Kristin: Hey, I was on the phone with my mom earlier today. I had a nice long conversation with her.
Joe: Oh, how’s she doin’?
Kristin: Yeah, she’s doin’ good. She said to tell you hello, by the way.
Joe: Oh, nice.
Kristin: Yeah, I thought this kind of came out of the blue. I’d never heard it before. But she was tellin’ me how my nephew moved.
Joe: Oh, he just moved?
Kristin: Yeah, um, they had been living in the city limits and now they’re living in the county. So that means he’s no longer gonna be going to the city schools. He’ll be going to a county school. He’s changed school districts.
Joe: Oh, wow, that can actually be pretty traumatic to do something like that as a kid. I mean…
Kristin: Yeah, and they’ve just started back to school. So I’m wondering how he’s doing at a completely new school…new, new kids, everything being new.
Joe: Well, at least he didn’t have to move, like, mi-, in the middle of the school year. I mean, that can be really difficult from an educational standpoint. And, y’know, it’s really tough to get settled in. Y’know, especially when you do it mid-year, um…
Kristin: That’s true. And although, y’know, he’s still in the same area, he’s close enough to still be participating in the same, uh, little league sports. Like, I think he’s still gonna be on the same baseball team. So he’ll still see those same kids.
Joe: Oh, that’s good. That’ll make the transition easier.
Kristin: Right.
Joe: Wow, eh-… Man. Y’know what? That just made me remember the time when I moved as a kid. Y’know, I was pretty fortunate. I only moved one time. And, y’know, some kids have to move a lot. Like, I mean, like army brats, for example.
Kristin: Yeah.
Joe: I mean, I’ve had some friends whose parents were in the Army and they moved a lot. But, y’know, I, I guess it’s easier when you’re younger. But there comes a point where, y’know, it gets really difficult. Like when you’re a teenager. Like…
Kristin: Oh, yeah, I, I’ve…
Joe: When I moved I was just about a teenager, so I know.
Kristin: Well, I, I’ve only moved once, too, when I was a child and I was eight. And that was pretty tough for me.
Joe: Yeah, well you can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for me. I mean, I moved from New York where I had lived my entire life. My whole family was there. Uh, y’know, I’d, I had never moved before so all my friends lived there. And then I moved to Pennsylvania, rural Pennsylvania. I mean, it was a complete…
Kristin: Oh gosh.
Joe: …culture shock.
Kristin: Yeah, I bet.
Joe: And, y’know, what’s worse is, uh, not only did it seem different to me, I seemed totally different to all the kids there…
Kristin: [laugh]
Joe: …because, I mean first off I had this really thick New York accent…
Kristin: [laugh]
Joe: …so right off the bat, y’know, they knew right away that I was not from there.
Kristin: [laugh] Right.
Joe: Y’know, it was obvious I was the new kid on the block.
Kristin: Uh-huh.
Joe: And I looked different also because the style in New York was much different than it was in Pennsylvania.
- by the way: in addition to but less important
- out of the blue: sudden and unexpected
- traumatic: difficult and upsetting
- educational standpoint: describing education
- settled in: adjusted or used to
- little league sports: group of sports teams for children
- transition: change
- fortunate: lucky
- army brats: children of parents who are in the military who usually move a lot
- comes a point: comes a time
- teenager: a person between 13 and 19 years old
- Pennsylvania: a state in America
- rural: area where there is a lot of farm land
- culture shock: feeling uncomfortable when you move to another place and the people are different than the place you lived before
- I bet: I agree
- accent: the way it sounds when someone speaks
- right off the bat: right away; immediately
- new kid on the block: new to the area
- style: fashion