Any cultural advice for a soon-to-be transplant? (Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet: fit in, transplants)

[jamamm]

We are hoping our house will sell soon, and we will be headed to the MB area this summer. The plan is to rent until we really get the lay of the land, probably in the Berkshire Forest area, in the district of the new River Oaks elementary school. We have a 7 year old son.

We are pretty set in most things for our move, having done basic research over the last couple of years. We will both have jobs when we get there (my husband is transferring and I work from home.)

My question has more to do with any cultural differences we might run into. We are coming from NH. I have heard of a lot of northerners who transplant to the MB area and want to still act like they are northerners. We believe that if we are going to move to an area, we should embrace it and make it our new home (if you want to act like a New Englander, stay in New England.) What I'm wondering is if anyone can give me some insight into things that might be different, that we should get used to. Both for my husband and I, and for my son. For instance - how do children usually address adults there? Here it is mostly by first name, but I'm thinking that might be different down there. Things like that...

Any advice/insight would be appreciated.

[Scotty Dosent Know]

Originally Posted by jamamm

(if you want to act like a New Englander, stay in New England.)

Sounds like you "fit in" already.


As far as addressing people, for some reason people down here are fond of using Mr. with your first name. You will tell someone your name is Jeff Smith and then they are calling you "Mr. Jeff"............I guess it says im formal but like to party? People get offended when I tell them its either "Jeff" or "Mr. Johnson" but I guess that falls under not embracing the culture here lol

[blueherons]

Myrtle Beach is no longer the southern town it used to be and many neighborhoods are completely filled with transplants.

The local areas are going to be Murrells Inlet (east of 17), Dunes Club (not Grand Dunes), and Pine Lakes.

I think you'll fit in just fine wherever you decide to live. People are very friendly.

[CTyankee54]

I found that many people, when answering a question, include M'am or Sir...as in Yes, M'am. I found myself falling into the same habit so it's kind of nice. The Mr. First Name is accurate.

We also found that recycling is not as common as it was in CT where if they found recyclables in your regular trash, you would be put into chains in the public square...LOL. Here, we're just starting to recycle and if you don't want to pay extra for them to pick up recyclables, you can just put it in with your regular trash or take it to the recycling center yourself.

In CT, every town abutted the next town...no unincorporated areas. It's probably not like that in NH, but county government runs everything outside the incorporated towns. Berkshire Forest, I believe, is not in MB city limits so it's part of the county government.

SC is much more conservative politically than most of NE. We worked as poll managers this past week and had 4 to 1 ratio of people voting in the Republican primary vs Democrat. Oh, and you don't register to vote by party...just register. No R vs D vs I when registering.

I agree with blueherons...people are very friendly so I think the attitude you're coming with will serve you well fitting in. Just beware that if someone says "Well, bless your heart" you've probably said or done something really stupid. LOL

[jamamm]

Thank you so much... CTyankee54, you made me laugh with the "bless your heart" - I will certainly keep that in mind, lol.

We are definitely recycling people (same thing here, if you don't do it there are strict fines), and do live in a town, so those will be things to get used to. Here you have to pay for a private company to pick up your trash, though - you are otherwise responsible to bring your own trash to the dump (and separate it into a million different categories.) I take it there is trash pickup in MB? That will be nice. I grew up in MA, and was always used to putting the trash out one morning every week.

The voting registration is interesting. I always register as Independent, so I suppose that's not much different, but it's always good to know these little things.

I hear that there is a clear tourist season down there - is that true? We live in a tourist town, but we have tourists all year long. Traffic is definitely worse in the summer, but we don't go into town on the weekends, hardly ever, because there are ALWAYS tourists. If there is an actual tourist season there, that will be a nice break for us.

[gary2beach]

Only in the city limits is there trash pick up included with your taxes, in the County where you will be you either take to a recycling center or pay for trash pick-up.

Back when I first moved here in 79 there was a tourist season, and it ended Labor Day, by October most restaurants were closed until spring and by November most of the traffic lights were blinkers, not today, we attract tourists year round.

Back in 79 most of the folks you talked to had a southern drawl, now it's hard to find anyone who lives here with one.

Gary

[Muonic]

Not sure how it is now, but when I was growing up in the south (late 1950's-1960's), it was always proper for kids to address adults with some type of title (unless specifically told otherwise, on a case by case basis). For instance, "Mr" and "Mrs" were the standard used to address an adult, such as Mr. Johnson, or Mrs. Smith. This was especially true, when talking to a stranger, or when first meeting someone. In some cases, addressing an adult by their the first name was acceptable, if you also prefaced it with a title……Uncle Dave, or Aunt Betty. And it was quite proper to address an adult woman by "Miss" (married or not), and her first name….Miss Rebecca or Miss Judy. Calling a man by "Mr" and his first name (Mr. Fred, for instance) would also be acceptable, but I don't remember ever addressing anyone that way. And of course, kids were always expected to say "yes ma'am" or "no sir".

As for "bless your heart", well, that was never used as a smart aleck remark when I was growing up in the south. It was a genuine expression of concern. For instance, it was the type of expression a mother might say to a child, who had just skinned his knee on the sidewalk. Only in recent years, have I heard people using "bless your heart" as an alternate form of "FU".

[CTyankee54]

I agree with gary2beach, we have tourists all year long but there is a peak season (Labor Day to Memorial Day) when traffic is heaviest. That's when I avoid 501 at all costs on the weekends and stay away from Ocean Blvd unless I have to be there. From Berkshire Forest, there are lots of alternatives to using 501 to get around.

Tourists during the rest of the year kind of blend in with our regular traffic and you don't notice it so much and the advantage to having them here year round is that almost all restaurants, etc. stay open year round to serve them and it helps the economy.

[jamamm]

What about bugs/critters/wildlife? We get black flies so bad sometimes you can't go outside unless you are in some kind of screen enclosure. And lots of moles, big raccoons and huge black bears (that have tried to get in our house.) And our house is always filled with those daddy long-leg spiders, no matter how much you clean them out. And ants and mice in the house in the spring.

I assume down there you must get some kind of spiders, maybe lizards? I would think wildlife would be a little less, not being in the woods out in the sticks...

[jamamm]

I really appreciate all the insight everyone is giving me. Seems like the people down there are really friendly - can't wait to get settled and meet some new neighbors... we don't live in a neighborhood here, no neighbors at all, so I'm really looking forward to that.