Stranger in a strange land.....

How do you acclimate to new surroundings? How do you make friends?

For me, its just a matter of making people laugh. Once I've managed that I pretty much feel at ease and then the relationship grows easily from there.

It would seem that I am losing my touch. At least down here in Florida. 

I say "seem" because this may just be the frantic ramblings of my own twisted mind.  It seems that my humor isn't appreciated here in Florida as it is back home. I've noticed that I get a lot of "You're not from around here, are you?" and "Are you new here?" along with my personal favorite "You need to slow down and say that again...you're from up North aren't you?".  I am too fast for Florida. I move too fast, I talk to fast and I think too fast, or so I have been told,   daily.

It would seem that although Florida is a great melting pot (or God's waiting room, as some have referred to it) there are 'locals' who can smell a foreigner in 3 seconds flat.  And I stink heavily of North.  I may even have a neon sign hanging from me that says "NOT FROM HERE"....funny thing is that while I was living in France for 6 weeks I felt more at home, more welcome, then I do here in Florida.  Its not just a different state, its a different planet down here.

Maybe its the relentless heat that sets the die-in-the-wool Floridians apart from me.  Right there, I do not fit in,  I complain about the heat, they love it. I long for sweater weather, they get a chill in the shade. I want iced coffee 24/7 and they get a hot coffee and turn the air down to 75. The girls I work with wear long sleeve shirts under their scrubs because "its Fall weather" they tell me.  HAHAHAHAHA! I laugh my crazy-woman-ready-to-be-committed-to-the-nut-house-maniacal-laugh. ITS 85 DEGREES OUT AND HUMID! I don't care what the calender says, its endless summer here. But they look at me like I'M nuts, me...I'm the crazy one.  sigh

So tell me...how do I win them over? How do I get these Floridians to like me? I don't care about golf, I don't like baseball or football.  I am basically handicapped when it comes to playing sports of any kind. I am without an idea. My poor husband just rolls his eyes at me.

But then I meet a New Yorker and I'm in heaven! They talk like me, laugh loud like me, they sweat like me too. Its refreshing and wonderful. A little piece of home when ever I meet someone from the blessed state of NY or NJ...I'll even take a CT if I must. But of course a Massachusetts native is my second favorite...I haven't met anyone from my home state yet.  Still waiting for that moment. Its funny how we feel so comfortable with people that known the streets we know and have eaten at the same resturants as us. Its such a bonding experience to share the memory of the same bakery. And whenever I talk to someone from back home they tell me how much they hate it here. Now I would never go so far to say hate, not yet anyway. I wonder why they came and why they stay?

So back to the original problem. How do I win over these strangers? These people who mean me no harm but just don't understand me at all. And I don't understand them! I want to make nice, I long for acceptance.  I'm sorry I complain about the heat and the humidity. Really, I am trying. Please forgive me, dear Floridians.  I mean you no disrespect. What can I do to gain your approval? I'm sorry I talk fast, and I'm sorry I like snow. Seriously, I do like snow and I am sorry for it.  I just can't help myself.