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I have been thinking about this lately and reading about all of the transplants to NC and the attitudes towards them which causes me to pose the question.
The first 17 years of my life were in NY... I have now lived away from NY longer than I lived in it. I have spent none of my adult life there and out of the 20ish years of my adult life I have spent most of it in the Carolinas. There is no attachment and people can't tell that I grew up there.
We have chosen to settle down in NC, bought a house and don't plan on leaving ever. In your opinion, do you have to be born somehere to be from somewhere? Or do you have to be at a place by a certain age to be from there? Can you live in a place for decades and not be from there?
My children are young and most likely will consider themselves from NC and I would like to think in a few years I will be from NC too
Good thread. My parents moved from Chicago to Florida in 1985, and they don't consider themselves from there when people ask. They've been down there so long. And I spent 20 of my 26 years in Florida, so I do say Florida when people ask...but it's not really home for me. I like it here in NC.
Long Island... 20 miles from "the city" . My mother sounds like a Saturday Night Live Skit. Any accent I did have went away from 5 years of undergrad and grad school in NC.
Last edited by andherewego; 04-09-2016 at 05:39 PM..
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,518,936 times
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Here's my take on it. The question can be coming from several directions. It might be idle curiosity, an attempt at chit-chat, or maybe the person picked up something in your accent. If it's another transplant or a younger native, tell them, the town that you moved from. If I were you, I'd tell an older native that you left NY when you were 17 & you've been in the Carolinas since then. The older native may have picked up something in your accent that you might not be aware of.
Here's my take on it. The question can be coming from several directions. It might be idle curiosity, an attempt at chit-chat, or maybe the person picked up something in your accent. If it's another transplant or a younger native, tell them, the town that you moved from. If I were you, I'd tell an older native that you left NY when you were 17 & you've been in the Carolinas since then. The older native may have picked up something in your accent that you might not be aware of.
We just moved here so people ask where we moved from. We haven't been in North and South Carolina the whole time... just the majority.....we spent a chunk overseas and in California among other places. I usually say I spent the first 17 years in NY, but have been bouncing around the world ever since. I guess I don't feel like I am from NY anymore and will start identifying as from here soon enough. It just seems once from NY/NJ always from NY/NJ. I was just wondering about other people's thoughts!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,809 posts, read 34,518,936 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by andherewego
We just moved here so people ask where we moved from. We haven't been in North and South Carolina the whole time... just the majority.....we spent a chunk overseas and in California among other places. I usually say I spent the first 17 years in NY, but have been bouncing around the world ever since. I guess I don't feel like I am from NY anymore and will start identifying as from here soon enough. It just seems once from NY/NJ always from NY/NJ. I was just wondering about other people's thoughts!
I have different answers for different people because of where I live. The natives rarely ask me. They're just too polite. On the rare occasion that I'm asked by an older native they have picked up elements of my accent & they don't ask quickly.
We just moved here so people ask where we moved from. We haven't been in North and South Carolina the whole time... just the majority.....we spent a chunk overseas and in California among other places. I usually say I spent the first 17 years in NY, but have been bouncing around the world ever since. I guess I don't feel like I am from NY anymore and will start identifying as from here soon enough. It just seems once from NY/NJ always from NY/NJ. I was just wondering about other people's thoughts!
That's my situation too. I moved out of Florida at age 20, I'm 26 now, and I've lived in multiple cities and countries in that time. Can't really call any of those places home. So I just say I'm from Florida but have lived all over.
I think it's what's in your heart. You can always say that you grew up elsewhere, but that you're from NC... now... by choice.
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