Thoughts on not having to learn Southern

Earlier this week I almost decided to move to Tennessee.

Once upon a time my job was horrible. I could say so much more about that, but I won't. Since my job was horrible, I started looking to see what else was out there. Someone connected me with a certain university in Tennessee where they do a lot of 'volunteering' while wearing orange. I had a great conversation with one of their AVP's and applied for a job. Then I waited for a long time (everything in the south moves slower). While I was waiting, my job became not horrible. In fact, it actually became good. That's when the south thought it would be a good time to finally call me back. So, I decided to see where it would all lead to. There were several times that I almost withdrew my name but in the end, I had some phone calls, I let them fly me out for an interview and they offered me a job.

I very seriously considered their offer. I looked at places to live. I looked at cars to buy. I talked to people who lived there to see what they thought. I started to think about learning to speak and understand southern. I tried to think about all the people I could talk into helping me pack all my boxes. I had a lot of people praying for me (including one who told me that I could move but that her two year old would cry for a week).

In the end, I declined the offer. I may still end up in Tennessee some day, but not today. For now, I'm sticking around Chicago for a little longer. There are still a lot of restaurants to try, neighborhoods to explore, museums to visit, summer festivals to enjoy and fantastic friends that I'm not ready to leave.