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From the Northeast where people openly express their feelings to the PNW where everyone is shocked and offended at the slightest expression of a negative sentiment.
Agreed with other posters who said that climate differences slap you upside the head immediately while culture shock might take a bit longer.
I would say the biggest shock would be someone moving from the Northeast to the South, a Southerner moving to the West, or someone moving from a small town to a large city or vice versa.
My dad took a job transfer to South Carolina during my senior year in high school from Upstate NY. We moved down there in June, right after the school year had ended. It was in the lower 70's when we took off with the moving truck from our 'burb in Upstate NY and to our shock it was in the upper 90's in South Carolina...and just as humid as Upstate NY was. The culture shocks came shortly afterwards
Maybe Northern California or the Pacific Northwest to the southeast. Politics, demographics, culture, food, and weather are all different. Like San Francisco to Charlotte or Nashville.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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It isn't just about location though. The individual has a lot to do with it.
As I grew up in rural NY, I had no problem fitting in with rural Louisiana. I was already a country feller. The only major hitch being the people who assumed I was all urban and Ivy League just because I was from NY... so I just started telling people I was from the Appalachians and let them do the guess work.
I had a very hard time fitting into Baton Rouge, however. I just could not live the city life, and living in BR was a miserable, crime-filled experience. Plus I had become the racial minority and let me tell you, blacks CAN be racist.
My point being, somebody who is already of the rural or small town mindset will not find it hard to settle into a similar place half the nation away. With a few exceptions. In New England states things are run so differently that it's nearly like another country altogether, so that could throw anybody off (even just going from upstate NY to NE it feels so different).
That said, I think it would be harder for the urban set. Cities have such different flavors by region and population density.
Climate is the biggest shocker, along with its flora and fauna.
Next would be politics. If you are somebody who is an ideologue, you will not like anything outside of your hugbox, be it right or left. I am a moderate, so I can fit nearly anywhere with a degree of welcome.
It isn't just about location though. The individual has a lot to do with it.
As I grew up in rural NY, I had no problem fitting in with rural Louisiana. I was already a country feller. The only major hitch being the people who assumed I was all urban and Ivy League just because I was from NY... so I just started telling people I was from the Appalachians and let them do the guess work.
I had a very hard time fitting into Baton Rouge, however. I just could not live the city life, and living in BR was a miserable, crime-filled experience. Plus I had become the racial minority and let me tell you, blacks CAN be racist.
My point being, somebody who is already of the rural or small town mindset will not find it hard to settle into a similar place half the nation away. With a few exceptions. In New England states things are run so differently that it's nearly like another country altogether, so that could throw anybody off (even just going from upstate NY to NE it feels so different).
That said, I think it would be harder for the urban set. Cities have such different flavors by region and population density.
Climate is the biggest shocker, along with its flora and fauna.
Next would be politics. If you are somebody who is an ideologue, you will not like anything outside of your hugbox, be it right or left. I am a moderate, so I can fit nearly anywhere with a degree of welcome.
Yes, racial tension is very palpable all across the Deep South. Some random guys would approach me and call me in a racial slur back in AL. You'd probably do better in Texas in terms of politics and racial relationship, but the flora and fauna and climate will be pretty much more identical than where you originally came from. With a possible exception of Houston and Atlanta, anywhere in the lower South will be a huge culture shock for anyone from outside the region. I grew up in Alabama, but humidity is something I still have hard time adjusting to. I still prefer the South any day, though.
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