Before I moved to UNC-Chapel Hill from Long Island, New York, there were certain expectations I had for the culture shock that would come from going to school in the South. I expected my classmates to adhere to every southern stereotype–the good and the bad, but I found that the South was not anything I expected it to be.

I was both pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed by the actual cultural differences that I encountered.

1. Barbecue.

In the South, barbecue is not a delicious hamburger or hotdog fresh off the grill–I was served a pulled pork sandwich with a VINEGAR sauce.

... it's an acquired taste for sure.

2. You WILL be made fun of for your accent.

The Long Island accent is probably the most easy one to make fun of because we say so many things differently. You're southern friends will immediately catch on to the way you say words differently, for example Sahlmon and Ahrizona.

And you'll probably get a funny look when you say "you guys" instead of "y'all", and you may even find yourself saying "y'all" to your own horror.

I get it! Y'all is gender-inclusive, but it goes against my very nature to say it.

3. Everyone is really friendly.

I had heard that the stereotype for southerners was that they were nice on the outside, but they are hard to get close with and can be nasty when you do get close with them. I would call this the "bless your heart" complex. But I've found so many genuinely nice people, who are even more wonderful once I've gotten closer to them.

4. The lack of ~good~ Italian food.

Like any true Long Island girl, Penne alla Vodka is near and dear to my heart and my favorite comfort food, but it is almost impossible to find any Italian restaurants, and if you do, Penne alla Vodka is not on the menu.

And don't even get me started about the pizza.

5. Just because my friends are from the South does not mean they're from the ~country~.

Most of the in-state students who go to UNC are actually from the Research Triangle area or Charlotte, and they didn't grow up on a farm.

6. Etiquette is very important.

Holding doors for strangers and saying "ma'am" and "sir" to your elders are just expected by my southern peers, who were pretty upset when I slammed the door on them by accident.

7. A lot of your peers are way more outdoorsy than you are.

When your friends say "backpacking" they mean literally sleeping in a tent in the woods for a day or two, which is a big step up from that one time I went to girl scout camp and we slept in tentalows, elevated tent-like structures with a wooden floor.

They also might bring their Enos with them. These are portable hammocks you can bring just about anywhere, as long as there are trees to hang them on.

8. "So you're from the North, does that mean you don't wear any colors?"

I didn't think there was anything wrong with wearing bloutfits (all black outfits) everyday, but my peers were seriously concerned with my monochromatic color scheme.

9. School spirit is ~extremely~ important.

It's always a #gdtbath (Great Day to be a Tar Heel) here at UNC, and we are extremely proud of all our sports teams–but ESPECIALLY our basketball team. I wasn't prepared to become a hard-core basketball fan–especially since I didn't even know what the NCAA was in high school.

Oh and that rivalry with Dook? It's real.

10. You might just not want to come home at the end of the school-year.

After you've found your "Southern part of Heaven", it's going to be hard to go back to the cold, gray skies of home.

But that just makes coming back even better.