Ok I suppose I’ll always be a New Englander, but I have left the Very Cold Northeast weather for the much nicer, much warmer Sonoran Desert heat! We left in a blizzard and by 3 p.m. were wearing sandals and a t-shirt.
I will sincerely miss our CT home with all the amenities we enjoyed including a fully functional treehouse! We did end up having our boat shipped out, but it will have to be a Lake Powell or Havasu vessel and no longer a seafaring ship!
So I like it, my wife took a fantastic position and it is really going to launch her career! I am going to set-up shop and start my own business! We are planning on building this year, and I am really excited to hit the drawing board for that, but in the meantime I think I’ll do some writing and try to assimilate into the new culture as best I can!
Well any other culture shock stories would be appreciated! And foundation plans for an AZ dopefest can be hinted at in this thread if applicable.
At the age of eight years I, too moved from CT. Only I moved to the bustling cultural crossroads of the small city-state known as Singapore. Northeast USA to South Asia. What a culture shock! In Waterburry CT, there were two types of people: Black and White. In Singapore: Chinese, Japanese, English, Irish, Malasian, Indonesian, Australian, African, Indian, etc. And the Authoriarian government, with a theoretical multiparty system, but an actual one party system. Oh, and FIVE official languages (luckily one was English). So, at least you only have one culture to learn.
Well, if you start getting homesick, it’s currently in the single digits here, and there’s some apocalyptic snowstorm brewing for tomorrow night. Boston may get 1-2 feet of snow.
Excellent move, IMHO. So much physical beauty to discover in Arizona. And Phoenix area has a lot going on, so you should never be bored. We’re only 4 hours away by car, and we come over a lot for weekends. Maybe we’ll have a spring DopeFest, I know there’s many of us in your area (hi Gigobuster!)
You are wearing sandals in January?
That ain’t right.
Congrats on the move. Congrats on your wife landing The Big Job! Good luck with launching your own business? How did little Moo-Moo or Mi-Ti handle the transition. Did you secretly move because your cat was not getting enough sunlight in CT to lounge around sufficiently? Are you under the command of your siamese?
Culture shock issues I’ve discovered in the move from NJ to Santa Fe:
Things are far apart here. Seriously. Santa Fe isn’t considered that far from Denver, and that’s a solid 4 hours away. The nearest big city is an hour away. Weird. You can drive down a looong stretch of highway and…there’s nothing there.
People are so insanely nice here!
Sun in winter. I rediscovered over winter break how much northeastern winters suck. Yeah, snow’s fun. Ten straight days of clouds, drizzle, and 40 degrees isn’t.
It’s so pretty here!
Not sure how much you get in Phoenix, but everything in New Mexico is bilingual. Back east, it was downright odd to see signs, hear announcements, etc, only in English.
Hey, all the rest of you southwest dopers ought have a DopeFest in Santa Fe, 'cuz then I could get there.
Welcome to AZ, but please resist the urge to blather about the ridiculous “but it’s a dry heat” cliche. By the end of August you’ll realize it’s utter bullshit.
Technically our address is Phoenix Proper, but we are really in Ahwatukee. South side of south mountain.
We are planning on building in the spring and are both looking forward to that…Oh and the dog loves it…cats are indifferent
We are greatly looking forward to the cultural aspects of southwest living. We are off to the Heard Museum this afternoon, and then on to Scotsdale for a little furniture shopping. The whole process is very Zen like to both of us. Very cleansing…
Watch out North East, we’ll be thinking about you today!!
Actually, we did not hear a peep from either cat on the plane ride out there, and we did not sedate them either. They love the desert so far I’m looking forward to a few marguarita’s this evening…I’ll check back soon…
Speaking of furniture and house wares, don’t forget to check the humongously huge new IKEA furniture store. It is in Tempe between highway 10, W Warner road and S Priest dr.
So big, even they have a road to them: 2110 W. IKEA Way!
(I promise not to come.