New to Mass? (Cambridge, Belmont, Washington: home, schools, live in)

[puffle]

Do you feel "at home" yet if you have moved from out of state to Ma.in the last year or do you feel like an outsider?

[findingmesomeday]

Depending on where you live, you might always feel like an outsider. I'm not saying that to deter people from moving to MA but it's a reality of the culture here.

[gamsauer]

I lived in the south for 13 and 1/2 years and I was always considered a "Yankee", thus an outsider. I have a friend in NC that has lived there for 25 years and still they treat her like an outsider. So, I don't think this kind of thinking is limited to Mass.

[gamsauer]

Originally Posted by puffle

Do you feel "at home" yet if you have moved from out of state to Ma.in the last year or do you feel like an outsider?

Also, Puffle, we can be outsiders together. I wonder if we get enough outsiders together, we will become insiders.

[jayrandom]

It's hard to feel like an outsider in Cambridge and the area of Belmont I live in now, because everyone I interact with is from somewhere else. Now that I'm moving to the suburbs, I'll get the chance to feel like a proper outsider.

[rockyroad]

puffle do feel like an outsider?? I thought your son had found lots of friends is it harder for adults to form friendships?? just gathering info from a fellow Californian as I am looking to relocate too!!!
Jayrandom what is Belmont like as it is on my list as a destination..( 2kids 4 and 3 )

[haberstroh]

Aside from not knowing so many people yet I feel totally at home here. We moved here last August. I engaged in both of my daughters' schools. Met, know and talk to all neighbors and found some new friends. I think it totally depends on the person, how open and curious you are.
Also I came to the US 10 years ago and although I will always be a German and feel the little cultural differences and have my family there, I made America my home and have been very welcomed here.

[Valerie C]

Puffle, the feeling of being an outsider is for sure not limited to Mass. We relocated to the St. Louis MO area back in 97/98, and for the nearly 5 years we were there, we were still "outsiders". Sure people were nice enough, but whenever we were introduced, we were still "the people from New England. Hey Val, say "Park the car" or "yard sale". It was cute and people not from this area get a kick out of the Mass. accent, but it always made me realize that no matter what, I was not a Missourian, I was a Yankee there to visit.

[MovingForward]

I'm originally from Texas, but have been in New England for 25 years: three years in Vermont, and 22 in Massachusetts. Having lived half my life here, I don't feel like an "outsider" at all. Other New Englanders may see me as an "outsider," but if they do, they've never made me aware of it.

[skytrekker]

Not a native New Englander either- born in Washington DC-parents almost mid westerners (Pittsburgh) Having lived here since I was 6 however. Here in Connecticut there are some small groups who may consider me an outsider- but not many. I have acquired an 'accent' by now- Connecticut accents may go as fas as Katie Hepburn's-but not quite as fas a 'Pahk ya cah' unless you live near the Rhode Island or Mass border.

After all these years here from my observations no one seems to care anyway.