Is anybody here from the South?

[Arkansota]

I'm moving to Arkansas in 2 weeks and I'd like to know what to expect

[gilhooly]

Probably a variety of weather patterns. You will see sunny days. You will see rainy days. The humidity will often vary. I will personally guarantee you a wide range of weather. Hope that doesn't sound incoherent.

[Pix]

It makes a big difference whether you're moving somewhere rural or urban.

And a lot of Southern states can have silly rivalries with each other ranging from cooking styles, music (such as Texas vs. Nashville), history (such as the fight between TN and TX over who "gets Crockett"), and even college sports that get taken way too seriously (Texans and Oklahoman, particularly males around your age, are even known to viciously attack each other over it, stabbings known to happen as well, and even someone who innocently "wears the wrong colors" of the opposing team can be targeted). I don't know of any specifics of Arkansas, though a general guide of thumb is if you're near the border of another state then there's probably a rivalry with the bordering state in that area.

Cities are about like cities anywhere, but should you move somewhere rural then don't even try to fake being like the locals...you won't have the family connections and the like and any such attempt to "go native" would probably be seen as pathetic at best, and as mockery at worst. And from what I've seen Southern hospitality is real IF you're an outsider (and not from a hated state, seriously in Texas even Tennesseans & Oklahomans can be treated with more hostility than Yankees). Maybe after you've been settled in for a year then maybe you could try "going native" and/or see if you can't use some connections to expand your opportunities (them good ol' boy networks range from the annoying to the scary).

Oh, and just for fun, here's one of the jokes I grew up with in the East Texas Bible Belt (make of it what you will about the local attitude):

"Why did the North get the Yankees and California get the gays? California got to choose first."

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Alligators, Armadillos, Deer - snakes that will kill you with a single bite... Heat and humidity, ice and cold... Wonderful place I hear - sort of like hell but without the flames.

[SeaDevil]

I'm moving to Knoxville from Seattle. I'm excited. I want to see a vulture and an armadillo. ^-^

[Miles]

I've lived in the south my entire life and I've never once seen an alligator or an armadillo outside of a zoo. Venomous snakes...can count the number of times I've seen those on one hand. (I admit I'm not much of a country boy.) In South Carolina, there's copperheads, cottonmouths, diamondbacks, coral snakes, and rattlesnakes. You don't want to play with those. Most species here are nonvenomous.

Hurricane season starts June 1 and ends November 30. I doubt Arkansas usually gets much of the full force of hurricanes, being further inland than other southern states, but you should still be on the look out for those. SC, which is on the coast, hasn't been majorly affected by a hurricane since Hugo in 1989, which killed 35 people and caused billions in damage.

Pix raises some good points about culture relating to sports, hospitality, etc and the potential gulf of difference between rural and urban. Also, both undercurrents and overcurrents of racism thrive here in various capacities. My dad was telling me about how at a party at his neighbor's house, the topic went towards the Trayvon Martin case and some old fucker - nice guy, I'm sure - got a little too tipsy and blurted out "We should start a new KKK..." After some weird looks, he tried to recover with "...but not like the old one!" (Never mind the 400+ hate groups already active in the south). That's the tame stuff.

I was at little hole in the wall one time, empty except for the owners and a couple of patrons. They seemed nice enough - my friend's mom had frequented this place in the past and they had some good wings. Something on the TV popped up about crime or drug trafficking or something, and the owner grumbled something about "blah blah the damn darkies blah blah." Immediately afterward, a black patron came in, and the owner serves him without a problem. Often times people keep their prejudices to themselves and get along fine, but there's still an undercurrent there.

Bottom line is the south is not a monolith. There's ugly poverty and obnoxious wealth, and scores of people in between, just like elsewhere. And there's plenty of good food, music, beautiful country, and fun to be had if you know where to look.

[Pix]

Alligators, Armadillos, Deer - snakes that will kill you with a single bite... Heat and humidity, ice and cold... Wonderful place I hear - sort of like hell but without the flames.

Definitely Texas...and the heatwaves can about make you feel the flames, too!

250 miles to the nearest post office; 100 miles to wood; 20 miles to water; 6 inches to hell. God bless our home! Gone to live with the wife's folks --sign on empty cabin, Texas panhandle, 1886

"If I owned Hell and Texas, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell." --Philip Sheridan

And back in the days when operators would call back with the time & charges for long distance calls from payphones, another Texan got upset when told the charges, saying "Back home in Texas i could call Hell for that amount of money!"

The operator replied, "That's right sir, in Texas that would be a local call."

And those were BEFORE fire ants, and the days when Rick Perry publicly prayed to God (and repeatedly got the opposite of what he asked for, like he led a public prayer for rain and the heatwave only got worse and broke out into wildfires across the state that made national headlines, as just one example).

[Miles]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the fucking crazies we put in office down here.

The Southeast is never not humid. Another thing I would rather have go away.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Oh you guys and gals just make me want to pack a duffel bag and hitch-hike to the south and take up residence.

But then I'm sort of all into the torture and pain thing.... :biggrin:

Ok there is one thing that the south has that is lacking in my part of the world - Real forests. If it wasn't for the humidity, hurricanes, poison snakes I would live their for the trees.

[Rae]

I can't say much. I'm from the south (Virginia) BUT I was right on the coast...and I lived there 14 years ago XD;;
The people are pretty nice. There can still be racism towards everyone (yes, even towards white people, and yes, that is a thing) but I never really ran into it in Virginia, and I was the ONLY white person in an all black kindergarten class and I was completely oblivious to it! Haha!