Maine-ah mentality? (Portland, Bangor, Old Town: transplants, home, high school)

[ProdigalLobster]

This is my first post, so hello, all. Been reading some of the threads & am glad to have found this forum!

I was born & raised in Maine (above the Volvo line, hahaha). Moved south as a very young adult, & 12 years later I'm feeling a strange pull to return to my roots.

One concern, however, is the closed-mindedness I felt growing up... sort of a cultural vacuum. I realize I'm treading on delicate ground here, so allow me to clarify that there is a lot I miss about the attitudes of rural Maine: blunt common sense, determination, & sarcastic humor.

There are some things I could bring back with me, if I do move back. I could teach salsa dance, for example. Not saying it'd necessarily be a raving success, but it's a skill I would hate to waste, & might be a fun way to interact with community. I do have a 'real' job, so I wouldn't be depending on teaching salsa to pay the bills (I do have *some* sense, lol).

I'm not driven by a desire to *change* the Maine or Maine-ahs I know & love. Just would be fun to share something I've learned, & give people an option of something to break up the monotony. Salsa is just a random example... there's a chance I may also be certified to teach yoga by the time I head north. Same sorta concept... no desire to create a hippy-dippy yoga commune (LOL), just might be nice to share with people. Maybe 1 or 2 nights/week at the Voc-Tech or whatever is nearby, nothing fancy.

But here's what I'm wondering... I seem to recall a Maine-ish stubbornness against anything new (no matter how tame). From my current vantage point, I can see this may well have been because I was 19 when I left, with plenty attitude of my own. Maybe people aren't really as closed-minded as they seemed when I was a bratty, discontent teen.

Would love to hear thoughts about this. I am NOT on a mission to be the one-woman cultural ambassador to the "Maine Highlands" (a term I never heard in 19 years of calling it home, which I now love to throw around with a smirk). And I think it has a lot to do with the one way approaches & respects the community. Opinions? I think my main concern is not wanting to be in a place where people automatically frown on anything 'new'. I'm a naturally curious person & like to share with & learn from the people around me.

For clarification, I'm not so much interested in the financial viability of these specific activities. My livelihood is not dependent on them, so they needn't be a smashing success. I'm more after insight into the mindsets of people.

I'm not sure exactly where I'll end up, but I have family in Lincoln & Old Town. Currently leaning more toward Old Town, but who knows?

Sorry for such a long post as a newcomer!

[Elcarim]

Welcome! And since you mention Old Town.......will you be offering Nekkid Salsa classes just following the Nekkid Bowling night at the OT bowling alley?

I think it's probably just like anywhere else - not so much the new things you propose but the attitude with which you offer them. Mainahs with 'already living in Maine' status will better answer your concerns on this one, but I had to put my two cents in - and say "hello, nice to meet ya!"

And I'd salsa with you! I've been wanting to take dancing classes with my hubby.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

There are more transplants coming all the time. They are welcome. We need people. That said, I could count on both thumbs the number of native Mainers who would go to a salsa dancing class. However, the transplants might attend. They come from a whole different life experience. Nobody needs to be certified to teach Yoga. If you want to teach Yoga, go right ahead. The both thumbs rule applies here also.

Nobody will try to prevent you from teaching Yoga, salsa dancing, palm reading or transcendental meditation. It isn't stubbornness, it's just irrelevant to Mainers.

[AliceT]

And if ya have any ideas about starting a "kindness in lobstering" movement, ya might wanna keep that to yourself. Just some friendly advice.

[ProdigalLobster]

Thanks for the answers so far, keep 'em coming, please!

HAHAHA, Nekkid Salsa... probably not. Most people feel nekkid enough in the first few lessons of any kind of dance, even with clothes. Is there seriously Nekkid Bowling in Old Town??? My instinct when I think of Maine is always to put on more clothes, not strip down, LOL. But hey, whatever works! Thank you for the welcome, Elcarim... & you should definitely try some dancing with the hubby if he's up for it. Great exercise!

NMLM, love your response, & it leads me further down this line of thought. I've heard some transplants to Maine say that they love so much about the place... just wish there was more 'stuff' to do & help stay active through the winters. And even before I left Maine, I felt a longing to try new things that just weren't available to me. Some of my peers felt the same, & we have since mostly migrated away. I wonder about this, something that all rural areas probably experience... some of the brightest kids can't wait to leave after high school. Maybe, if some of us came home & brought with us bits of what we have seen & learned, it wouldn't feel so isolated to those of us who are open to different experiences. Again, not with a mission to change those to whom this stuff is irrelevant.

Alice, NO worries about any 'kindness in lobstering' movements here, hahaha! I do feel sorry for the live Maine lobsters I see in tanks here... but my sorrow is limited to the fact that they're used to tooling around the beautiful Maine coast & are now stuck in some crappy tank in a Wal-Mart in Raleigh. I impose my own wistfulness for Maine onto those lobsters. But I'm not above taking them home to steam up & show my friends down here how lobster is MEANT to be eaten. LOL!

[mollysmiles]

awww... come on home I think you'll find it different than you remember. I think when we're a little older we see things more clearly, and I suspect when you get back you'll really see that you missed some things back then because you were clouded by a 19 year old's experience, but also because things have changed since you've been gone. The other part of this that may help is that if you do settle in the Old Town area you'll have the University and Bangor nearby (and if it's Lincoln that's really not that much further).... that will help keep things diversified and new I would think

[BacktoNE]

Hello and welcome!


I think salsa dancing might actually be a bigger hit than some might think. Regular exercise is boring; dancing is sooooo much fun and great cardio and toning at the same time. In the Old Town area you will have the advantage of being near colleges which could potentially expand your client base.

Yoga is extremely popular so, again, I think you would find enough interest to keep you busy a couple of evenings a week.

Either of those classes, or anything else you can think of, would also get you involved in the community and help you to meet people.

Good luck to you!

[RANGER.101ST]

i like salsa and dancing and combine the two would be great.

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by ProdigalLobster

... Is there seriously Nekkid Bowling in Old Town???

Yes, it is here.

... My instinct when I think of Maine is always to put on more clothes, not strip down, LOL. But hey, whatever works!

Is it possible that your expectations of a 'closed mindedness' in Maine, might be misplaced?

... I've heard some transplants to Maine say that they love so much about the place...

We are new transplants here as well, Welcome

[Mark S.]

We had similar fears before moving to Maine. Friends and relatives telling us how close-minded, clannish, and unfriendly them Yankees are.

Nothing could be further from the truth in our experience. We live just north of Portland, so maybe there are Yankee hillbillies out there in the wilds, but wherever we've travelled we've found Mainers to be warm, welcoming, and eager to experience new things.

Don't get me wrong. It ain't Paradise Incarnate, and we have run into a few jerks. But they've proved the exception rather than the rule.