I’m still teaching. I know I don’t mention it much on here, but that’s because I’m cautious that my students could find the blog and see that I’ve written about them. I’m also pretty sure that I could violate some rule or act or something.
We go off topic a lot in my class and today we spent a lot of time talking about the cultural differences between the north and south.
About half of my students are from South Carolina and the other half are from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, and Georgia. I’ve got all East Coast students, so they’ve got that in common. We started talking about the football games and some of these freshmen didn’t realize that guys wore bow ties and khakis to the football games and that girls wear black dresses and flip flops.
ESPN Gameday said, “If South Carolina isn’t the essence of Southern hospitality, I don’t know what is. Of course, in the South, a college football game is practically a formal event. But USC takes it to a whole new level. That football crowd is like something you would see in Vogue magazine.” Of course I’m proud of this!
One girl in my class said, “What’s a grit?”
I need to put her in touch with our friend at Puttin on the G.R.I.T.S. Then someone else said that they’d heard that grits were oatmeal and hash browns mixed together.
What?!
That’s disgusting and completely wrong. I emailed all of them the correct definition and promised to serve them some shrimp and grits or chicken and grits (for those allergic to shellfish) by the end of the semester.
Some of the other differences we heard were that people in South Carolina say, “drawer,” but people from Massachusetts say, “draw” when referring to those big things that fit into chests that hold your clothes.
It was a really fun day of class as we discussed our differences and laughed about the things that we’re not used to. Those of you that are displaced in the north or the south; what are the biggest differences you’ve found? Any funny things that are new to you?
I stopped by from another blog I frequent and I wanted to say how much I like your blog! I’ll have to add you to my daily reads.
I can’t lie: I have no idea what GRITS are!
In TX everyone refers to soda’s as Coke. Dr. Pepper is called Coke. Pepsi is called Coke. Sprite is even called Coke. When you go to a restaurant, the server asks you if you want Coke or Tea, even if they only serve Pepsi. My husband is from the north, and he refers to is as pop.
I moved to SC from Mass in my last month of 7th grade. I have to share one of my experiences that I will NEVER forget.
I was sitting in class and got a little thirsty. I raise my head and ask, “Can I please go to the bubbler”. I had to repeat it about 5 times, noone knew what in the world I was talking about.
Finally I just say.. I’m thirsty and need to get some water!
“Ohhh.. you mean the water fountain”
And yes, football is a complete different world down here. I don’t think anyone up there really gets into college football for the most part!
I agree that everything is a coke. At the grocery store you use a buggy not a cart, in the truly old south- you eat breakfast, dinner at noon, and supper.
The sweet tea fiasco will get them every time. I don’t know why it’s so hard to understand what it is. It’s SWEET TEA…tea that is SWEET. I was in Minnesota once and I asked for sweet tea….the waiter said, “green tea?” no..”hot tea?” no…”mango tea?” My dad eventually said ‘give it up…he has no idea what you’re talking about.”
When I was little my mom always told me “don’t be ugly” and it has nothing to do with how you look.
I have some friends from out west who can not understand why we dress up for football games here in the south!
We went out to eat and one of them ordered a grit (singular)! I had to explain to them that is was gritS and what they were. 😉
Moving from CA to NC taught me quite a few things but the biggest ones include how barbecuing is not the same as grilling (BBQ is its own food category in the South), a buggy is what I knew as a cart, and somehow most words ending in “g” somehow lose it when spoken…fixin’, grillin’, shoppin’, etc.
I have a question for you…what do you call a hat you’d wear in cold weather?
Great post. It is hard to blog about your work when you are a nurse or a teacher. Especially, if they find your blog!
Hahahahahahahahaha. Thank God for being Southern 🙂
I’ve had to live in the north many summers! We spent one summer in Portland, ME, 2 more were spent in Fargo, ND, and the last two we’ve spent in NJ (only 30 minutes from NYC). Up here they call the beach the shore. In North Dakota they refer to soft drinks as “pop.” And in Maine you don’t pronounce the letter R. So the word car would be pronounced, cah. I’ve also noticed that in NJ/NY the car horn is a commonly used, every day thing. In the south, you’ve got to be really mad to use it!
The part about the student who thought grits were oatmeal and hash browns mixed together was hilarious! And I had to laugh when Mrs. Preppy said that everyone in TX calls all soft drinks, “Coke”. So true…I’m from there and I do it!
well coming from a girl from Littleton, CO….EVERYTHING is different in Texas. When I first moved here to attend college I thought I landed in another universe!
Amen to all of that! I am married to a Yankee(IL) and lived there myself for about 2 years. In his town, if someone offers you Bar-B-Q you’re getting a sloppy joe. Everyone is Catholic, but somehow that means they drink like a fish and gamble like Al Capone. I could go on…
That’s too funny! Good for you for teaching them some good southern culture! It’s all about the food. And so true, football is a totally different animal down here! And there’s nothing better than G.R.I.T.S! 🙂
Found your blog and this post totally hit home with me so I had to comment! I’m from northern Ohio and went to college in southern Ohio and the differences between the two were noticeable (even if Ohio isn’t considered the south… southern Ohio is DEFINITELY a lot like it!)
For instance, instead of a ski cap they call it a toboggan, which I always thought was a sled! Also, people in the south say soda and I’ve always been a pop girl!
One thing though… us northerners definitely like college football just as much as southerners but we just have different styles!
I’m with Amy, a toboggan is a SLED, not a cap!
Erin – another huge difference for me is that USC refers to the University of Southern California. The first time my husband had a conversation with me about USC (meaning South Carolina) I naturally assumed he meant Southern CA and he naturally assumed I knew he was talking about SC…pretty funny!
People from Mass. say “lar,” and we Southerners say it correctly – “law,” as in what your husband does everyday!
KK
Northerners get a little confused by the principle of biscuits and gravy, and frying everything. If it’s good enough for Paula Deen, that’s all that matters!
i think in general southerners have a thing about food, i think it stems from the times after the civil war when we had no food. We love it and it becomes a social event to eat with one another. Like the ham hock- or the bone that comes in ham- is used for flavor, for soup or whatever. we use every bit of food so that none is wasted.
i actually think it’s like a ritual to give the ham hock to the ‘most’ important person there. we were given one by our church ’cause we were the minister visiting that day. when i called my mom to ask if it could be frozen, she like ooh and ahhed and said i was lucky that i got the ham hock- that doesn’t happen outside the south!
Also- FYI grits are ground corn just to clarify for muffy.
when I was in town visiting fiance’s sister we went down to the USC campus- it was SO pretty! I was super jealous of the greek row- sororities still don’t have houses at UT. PS- I’m coming in town again for the UT vs USC game on Nov 1! 🙂
I love this post. I grew up in Ohio, and after I graduated from high school, my family moved South. I went to college in Mississippi and arriving there was complete culture shock to me; so much was different, although, today I have a hard time remembering the things that once seemed so foreign.
Calling all soft drinks “Coke” is one that got me at first (I’d been a “pop” girl before,) but now that is second nature. The food is different (and oh so good!)- things such as grits, sweet tea, fried everything, and hushpuppies were completely new to me.
A guy I dated my freshman year was ordering carry-out for us and asked, “Do you want a tea?” I said, “Sure,” because I loved a good black tea with lemon. I was certainly not expecting sweetness to come through that straw as I took my first sip, but I was immediately hooked (however, no lemon with that, thank you.)
A phrase I found confusing was “Cut off,” as in when someone said “Could you cut off the lights?” or “I’m gonna cut off the t.v.” “Fixin’ to” and “might could” were also not in my vernacular.
And you already know what I thought about the whole football experience.
Anyways, I could go on and on as I think back on this, but now that I’ve officially left the longest comment ever, I have to say I love that I came to know another way of life. “Cultural exchange” is great!
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