All turned around

Everyone knows it's hurricane season in the South, and everyone who didn't know a month ago sure does now anyway. Through the succession of female typhoons, we haven't been affected, not one bit. In fact, we're supposedly in a drought (they don't know what a drought is over here, there hasn't been rain in maybe 6 weeks). Raleigh is, drastically, asking people to curtail sprinkling lawns to, gasp, 3 times a week or less. Who waters even 3 times a week?
The latest hurricane is Tammy (sorry Tammy!) which is drenching parts of Georgia. Carolina Public Radio issued a mind-twister today, saying that rain would strike parts of northern South Carolina and south eastern North Carolina. How could you fit all four cardinal points in one sentence?
Which brings me to confess that since moving here, I can't seem to keep East and West straight. In California, east meant inland mountains and west meant the open coast. So I regularly get completely confused here, especially subconsiously, since going right from a northward direction used to always mean going in and up. When Mike and I are at the beach, my brain can't seem to get used to seeing the sun set over land either. It's just odd that this very old, hardwired shortcut is now biting me in the tail--and perhaps it's genetic, since the Vendeens in my family are also on the West coast, albeit of France...