I'll Miss You North Carolina

I'm finally mostly settled into my new place, and today while driving through the cool 100 degree weather, I began dreaming of glistening rain and sparkling flowers from North Carolina. Plus, my mailbox here is not nearly as cool as some of the ones I saw back in NC.

I dearly miss North Carolina. As my time there came to a close, I realized how much I absolutely loved it.
The land. The people. The experience.

The Land

It's beautiful there. I've shown that beauty in past blogs. I have loved seeing the 4 seasons. I've never experienced 4 concrete seasons like I did in North Carolina. The first time I saw a firefly was last summer. Granted, it was in Maryland, but close enough. We had a campfire going, and I thought sparks from the campfire were going towards the grass. When I was told they were bugs, I was so excited!

The People

The people I met there were the best. Strangers were often quite friendly, and acquaintances quickly became friends. Due to the small size of the groups I was a member of, I feel I've made a strong connection with many people. For example, at school, there were three other US students in the same (or similar) program as me. We spent many hours on homework together. As grueling as that sounds, being together made doing the homework somewhat enjoyable. At church, having a smaller group helped me to get to know everyone. We often had parties where everyone was invited. There was always something to do.

The Experience

The combination of the people, the culture, and the land was a rewarding experience I never imagined possible. I hope to go back and visit someday soon. I'll try to take advantage of my free flights. Now if only I had more than 5 vacation days this year. Although, if anyone wants to visit me, I have 8 discount tickets for other people to use (standby).

And finally, here are some of the neat mailboxes I found a few weeks ago.