What I Learned Moving From Minnesota To Tennessee

I spent more than 30 years in Minnesota before our family migrated south. Here’s what we I’ve learned in moving from Minnesota to Tennessee.

  • Some southern states actually preemptively cancel school. Before a single flake of snow hits the ground, school can be cancelled.
  • This is a picture of an actual snow day. School was cancelled the night before this accumulation happened. We still had our MN license plates.
  • IMG_8131
  • No native Tennesseean refers to Coke or Pepsi as “pop”. Using that word is like wearing a sign that says “I’m not from here”.
  •  I don’t miss the winters that never end in Minnesota, but I do miss the snow sometimes.
  • There are approximately 32 people who are actually “from” Nashville. Everyone else is a transplant.
  • Most Tennesseeans don’t have basements. Pretty much everyone I knew in Minnesota had a basement.
  • Civil War history is interesting. This is something you realize when you live in a city where civil war re-enactors march down main street to commemorate battles.
  • “Bless your heart” is not a term of endearment. It says “you’re an idiot” in a sweet passive-aggressive way.
  • College football is a much bigger deal in the south than it is in Minnesota. I don’t completely understand it. It’s like a religion.
  • If the weather forecast includes a possibility of snow or ice, you must immediately go to the store and buy all the milk and eggs and bread.

I’m sure there are more that I’ve missed.

 

4 thoughts on “What I Learned Moving From Minnesota To Tennessee

  1. We are yankee transplants from the north, MI and New York. Because of my husband being retired military and North Carolina being the last stop, when he retired we elected to stay. Your comments about “pop”, “bless your heart” and snow rang very true. I remember our kids being overcome with joy and just the mention of snow the night before. Sweet tea is one I remember, before we moved here, I didn’t know it was a cold beverage also.

    I am diabetic so I use splenda in mine but I drink sweet tea even in the cold months. If I went back home and asked for “sweet tea” they wouldn’t know what the heck I was talking about.

  2. Sweet tea is one southern thing that we really like, too, and often bring some back when we come home to Wisconsin. The buying the bread, eggs, and milk before a blizzard must be something that was necessary decades ago, but it is pretty unusual for people to be snowed in here in Wisconsin for more than two days any more. Most of us have enough food to last us a week, let alone two days! Still, there is that feeling that you should do something to PREPARE!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.