here-- it would be classic. Preppy on the west coast equates Hollister and Abercrombie, not J Crew and Loft. Everything that I'm used to being called, judged, or just associated with back home is completely different here. It's kind of invigorating in a way: to just be 100% yourself and to dress and act however you want because you know that people won't judge you one way or another.
While those are the major differences I've found from life in California, but there are some other lessons that I've learned since being here, like:
People constantly confuse NC and SC
They don't know what sweet tea or Bojangles is, which is really devestating
They've have never had Sundrop
When people find out that you're from the east coast, they tell stories about people they know from the east coast or a trip they've taken there once to relate to you
The only associations people ever make with NC is Nicholas Sparks and One Tree Hill
I have loved my time in Cali and I love all of the people that I've met, but I have to say that my time here has really helped me to see how much I love home and just how fortunate I am to be a Carolina Girl.
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