Even before we drove into this city, we were pleasantly surprised by the warmest welcome from a stranger in the Atlanta airport. Picture this...We are waiting to be picked up by our parents, and Scott is sipping on a cup of coffee - when a gentleman walks up to him and says, "Good morning Sir, How are y'all doing today? My name is Sam. Can you tell me where you got your coffee Sir?" As the gentleman walked off to get his coffee, Scott and I looked at each other and exclaimed "Yho!". We sure were so very pleasantly shocked. Silly me, I must admit that I suspected he wanted to sell us something or offer a taxi service when he first started introducing himself.
On our subsequent drive from the airport to Scott's hometown of Auburn I started thinking about this incident at the airport. It brought back such precious memories of growing up in a township Umtata. There was just something about that man and his delightful nature that reminded me of home. I remember times when we didn't have money to take a taxi to school and had to walk in the dark, cold winter mornings. My mom never sat me down and taught me good manners, but it was through things like these walks that she demonstrated to me the spirit of love and community, and thus good manners. As we walked, whenever we passed someone she would greet them pleasantly, exchange names (or clan names) and start chatting as they walked together. They would go on and on talking as if they had known each other for years until they had to go their separate directions. And that was the norm...being nice was normal. No one suspected anyone of ulterior motives simply for showing kindness!
So back to Auburn...I took a walk with Olivia one chilly morning last week. She was in such a grumpy mood throughout, but my love tank was overflowing from all the nice people I encountered along the way. We walked past a man mowing his front lawn, and he actually turned off his mower and greeted us with the hugest smile on his face. A few hundred meters from there a car was driving toward us and started slowing down as it approached. I noticed the driver rolling down his window as he drove closer and I thought to myself, I hope he's not looking for directions, because firstly, I might have a hard time even understanding his question through the accent, and secondly, there is little chance I can be of any help with directions. Well to my surprise again, he had rolled down his window to greet Olivia and me and wish us a blessed Christmas season! Throughout the walk I was similarly blessed with the loveliest of greetings, whether verbal or just waves accompanied by delightful smiles. It was all so heartwarming, and I walked back home thinking, Aaaahhhh, these people are so nice!
It is ironic that before my first visit to Auburn in 2009, when Scott and I were still engaged, many people "encouraged" me not to be offended or affected by the "racism" and "discrimination" that I might encounter here. I was warned about THE SOUTH and how many people here have outdated views on racial mixing (or whatever you call it!). Honestly, I have never felt anything but love and acceptance here. One of the many things I love about this place, other than the nice people of course, is the freedom I feel when I walk around with my family doing normal things that families do. No rude stares or funny remarks about my family, no loud "whispers" about my being a traitor to my people (whatever that means). It could be that the people here who do have negative thoughts about us just keep it to themselves, while those who have positive thoughts are not shy to come up and bless us with kind words. I love it!
Okay, this blog post has become a bit more serious than I intended, so let me rather comment on a few other things that I love about this awesome place...
Christmas clothing. Holiday apparel is such a huge deal here. I've never seen anything quite like it, from Christmas underwear to Christmas sweaters and ties, and even Christmas bed linen! One can find most anything desired with some sort of Christmas decoration on it. In fact, for the Christmas fanatics, the entire house can be Christmas-themed for the season. It's so funny, yet so cute! I haven't seen anything so extreme...just putting it out there for my South African friends who would like me to stock them up for next Christmas :-)
The Southern accent. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching a live movie, and like I'm right in the middle of one of its scenes. It's a silly thing, but I guess part of me still associates the southern accent with movies! On one of our previous visits here Scott's dad had a gentleman come over to fix something in the backyard. I sat at the window trying so desperately to hear what language this man was speaking. I knew it had to be English, but the accent was so thick I couldn't hear a word of what he was saying! (Scott later told me he was talking with dad about football) And the other day we were checking out of a store and the cashier looked at Olivia and asked, "What is her name?" in such a magically sweet, charming southern way - I so wish I could imitate it for you!
Good food! So I've been told that Americans eat so much junk food. Well, not the ones that I'm around! My mother-in-law cooks up a storm almost every night and we've often been invited over by others for meals...and they are always so lovingly prepared and scrumptious! I'm not much of an adventurer when it comes to food, as I'm generally happy with a salad or sandwich, but I do appreciate the love is put into preparing a nice meal to share with loved ones. There's something so homely and warm about sharing life over a meal!
Christmas cards. Yes! People still do Christmas cards here, at least the older people. Hand written with personal messages and sent through the post. In fact, the day we arrived here my parents in law were busy finishing up writing cards and Christmas letters to friends and family. Mom told me she still sends a yearly card to an old friend from high school! Those of you who know me well would know that this is the kind of thing that totally fills up my love tank :-) Not that I would have the discipline to do it, but even just seeing that there are people who still do this warms up my hearty heart :-)
So there you have it. All of these wondrous little things...from heartfelt exchanges with strangers, to people stopping what they are doing simply to smile and greet, to overwhelming feelings of loving acceptance, to yummy meals, to Christmas Christmas Christmas everywhere, to handwritten cards exchanged between lifelong friends, to the charm of the sweet southern drawl, and so many more intangibles...they all combine to create an undeniably NICE atmosphere around this beautiful place. My hubby tells me that the name of this city comes from an old Walt Whitman poem about "Auburn, the loveliest village on the plain". Indeed it is, and we are so blessed to be spending the holidays here, a place and time I will always cherish.
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