Two weeks after the day after I graduated from high school, I moved from Haslett, Mich., to Manassas, Va. It was like moving to a different country. For the past 12 years I had lived about five minutes from Michigan State University, and I had gone to a high school of about 1,000 students, 95 percent of whom were white. Now, Michigan can be considered difficult to classify culturally because it is in the North, yet shares many cultural values with Virginia. But Michigan is also part of the upper Midwest, which has its own set of values. However, no matter how you classify it, Michigan is in the North, and it is a very different place from Virginia.
When I found out that I was moving, I thought I would be in for a minor change in lifestyle. I figured since Northern Virginia was close to Washington, D.C., that it would be much like the North. Boy was I wrong. The cultural and lifestyle change that I experienced after moving from a medium-sized college town to a densely populated urban area, and from the cultural North to the South, was quite unsettling. It was a major lifestyle change for me. I was not prepared for the diversity of the area, and I was not expecting Virginia to be as Southern as it is.
Before, when I had thought of Virginia, I thought of it as a state that was a happy medium between the North and South, but more Northern than Southern. Obviously, I was completely mistaken. I soon found out that we have some of the most conservative laws in the nation, so much so that common law marriages do not even exist in this state. Also, I did not realize that lifted trucks and Confederate flags would be pretty normal and accepted by most as part of the culture. I had never heard of Bojangles, ever, and I had never had Chick-fil-A (I had only heard of them because they sponsor a bowl game). I still have never even seen a Bojangles, let alone been to one.
In Michigan, if someone has a Confederate flag anywhere that is visible to the public, people are deeply offended, and it is an extremely unusual occurrence. Even after being here for over a year, I am still quite offended by it, even though I understand that it is a showing of Southern pride. People are thought to be "country" in Michigan just by owning a pickup truck, let alone lifting it or adding extra qualities. I have never shot a gun and don't care to. Moreover, candidates like Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds would not even be considered by their respective parties for Governor. McDonnell would be considered a radical conservative, and Deeds would be far too socially conservative to be a Democratic candidate. When my brother started school at Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, he was shocked by not only the size of the student body (it is almost three times the size of our old high school), but its diversity as well. I was also shocked to find out that all high schools in, or near, Manassas are around that size or bigger.
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Yeah the south is totally awesome, especially Virginia. CSA! CSA! CSA!
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If you think Northern Virginia is Southern wait until you go South of Richmond on either 85 or 95. That is where the true south starts.
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What are you talking about there are plenty of true southern places north of Richmond.
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I go to college in Virginia, but I am from farther down South, and I think of Virginia as much more Northern than Southern.
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Then you're an idiot anon, Virginia is as southern as sweet tea.
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As someone who has lived everywhere I have to say VA is a good mix.
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Virginia needs to be seperated into North and South Virginia. The line should be Ashland, Va
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I grew up near Manassas, VA and the first time I met a person who listened to country (and liked it) was when I met my roommate Freshman year at VT. We also used to joke about how my high school parking lot was full of BMWs and Mercedes (no pick up trucks or confederate flags there).
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I agree with the final point of the column, that we should all experience living in the midst of a culture other than our own. As someone from further South than VA, I can tell you that VA is basically "South-Lite," depending on the area. Blacksburg and NoVa are definitely just as Northern as Southern, so if that's too Southern for you to feel comfortable, you're correct to eventually move back up North. You should continue to get out of your comfort zone while you're here though - take a hike in the mountains, sit outside on a warm summer day and pretend to like sweet tea, etc. It'd be a shame to not experience the whole thing while you're here.
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Anyone who thinks Northern Virginia isn't southern should visit the northern Shenandoah Valley, it makes Richmond look like Baltimore.
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I would rather be in the hills of West By God than the Shenandoah Valley. I know people from there and they are good people but it is too much like West Virginia. The Southern Part of Virginia runs from Suffolk to Martinsville and places in between such as Halifax, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Brunswick, Nottoway, Pittsylvania and so on.
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What are you talking about, the Shenandoah Valley is distinctly different from West Virginia. Once you cross the border there is a steep drop off in average income, morals, and honor. It's nothing but strip clubs, liquor stores, and "massage parlors," inhabited by ignorant men too gutless to rally around the rebel flag of freedom. The valley voted 1000 to 4 to become apart of West Virginia because unlike west virginians, the fine people of the valley have a sense of duty and honor.
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Wow there are some ignorant people here, you're actually debating whether or not Virginia is apart of the south. Apparently you've forgotten the contributions and sacrifices we made for the Confederacy. A majority of the battles were fought on our soil, we gave you fine generals such as Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jubal Early to name a few. The Shenandoah Valley that some have issue with was the breadbasket of the South and the food it produced kept many from starving to death. We also the most industrialized state in the confederacy supplying many rifles and cannons. We stood by the rest of you and did more than most of you. For you to question how southern we are is an insult and if you don't think we are, go F yourself.
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Gabi, please don't move to Iqaluit. There's not much to do in Nunavut :)
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What an interesting read!
First, welcome to the new country :)
Manassas probably shares more commonality with other parts of VA further south while Arlington and Fairfax is more like DC culture-wise.
Glad you're an accepting individual. This quality alone would be able to save one from some misery.
Also, if we look at it from a totolly different perspective. Say, food intake,
probably more varieties would provide more or at least balanced nutrition,
and probably so would be the experience of having lived in many parts of the country or the world for that matter. Boy I may become a Gypsy one day.
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