those from away (Bangor, Augusta, Wells: fit in, house, water heater)

[K-Luv]

Just curious as to what your impressions/expectations where before you moved to Maine, and then what your impressions where (are) after you moved to Maine.

Were the two different? The same? Any surprises?

I think that this has already been a thread; looked, but couldn't find it.

[Nor'Eastah]

Hmmmm...when I was a kid (this was back in the Paleozoic ), I spent summers in the Wells area not far from Old Orchard Beach. The neighborhood kids accepted me, but then, kids are kids and they enjoy other kids with their same energy and outlook on life ("grown-ups are so retarded!"). We had a couple kids form Canada there one summer; they were accepted, too.

Of course, I have been back to Maine as an adult, almost always on vacation, and found Mainers to be a bit reserved, but very kind-hearted. The type that would ignore you if you were doing OK, but would be by your side in a jiffy if you looked to be lost or in trouble. I liked that, a lot! But then, I'm from New England myself - just not Maine!

My expectations when we move up there? Well, this is northern Maine we're looking at, and I have zero experience with that. I've traveled around the US a lot for work/vacation, and never met any group that I didn't like. What I expect in northern Maine is possibly a bit reserved, slow to accept, not wild partiers, hard-working, slower pace of life, less emphasis on material things, and always, quick to offer help when needed. Of course we would expect to return in kind.

After we get there, I'll quick-look-up-this-thread and tell you if I was right!

[emu742]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Just curious as to what your impressions/expectations where before you moved to Maine, and then what your impressions where (are) after you moved to Maine.

Were the two different? The same? Any surprises?

I think that this has already been a thread; looked, but couldn't find it.

I too would love to hear some stories concerning this!

[Submariner]

Our 'impressions of Maine', before verses after:

Knowing that Maine is largely rural, I did expect to see more Agriculture.

We have lived in areas of commercial forestry previously. Coming to Maine we have been flummoxed by the attitudes of Mainers toward their Forestry industry.

We may have expected Mainers to be more 'reserved' and tourism focused [categorizing everyone into 'Mainers' and 'outsiders']. We have lived in a tourism area previously. Living in Maine what we have experienced is not really like that at all. Some folks may be focused on their jobs, their families, their things. For the most part folks are also welcoming and helpful, and friendly too.

[SportFury59]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Our 'impressions of Maine', before verses after:

Knowing that Maine is largely rural, I did expect to see more Agriculture.

We have lived in areas of commercial forestry previously. Coming to Maine we have been flummoxed by the attitudes of Mainers toward their Forestry industry.

We may have expected Mainers to be more 'reserved' and tourism focused [categorizing everyone into 'Mainers' and 'outsiders']. We have lived in a tourism area previously. Living in Maine what we have experienced is not really like that at all. Some folks may be focused on their jobs, their families, their things. For the most part folks are also welcoming and helpful, and friendly too.

How many others out there had to, out of curiosity, look up the word "flummoxed"? I did

[CapeCodder]

It's been a learning experience for us.

Winter wasn't easy this year (and now we're dealing with a loooong muddy driveway). It makes me feel better to hear natives saying how bad this winter was. We knew it would be snowy here...but sheesh. It's been crazy, and we suffered some damage to our house from it...so that stunk. Even though I'm a native New Englander...Cape Cod and Maine couldn't be more different weather wise. So, that's been tough. I'm hoping all the coming winters will seem like nothing compared to this one. =)

The people of Maine have more than met any expectations I had. We went to Wal Mart in Augusta yesterday and ran into so many people we knew...it felt like home.
People here have surpassed any expectations we had. I think people are quite friendly here. We've had no problems at all feeling like we fit in.

We officially moved here at the end of May, and then we were very busy painting, and fixing up the interior of the house. We're looking forward to a more laid back summer where we get to enjoy the outdoors more.

It's been a lot more expensive than we anticipated too. With oil and gas prices being what they are.

I still love it here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else (unless we get five more winters like this one in a row...then I may need to move...heh).

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by SportFury59

How many others out there had to, out of curiosity, look up the word "flummoxed"? I did

Well, I thought I knew what it meant, then this post made me question myself...so THEN I went and looked it up. Turns out I was right!

[Newbie2Maine]

Well, I am new to Maine. We arrived here the 11th of March ('08). We moved here from Michigan cuz my husband got a job here. We'd never been here before, so to say the least, I was very excited to get here. Maine's been a place I've always wanted to visit. I've seen many shows about Maine, from the lobster feasts to the various "haunted" places and the gorgeous scenery! I envisioned and was expecting Maine to be this very exciting, very interesting and mysterious place be! It's been pretty cold since we've been here so I haven't had a chance to get out and explore much, but I do have to say that the scenery here is absolutely breathtaking! We moved to the Harrington area and have only been as far as Machais and Ellsworth. They are such beautiful rides that I don't mind so much the drive to a grocery store or to the rite aid! I must confess though, I was not ready for that. I didn't do my homework before moving here so I was not prepared for how rural it is here. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just wasn't expecting it! Life here definitely moves at a much slower place than where we came from and I do like that. What I'm not sure I like, as far as with this particular area goes, is how far away we are from everything! Especially with the price of gas being what it is, it can get very expensive to go anywhere. My husband works in Trenton, so it's already costing us a few hundred dollars a month in gas! Another thing I was not prepared for was the oil heating. All I've ever known was "forced air" heat which uses natural gas. It was expensive and I'd like to have fainted a few times in the winter when our bill would come and was over $400.00!! (That was for heat and electric). Imagine my shock when I discoverd what we'd be paying here for heat alone!!! We have been here just shy of a month now and have already paid almost $600.00 for oil to heat this place!!! Ugh! Winter is at it's end so I cannot even imagine what it will cost in the heart of winter! Another thing that came as shock to me is the price of some of the food out here. I know alot of products recently went up in price due to the cost of wheat going up the way it did, but prior to my moving out here, (my husbands been here since the end of November so he was filling me in on some of the costs) I couldn't believe the difference in the prices of some things. Even with the cost of wheat going up the way it did, some things here are still more expensive than back in Michigan. For example, the cheapest I've seen bread here is $1.79, compared to paying .99 cents in MI. Milk was another shocker!! It's almost $5 here compared to $3.25 there! Please forgive me if I seem to be "whining" because I certainly am not, I was just wanting to show some examples of the differences I'm having to adjust to since moving here. Maine is a very beautiful state and I can't wait to get out and see what else it has to offer as far as family activities. I have 4 children, 18, 9, 4 & 2 and we love to get outdoors and do things together. From what I understand, there's a lot to do and we are looking forward to discovering this beautiful state!! There's alot of history here am excited to learn more. I almost forgot to mention that I haven't had the opportunity to meet many people here, but the few that I have had the pleasure of speaking to, were so very nice!! I really am looking forward to meeting more people here!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by SportFury59

How many others out there had to, out of curiosity, look up the word "flummoxed"? I did

Forest had a pretty extensive vocabulary...I keep the thesaurus handy when reading his posts!

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Just curious as to what your impressions/expectations where before you moved to Maine, and then what your impressions where (are) after you moved to Maine.

Were the two different? The same? Any surprises?

I think that this has already been a thread; looked, but couldn't find it.

I've been here a month or so now, don't really think that is long enough to form a real impression but I'll give it a go... which will be hard since I try not to have expectations...

I have been frustrated by the fact that every "errands in the city (Bangor)" trip seems to have eaten the entire day, no matter when we try to start but have come to the conclusion that is NOT a "Maine thing" but an "us in a new place" thing (my other half has a tendency to get side tracked and want to explore, even if it is just the isles of an unfamiliar store) as I was able to do two of my errands, solo, today, including the drive to and from Milo, in about 2 hours.

I was NOT surprised at all by the travel times, as I have lived in the country outside a small town before, where monthly shopping was an all day affair after a 45 minute drive to "the city" (Spokane WA) and was looking forward to getting back in that groove (still working on it though...)

I WAS pleasantly surprised at the quality, variety and relatively reasonable prices of stuff in the local stores (small town grocery and hardware, mainly) compared to what was available and the relative prices compared to "the city" in previous places.

We are very conservative on heating and utility use.. I have not seen an electric bill but know it will be higher as I have not been turning off the water heater when I was not using it, as I did before. We are going through more propane/kerosene for space heating (we did not use the central heater in NC and use the oil fired one here very sparingly, just to keep pipes from freezing) but it doesn't seem out of proportion to the colder temps.

All in all, pretty few surprises.