Welcome to Charlotte

Getting adjusted to Charlotte feels a little like adjusting to life in Namibia...but only a little. Probably only in the sense of getting adjusted to any new place. There's different grocery stores here and it’s hard to find different stores because they’re tucked back in shopping plazas and there’s greenery everywhere so you can’t always see the signs. I almost missed Wal-mart because there were too many trees…a Wal-mart! But I’m starting to learn the streets thanks to Google Maps and free Wi-Fi at Panera. How did we ever get by before the internet? I certainly don’t remember.

I arrived at my apartment on Monday, but haven’t really started moving in yet because my roommates haven’t arrived. I visited campus for the first time today (after driving right by it because I didn’t see the sign). I got the tour and met a whole bunch of people, some students taking summer Greek, some of my professors. One perk of being here a week before classes is I beat everyone to the textbooks in the library. I found more than half of what’s on my reading list for the semester. I would get a head start on them if I weren’t already so engrossed in Shadow of the Almighty that I picked up in at a used bookstore in Milwaukee. It’s the biography of Jim Elliot, a missionary to the tribes of Ecuador who was martyred for his faith when he was 28 years old. He’s long been an inspiration of mine and I highly recommend the book so far.

So after my first full day in Charlotte, I’ll hold off on my judgment for now. It’s certainly not love at first sight, but I think I could get used to it.