Life in Winston-Salem,North Carolina

[Qubit]

I have been offered PhD in Neuroscience at Wake Forest University (bowman Gray campus), Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The school is great I believe. I am really keen to find out about the city of Winston-Salem, since I am from India and W-S has very low indian diaspora. I am no fan of ghettoism but would like to know about how comfortable I wold be, how friendly the people are, any ill-will towards people which do not have any religion, the range of activities available etc.In general, Life in W-S for a foreigner.

[dmf]

I grew up in W-S and lived for years in Ardmore. My family currently lives in West End. These are the two neighborhoods closest to the Bowman Grey and where most med/grad students live. While the area might not have a huge Indian population, these neighborhoods and the medical campus are quite culturally diverse. This might not be as much of the case if you head out to the suburbs and surrounding rural areas but you'll likely feel very comfortable and welcome anywhere in the city itself, and especially in the neighborhoods I mentioned. Those areas are also close to downtown which has recently gotten a lot nicer and has great restaurants, theaters, bars, a brand new baseball stadium, and fun street festivals. I'm actually kind of jealous that the area has gotten so much cooler since I left! I would have loved to go to Wake for grad school if they had a program that better fit my interests.

To speak more about living in W-S as a foreigner, my mother teaches ESL (English as a second language) in elementary school so deals a lot with newly arrived students and their families. About half of her students come from South and Central American but the others come from all over the world (including India). There are communities of refugees from several different places (Lotsampas from Bhutan/Nepal, Karennis from Burma, etc). There are also a lot of people affiliated with Bowman Grey and Wake (doctors and professors) who have come from all over the world to practice and teach there. While life can be quite hard for some of the refugees and illegal immigrants, I think the more middle class and educated immigrants face very little (if any) discrimination or hostility based on culture or religion.

Also, just a detail, but there are a few really good Indian restaurants as well! I'm by no means an expert, but I have spent several months in India and have become much more picky about Indian food since. My favorite one is close to the hospital and has a delicious and affordable lunch buffet.

If you have any more questions, feel free to post them here or pm me. Congrats on your acceptance at Wake and good luck with your decision!