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I have lived in several different states in the past few years and really find a few things comical about moving to a new area.
1) When the weather is crappy the locals always say, "Oh this is SO unusual" when really it ends up being the norm.
2) The Chamber of Commerce if full of crap, I now realize that they are just there to sell you on the place and make it sound like it's so perfect.
3) The pictures posted online are probably the nicest places in the area so you better not expect the entire place to look even remotely like that.
4) Local lingo, it just cracks me up. A community or street could be easily read one way but the locals always have some funny way of pronouncing it and look at you with crazy eyes when you pronounce it different.
These are just a few things that have been consistent throughout my moves and thought I would vent them here.LOL
I have lived in several different states in the past few years and really find a few things comical about moving to a new area.
1) When the weather is crappy the locals always say, "Oh this is SO unusual" when really it ends up being the norm.
2) The Chamber of Commerce if full of crap, I now realize that they are just there to sell you on the place and make it sound like it's so perfect.
3) The pictures posted online are probably the nicest places in the area so you better not expect the entire place to look even remotely like that.
4) Local lingo, it just cracks me up. A community or street could be easily read one way but the locals always have some funny way of pronouncing it and look at you with crazy eyes when you pronounce it different.
These are just a few things that have been consistent throughout my moves and thought I would vent them here.LOL
Great post, I'll have to put my thinking cap on. Points for being so funny!
I have lived in several different states in the past few years and really find a few things comical about moving to a new area.
1) When the weather is crappy the locals always say, "Oh this is SO unusual" when really it ends up being the norm.
2) The Chamber of Commerce if full of crap, I now realize that they are just there to sell you on the place and make it sound like it's so perfect.
3) The pictures posted online are probably the nicest places in the area so you better not expect the entire place to look even remotely like that.
4) Local lingo, it just cracks me up. A community or street could be easily read one way but the locals always have some funny way of pronouncing it and look at you with crazy eyes when you pronounce it different.
These are just a few things that have been consistent throughout my moves and thought I would vent them here.LOL
Number 3 is the biggest problem I have. People will always hype the city by showing the few good parts reserved for the wealthy but will forget to show pics of the folks where regular folks stay. When they show San Francisco there is always the Golden Gate Bridge and unique houses, but in reality it is not that cheery. I should really stop believing these pics because I was shocked to see so many homeless people!
# 1: True of many places, esp. Seattle, in my experience. (Never lived there, just visited, but my DD had a boyfriend there who was ALWAYS saying that.)
# 4: Also very true. Fractured French in the midwest, fractured Spanish in the SW, crazy pronunciations everywhere!
I LOVE how things are said differently in different places. I am originally from Philly and when I was talking about getting a sandwich from Subway to my friend here in Hawaii, I referred to the sandwich as a hoagie, and people didn't know what I meant! Also, it is interesting to hear the way in which people talk. Here, people talk in an up and down pattern, raising and lowering the tone of their voice as they speak. People on the east coast are usually more monotone....
What also interests me is how people give directions. When I lived in Japan, people would tell you how to go by telling you how many blocks or to turn at a bank or something. People here in Kauai are similar- giving directions based on landmarks and visual cues, whereas in Philly, everything is about street names and counting how many lights you go past....
Out here in CO we use compass directions when giving directions, e.g. go three blocks south, then turn east, etc. This is NOT how they give directions in Pittsburgh. There, it's "turn left where the Winky's used to be", etc.
I agree on local pronunciations. I often have to get phone numbers from a cell while driving. Once I asked for a number in the remote town in Colorado where my mom lives. The operator corrected the Spanglish pronunciation that I used. I laughed, and said, I can't tell you are not from around here or you'd know it's not pronounced that way here in Colorado.
Another time, I called a local Sheriff's department to talk to someone and was chatting him up since I did not know him. He said he was from LA. I said, is that California or Colorado? He laughed.
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Points for being so funny! 
