So...I'm a Utah girl. Born and raised there. And not only that but I had never even vacationed on the East coast. So I uprooted everything and moved across the country to Maryland. Turns out everywhere else is not like Utah....who knew? And people warned me, they told me again and again how different it would be, what to expect, but you really just DON'T understand until you experience it.
So I decided to keep a list of things I've learned since moving outside of Utah. So here it goes. Sorry if it gets a little lengthy.
Things I've learned while living outside of Utah....
That places can be humid even if they're not by the ocean.. Also that like everything from eastern Colorado and over is humid....And then if you include texas and California....the majority of the U.S. Is humid!! Who knew?!?
That the majority of the U.S. does not have mountains. So many things that Utah has (or doesn't have), that I just assumed everybody else in the U.S. had too! Like mountains!!
How many black people Utah doesn't have....
Trees. Everyone told me "there's a lot of trees on the east coast" and I just didn't comprehend what they meant until I got here...There are So. Many. Trees. You can't see more than 100 yards in any direction without a freaking forest getting in your way. Can a girl just get a VIEW please?? All I want is to be able to get on top of all these trees and see!! I bet it would be GORGEOUS...just solid tree-tops for miles, but no one can see it dang it!
That people in Utah are overly friendly (not a bad thing). Sam kept telling me that there is no customer service in Maryland, so I was expecting people to be down right rude. But I don't think that's true...I've had to deal with tons of customer service people with switching our addresses and banks and insurance, etc. to Maryland, and people are polite and get the job done, but you never walk away from them with a smile on your face because they made you feel good. But that happens every time you have to associate with anyone in Utah! It happens so much that people don't even notice it!
I've learned what a "big city" is. And I've learned that I don't like them. I thought Salt Lake was a "big city"...it doesn't even compare. And I've learned that big cities are chaos. Just pure chaos. And they're SO dirty. And that Mormons have their heads on straight, because even though Salt Lake is the biggest city we have in Utah, it's still very orderly and clean compared to other big cities.
TOLLS. Are you kidding me?? Tolls are non existent in Utah. I had no idea they were even a thing. Sam and I were in for a rude awakening when we drove to New York for the first time. $60 in tolls!! One of them was a $14 toll!! That's just crazy!! $14 to drive across a bridge?!? What is that? Me and Sam did the math, and that tollway alone is making like $500,000 A DAY. What do they do with all that money?!? Talk about highway robbery. And not only that, but the money is DEFINITELY not going towards upkeep on the roads, because the roads in New York are TERRIBLE.
I've learned what tadpoles do NOT look like (Thought I had hundreds of tadpoles growing on my deck in a bucket, so I kept them around for a few weeks. Turns out they were MOSQUITO LARVAE. Ew.)
I've learned how to explain what a "ward" is to a non-member. I was prepared to be around a lot of non-members, and I've thought about and practiced ways to explain different things about the doctrine of our religion, and why we do (or do not) do the things we do, but I never thought about how to explain what a "ward" is to a non-member. Such commonly used vernacular in Utah, but out here, if I said "My ward", people would be like..."what? I don't think you're using that word right." ".....like your psyche ward??"
I'll keep adding to my list and update it periodically, but that's all for now. This little Utah girl is becoming cultured :)
Also, funny side note: yesterday Sam and I saw someone throw a chicken bone out their car window on the freeway. hahahahah. Only in Baltimore. Gotta have your fried chicken.
OH. also, one more thing. Maybe it's just Walmart out here, but they do not go easy on the bags. It's seriously ridiculous. They only put like 2 items in a grocery bag. And if they put more than a couple things in a bag, they double bag it! It's the strangest thing. And this wasn't just like one time it happened to me, I've been to two different Walmarts, probably 8 times now, and it's EVERY time I go. I come home, and I'm unloading the groceries, and it's like...a SINGLE roll of paper towels and box of ziploc bags in one bag. And I have an entire cart of other stuff. I took some pictures to document it, because I can't get over it.
So here's the first picture, this was how full my grocery cart is (and no, my grocery cart is not always this full. I was stocking up on food storage)
Below is the picture of the bag with a single roll of paper towels and a box of Ziploc bags.....
Here's like...5 packs of tuna. In one bag. In what world is that "full"??
And here's the real kicker. This bag bellow, has a few more items than the other two right? I'm like "okay, they're getting better." NO this one is double bagged.
I just don't understand!
