When I first hopped on a plane across the country and moved to North Carolina from Colorado last August, I expected to experience a major cultural shift from what I had grown up in — and indeed I did. But now, half a year later, I’ve fully adjusted and fallen in love with this place. Raleigh, North Carolina and the South have an intoxicating feeling that’s hard to describe, filled with incredibly nice people and amazing things.
Even with moving to such a great place, the transition from the Colorado to the South has still been a dramatic one. I’ve had to adjust to saying “y’all,” drinking Cheerwine and lowering my expectations for how much snow causes a snow day. Naturally, I’ve had thousands of thoughts run through my head as I made this cultural adjustment from Colorado to North Carolina for college. Here are 35 of them:
1. Wait, you can get a tray for only $5? I’m so down.
2. So I guess it’s “y’all” now.
3. Wait, it’s pronounced Appa-LATCH-a?
4. So this is how country music is still in business.
5. Go to hell Carolina.
6. Bricks, so many bricks.
7. I don’t know if I’m ever going to stop sweating — this humidity is killer.
8. Who knew Crocs could be paired with a suit.
9. Dang, the tea really is sweet.
10. Cheerwine > Cherry Coke.
11. We got a snow day for that?!?
12. Oh, so that’s why Southern hospitality is a thing.
13. I thought we were supposed to be amazing at basketball.
14. You call those mountains? Aren’t those hills?
15. First half of basketball games = so much hype.
16. Second half of basketball games = inevitable let down.
17. Go to hell Carolina.
18. Now this is what real school spirit looks like.
19. So there are two types of barbecue?
20. Wait, Charlotte isn’t the capital?
21. Ribs here are the best ever.
22. Cookout = Best. Milkshake. Ever.
23. North Carolina loves sweet potatoes.
24. KFC is nothing compared to Bojangles’.
25. Jimmy V is God.
26. Everything is so green.
27. I never knew biscuits could taste so good.
28. It doesn’t snow here, it ice storms.
29. Shut up Ohio, we were first in flight.
30. So grits are definitely not oatmeal.
31. I guess “Wagon Wheel” is now the anthem.
32. I still don’t get why we are called the “Tar Heel” state.
33. Wait, you can put Cheerwine in a Krispy Kreme doughnut?
34. If you ever have a pig pickin’, please invite me.
35. Go to hell Carolina.