Moving to a new place typically brings with it a fresh new perspective on a very different culture. As I have lived in several different places, I have typically noted some of the new, sometimes strange, things that I run into as I adjust to a new place. In Oregon, this was oddly focused on the traffic signs on the west coast (CONGESTION), in Guatemala, this included riding on chicken buses and adjusting to communicating in Spanish, in Texas it included a lot of things that I am not going to re-live right now.
So, my first entry here will be a few of the cultural observations I have made as a new person to Western PA:
1. Yinz is equivilant to Y'all. For example, someone speaking to a group of people, "Yinz going to the football game this weekend?"
2. To be or not to be. I seem to notice that people do not always use the verb, "to be". So instead of saying, "The floors need to be swept", I hear "The floors need swept."
3. There are several 4 way stops that only require 3 of the lanes of traffic to stop. I am endlessly stopping when I am not supposed to be, or going when I shouldn't. Very confusing.
4. A popular game here is "Corn-hole". I have to admit that I snickered a little in chapel this week when they made an announcement that there would be a Corn hole tournament during homecoming. This is a game where you throw a bean-bag into a hole on a board. I don't know that I will call it corn hole. I think I will call it bean-bag toss.
5. Dreyer's Ice Cream has been taken over by Edy. Same look, same ice cream, different name.
I'll write more later about what I am actually doing here...but thought this would at least be a start.
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6 comments:
I got hit in the face by a corn hole bean bag once... :)
That verb thing sounds excruciating.
Cornhole is HUGE at the U of M...every fraternity has their own cornhole boards that they have painted with their letters and such. I agree...a very poor name choice!
i love cornhole! my family gets tournaments going in the summer. there's even an association dedicated to it. no joke. http://www.playcornhole.org awesome.
You are experiencing some of the things that I noticed when I moved from the Northwest to the Midwest! People always left out "to be" in their sentences - it was crazy. Also, they said "crayon" like "crown" (and other weird pronunciations, but that was my favorite).
Also, Best Foods Mayo is Hellmans. Weird, but I distinctly remember having to tell myself to buy Hellmans and Edy's!
:) Tiff
do you want to come with?
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