Ex-Southerners: Do you like living in the North or do you wish you where back in the South? (neighborhood, high school)

[tonygeorgia]

?

[Thomas R.]

I left the South at five, but used to go "down home" every year. Yeah I've considered returning to NW Arkansas or some part of the "Mountain South." The problem is I don't deal with heat well and even in the higher elevations it can get fairly hot. Also since I left so young, despite visits since, perhaps I'm romanticizing it. Lastly if I return I would want to go somewhere that accepts Catholics a bit better than rural Crawford County, Arkansas of the early 1980s. (The county is still only around 5% Catholic. I wouldn't necessarily want a county that's even plurality Catholic, but 10-20% Catholic might be nice)

[Georgiafrog]

There's no such thing as an ex-southerner.

[DANNYY]

Quite frankly I miss the city of Chicago quite a bit when I am away from it after summer. I just wish I had my car there, I do not like public transit.

[oakparkdude]

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Alabama and left as soon as possible. I'll never go back (except to visit relatives.)

[Bobilee]

My parents took the hillbilly highway to Michigan in 1966 for work. My first few weeks in high school was the first time I was ever aware that I had an accent. I was totally surprised at the concept. Even after living in Michigan for 16 years, when I went for my first trip to Philadelphia by car with a friend, I was in charge of making the food. I made tea the way I knew it was supposed to be made-with a lot of sugar. She nearly threw up on the windshield when I gave her some tea. Living in Philadelphia for longer than I would like to admit, I live in a black neighborhood, and so there is a lot of the south around me here. The corner grocery store actually carries hominy. When I go back to WV, and the train rolls through the hills, and I see mist coming down the mountainside, I don't know how to express how I feel. I don't know if at my age I will make it back there to live, but in 3 weeks I make my annual trip to see my granny, who will be 100 in 8 months.

[Thomas R.]

Congrats to your granny.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by Thomas R.

Congrats to your granny.

Yeah, God Bless her. My parents are from the South and I think they are mixed about going back. They have a good life up here and I think if they went back, it wouldn't be to where they are from.

[lammius]

I grew up in the South and left after college. I landed in New Jersey for grad school and much to my surprise, I loved it. I've been here 6 years now, and have no desire to go back. In fact, if I move anywhere it might be farther north to New England!

Visiting relatives in the south is fun, and I have a good time when I'm there, but every time I go I come away realizing, "this place just isn't for me anymore."

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Georgiafrog

There's no such thing as an ex-southerner.

I only work with at least a dozen ex-Southerners.