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Have a quesiton for those of you who have lived in California and then moved to the Raleigh area. What are the differences between living in California and living in Raleigh/NC that has had the biggest impact on your lives? Positives and negatives. For those of you who have young children could you please tell me the differences you see in the schools. Are you glad you made the move? How long did it take for you to feel like you were at home in North Carolina? We will be moving out of the SF Bay Area and are trying to decide where to move to. Thanks for your help
Have a quesiton for those of you who have lived in California and then moved to the Raleigh area. What are the differences between living in California and living in Raleigh/NC that has had the biggest impact on your lives? Positives and negatives. For those of you who have young children could you please tell me the differences you see in the schools. Are you glad you made the move? How long did it take for you to feel like you were at home in North Carolina? We will be moving out of the SF Bay Area and are trying to decide where to move to. Thanks for your help
The Pro's:
The people
The green, green, green
All the open spaces
The people
Lightening bugs
Having room to breathe
The people
Driving down a country road, just to go get grocerys
Fruit and vegtable stands everywhere
The people
No traffic, to speak of
The slow way of life
The Con's:
Humidity
Bugs
It was a great move for us, but you can only make that decision on your own feelings, my things that are important, might not be your things.
My advice, make at least four or five visits here, different times of the year, and don't "VACATION". Act like you live here, go to the grocery stores, go to the DMV, check out where the hospitals are, the doctors offices. Check out the freeways at different times, make sure this is the place for you.
There is no comparison IMO. California is a state full of plastic people who find joy out of materialistic things. They occupy their 2+ hour commuting times commiserating over why their neighbors have a bigger house better car (more debt) than they do. What they can buy next. Their brains are so full of this hectic life style that they are too busy to say a sincere hello and look anyone in the eye. Now trickle down that attitude to school age children and you have kids that only care about what name brand clothing they have on. I know this sounds harsh but I lived in CA both northern and southern my entire life and sometimes it is hard to get a perspective on something you live in every day. Carolina is everything Liz said and more. Slower pace of life, people look you in the eye and really want to know how your day is. The only downside of Carolina for me has been the bugs. That has taken a bit to get used to.
There is no comparison IMO. California is a state full of plastic people who find joy out of materialistic things. They occupy their 2+ hour commuting times commiserating over why their neighbors have a bigger house better car (more debt) than they do. What they can buy next. Their brains are so full of this hectic life style that they are too busy to say a sincere hello and look anyone in the eye. Now trickle down that attitude to school age children and you have kids that only care about what name brand clothing they have on. I know this sounds harsh but I lived in CA both northern and southern my entire life and sometimes it is hard to get a perspective on something you live in every day. Carolina is everything Liz said and more. Slower pace of life, people look you in the eye and really want to know how your day is. The only downside of Carolina for me has been the bugs. That has taken a bit to get used to.
ITA. There is no comparison. Yesterday my kids were fighting like crazy in the cart at the grocery store. Instead of dirty looks or nasty comments, I had a mom tell me her kids would be doing the same thing if she wasn't able to leave them home with their dad. I had a lot of "I'm sorry" looks. So 1) she actually made time to stop 2) someone commiserated with me about my situation without judgement and 3) she made me feel a little better since there was nothing I could do about the situation but hurry as fast as possible. People are so much friendlier here (I came from the Sacramento area). Less plastic-y people and not as driven to have the most material things. I haven't found bugs to be a HUGE issue just more so than in CA. The humidity will get ya if you are used to the cooler climate of the bay area, but nothing a little a/c couldn't cure. You'll appreciate the much lighter traffic!
I am a high school teacher from CA and am now finding (as I have begun interviewing) that their school system is entirely and psychotically different from CA. They run an odd block schedule when it comes to high school. They only take each subject half of the year. So their classes are separated by semesters, you take your basic courses (English, Math, etc) for one semester, then other classes second semester. This means that they have an entire semester (half a year) and summer vacation before they take the next level in each subject. I'm floored by the insanity of it and clueless as to how they expect their kids to do well on AP tests and other standardized tests. I just moved here on Monday and am still searching for schools that don't work this way, but haven't had any luck. Also, be prepared for all elementary and middle schools to be year-round and that your children may not all be on the same track (I've heard people complaining about this). Just some things to be research and be prepared for. If anyone finds that I have understood things wrong, please correct me, because I have had difficulty finding the specifics about the school system (resorted to questioning the young cashier at the grocery store last night).
I am a high school teacher from CA and am now finding (as I have begun interviewing) that their school system is entirely and psychotically different from CA. They run an odd block schedule when it comes to high school. They only take each subject half of the year. So their classes are separated by semesters, you take your basic courses (English, Math, etc) for one semester, then other classes second semester. This means that they have an entire semester (half a year) and summer vacation before they take the next level in each subject. I'm floored by the insanity of it and clueless as to how they expect their kids to do well on AP tests and other standardized tests. I just moved here on Monday and am still searching for schools that don't work this way, but haven't had any luck. Also, be prepared for all elementary and middle schools to be year-round and that your children may not all be on the same track (I've heard people complaining about this). Just some things to be research and be prepared for. If anyone finds that I have understood things wrong, please correct me, because I have had difficulty finding the specifics about the school system (resorted to questioning the young cashier at the grocery store last night).
What do you teach? Block schedules are here to stay. All high schools in wake county use it even some of the middle schools. I say have some students bring a pillow because most will be sleeping 75 mins into the class!!
I hate the block, it did not work in the 1970s and will not work now, give it 5 more years.
What do you teach? Block schedules are here to stay. All high schools in wake county use it even some of the middle schools. I say have some students bring a pillow because most will be sleeping 75 mins into the class!!
I hate the block, it did not work in the 1970s and will not work now, give it 5 more years.
I don't have a problem with block schedule. I have a much more interactive way of teaching, so it isn't really a problem for me. My issue is with the crazy half a year classes. In CA, you take English all year long and Math all year long. You aren't given 8 months in between levels so that you can forget everything.
I teach English.
In CA, at least where I am from, block schedule means that you still have 6 classes, and you have 3- 90 minute classes everyday, but you alternate classes each day. So, you still have the same core subjects all year long, you just see your teacher every other day instead of everyday. It works quite well, actually.
I have never heard of this block system. I grew up in NY and they didn't have it and I got my teaching credential in Ca. where they don't have it. This is insane. Can anyone explain the logic behind this? Even if the school is year round do they still use the block system? Is this used in all of NC or just in Wake County? Do the private schools use block system? And we wonder why our children perform way behind the rest of the world.
I don't have a problem with block schedule. I have a much more interactive way of teaching, so it isn't really a problem for me. My issue is with the crazy half a year classes. In CA, you take English all year long and Math all year long. You aren't given 8 months in between levels so that you can forget everything.
I teach English.
In CA, at least where I am from, block schedule means that you still have 6 classes, and you have 3- 90 minute classes everyday, but you alternate classes each day. So, you still have the same core subjects all year long, you just see your teacher every other day instead of everyday. It works quite well, actually.
Lots of luck. I have been substitute teaching down here and you are going to be worked here. You will teach 3 90 min blocks everyday and if there is a class that needs coverage you will be TOLD you must cover for NO extra compensation. You will have a dumb duty like bus duty, or hall duty or lunch duty. You will be stuck going to PLC meetings once a week during you so called prep time all for a starting salary of 32K. Oh if you have 10 years experience you make 40K. And you pay a good percentage of your spouses and childrens medical insurance. Yours is covered .
"What are the differences between living in California and living in Raleigh/NC that has had the biggest impact on your lives?"
-Affordable cost of living (renting or buying)
-Strong economy and job market for information/research fields (it's been a few decades of more steady growth than dramatic surges)
-Easy commuting aka no traffic compared to SoCal
-Less guilt about taking baths
-Initially, I really missed the food available in CA (markets and grocers), but NC has improved tremendously over the last 20 years. Local farmers markets, coops and chains like Whole Foods have made quite a difference.
"How long did it take for you to feel like you were at home in North Carolina?"
About 5 years. I still miss the dramatic western landscape, but have learned to love it here.
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warning about the school system
