Monday, August 21, 2017

Singing My Way Out of the South

Before I left Small Town for good, Small Town Guy organized a going-away dinner for me. Nine of my friends showed up for the dinner, which meant a lot to me. When I first moved to Tennessee, I didn't know a single person there. I'd come from a life in Chicago that revolved around work, eating alone in school cafeterias, and kicking/and or swearing at guys who tried to grope me on the El. My life in Small Town also revolved around work, but it also included shared meals and parties with friends. When I look back on the two years I spent in the South, I'll miss the friendships I made there the most.

I remember looking at everyone as we ate together and spent hours talking, and thinking to myself, It'll never be like this with them ever again. Sure, I might come back to visit, but that is a long time from now (I have to pay off at least some of the enormous debt I incurred from all my moving expenses first), and by the time I come back, some people will have moved on to other places too and new people will have shown up, and it won't be the same. It made me feel sad when I thought of how this was yet another important part of my life that I had to give up in order to pursue a career in academia.

Although many things bothered me about my life in Small Town, such as the fact that I wasn't treated fairly at work, drivers who drove fifteen miles an hour in the left lane, and neighbors who yelled "WHOOOO" approximately five hundred times a night while tossing beer cans in the parking lot, there are some things I'll miss, other than my friends.

I'll miss the mild weather (it felt like spring lasted a lot longer there), even though Small Town basically shut down during the winter. There were usually no more than a couple inches, but it was enough to make most of the restaurants, stores, and schools shut down. People frantically stocked up at Walmart for the "blizzard," and I'd say, "You mean the snow that is melting as we speak?" In the Midwest, we get several feet of snow, wear multiple layers of clothing for more than two-thirds of the year, and keep ourselves warm by complaining about how cold it is.

I'll miss the mountains. As I drove out of the South, I went from driving past the green mountains of Tennessee to the flat farmland of the Midwest. Sometimes when I got claustrophobic in Small Town, I'd drive to bigger cities and towns, but what I enjoyed most was looking at the mountains. I never failed to marvel at how beautiful they all were.

I'll miss the interesting cities in Tennessee, including Nashville, which was my favorite. It was several hours away from Small Town, but I liked going there because of its thriving literary scene, including the open mic nights and poetry readings that were held there every week, hosted by hipsters who would no doubt have tossed their man buns at me in disgust if they saw all the pop songs on my playlist (I heart you, Taylor Swift. You too, Ariana Grande.) I even took a one-day writing workshop at The Porch, which is a writer's collective.

Nashville also has a really good music scene. A few months ago, I watched Vanessa Carlton perform (she sounds just as good live as she does on her albums) at 3rd and Lindsley, a bar that has a Sunday night concert series.

I also went to a concert at the Grand Ole Opry (there were a variety of musicians that I didn't recognize, but they were all very good), where several people attended wearing cowboy hats and boots. I also walked down Broadway in Nashville, which is full of honky tonk bars where aspiring country musicians perform. I bought a soda in a couple of those bars and listened to the musicians sing, and I thought it was so cool that I basically had access to all these "concerts" for the price of a couple bucks.

I told the English Department secretary at my former school about my new job in College Town, and I remarked about how I had spent almost my entire life in the Midwest. She said, "Well, maybe it's where you need to be." Maybe she's right, at least for now. But I think it was good for me to get out of my comfort zone, live in a state that I had never been to before, work at a rural college, teach students whose mindset was very different from my Chicago students (in Small Town, several students wore Make America Great Again hats. If they did that in Chicago, people would probably snatch the hats right off their heads, yell, "What's the matter with you, FOOL?" and throw the hats into oncoming traffic), and make new friends.

Before I left, I made a "Southern Songs" playlist made up of country music. Even though I felt sad to leave my friends behind, I sang practically the whole time I drove out of the South.

What about you? If you were to leave your town/city behind, what would you miss most?

10 comments:

  1. I'm glad you had a nice farewell with your friends, and have happy memories.

    Here's to the next chapter... :-)

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    1. Hi Annalisa,
      I'm glad that I got to say goodbye to them; I hope that I get to see them again someday, but at least I got to spend time with them before I left. I hope the next chapter includes more fun and less work. :)

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  2. I've always wanted to ho yo Tennessee for the weather and mountains.

    I hope this change is just what you need. :)

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    1. Hi Chrys,
      Thank you! So far it seems okay; I've been here for a couple weeks, so it's too soon to tell. I liked Tennessee, though; I wouldn't have minded staying, just not in Small Town.

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  3. I don't think teachers are ever treated fairly, at any school, btw. So I hope things are better in College Town.

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    1. Hi Charly,
      I've had several teaching jobs over the years, and at every school, there were always several things that were unfair about how teachers were treated. And it's tough because I believe that teachers are the heart of the school; it's okay if we don't get six-figure salaries (although that'd be nice). But at the very least we should be treated fairly.

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  4. It is sad when a chapter of one's life closes, but also exciting because you're moving onto the next great thing. Hopefully you'll make more amazing friends at the new place as well. :-)

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    1. Hi Misha,
      Thanks! I've resolved to at least try and make new friends; once I get back into the academic routine, I'm going to try joining one of those Meetup groups. I've looked online for Meetup groups in my area and at least a couple of them look interesting.

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  5. Aww, I wish you'd share your playlist with us! I love Nashville too. Visited twice for a couple of days, and also went to Townsend and drove around the Smokey Mountains. Those were good trips! It's easy to fly around here in Europe, but we haven't attempted a real road trip yet. Not sure it would be the same...

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    1. Hi Deniz,
      Oops, I didn't even think to put the playlist on there. They were a mix of recent and older country songs, from artists like Chely Wright, Leann Rimes, and the Brothers Osborne (I especially like their song "Stay a Little Longer," which was very popular in Small Town while I lived there.) I was thinking that maybe next summer I'd do a longer road trip; I didn't really make any real stops between Small Town and College Town, except to get gas and food. Next time I'd like to make more stops and explore.

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