Oh, Those Nutty Cultural Differences!

[RetailWorkhorse]

He also forgot to mention that Americans eat their Pizza with their hands, not with fork and knife as I was raised. Same thing with fried chicken............... more funny looks at the Pizza Parlor and Chicken joint.

My Dad does that. He's of German descent (So's me! ). According to him, he's just a neat-eater (and I'm MESSY).

This is the same man that calls knives "toad-stickers".

-Cheese curds: Deep-fired cheese curds are a STAPLE in Wisconsin. You can't walk into a restaurant without seeing them on the appetizer menu. Even most Chinese or Mexican restaurants in Wisconsin have them. The only place I can get fried cheese curds in Texas is Culver's.

....<snip>...

-Attitude: This is based on a pretty limited area. But, where I'm from in Wisconsin, people are very opinionated and judgmental. If you are not like the rest of the town, you are WRONG and you are BAD and you get weird looks and nobody will talk to you (although they'll talk ABOUT you plenty, behind your back.) People in Texas are a lot nicer, from what I've seen. They're not nearly as opinionated and it's a lot easier to start a conversation with strangers. Like I said, this is just based on the small town I grew up in in Wisconsin...it might not be like that everywhere. (blas? Irv? blaquekat? Anyone else want to confirm/deny this?)

CHEESE CURDS. <3 Used to get them from the Test Kitchen Cracker Barrel in Tiftonia, TN. Then they were discontinued (Along with EQ's Fried Shrimp Salad).

As for the Attitude here in Texas....it's gotta be Corpus Christi, because no one here seems all that polite. They don't respond when ya say "hi" or wave and the traffic is worse than Carter County in TN(Sarlon, I think, should know what I'm on about). Dad says it's only because we're in a bigger city, but I dunno, back East just seemed more laid-back. He also says that moving AGAIN will be good for me, seeing as our next stop this Autumn will be a German Town north of Corpus.

I've seen places contaminate perfectly good hush puppies/cornbread by adding jalapenos, corn, onion, or sugar. Cornbread should NEVER be sweet.

.......ew....... o.O

[Magpie]

Oh, and curds aren't curds unless they're squeaky.

[AdminAssistant]

Minor difference--in Texas, you can get Dr. Pepper everywhere. Drove my fiance nuts when we were in Maryland and he couldn't get it at any restuarant.

I do remember having a hard time finding Dr. Pepper anywhere out of the South several years ago. But I think they were bought by Pepsi, and it's really widespread.

[Custard Chick]

Let's just say I now understand why there are some stereotypes associated with certain races/genders now that I live in the NoVA/DC area.

Also, it's "soda" down here. :P People look at me weird when I ask if they want "pop".

[XCashier]

When I moved from Phoenix Arizona to Eugene Oregon, I experienced not only climate shock but culture shock.

Phoenix is a sprawling major metropolis with lots of heat, lots of pollution, yucky water, and tons of conservative, Type A people. There's racial conflict, road rage and general unpleasantness (which gets worse when the weather gets hotter). On the other hand, the well-lit streets are laid out in a simple, easy to follow grid, and there are lots of good restaurants (especially Mexican food).

Eugene is a medium-sized town with lots of trees and hills and a winding river. The weather is mild, there's very little pollution (it gets slightly hazy during the summer dry spell), and the drinking water is sweet enough to drink straight from the tap. Most of the people here are either college students or original hippies, so the political climate tends to be rather liberal. Lots of artist types, folkies, generally laid-back people. Lots of fresh delicious local produce and dairy products, lots of good seafood. The street layout is insane: streets that change direction without warning, fold back on themselves, suddenly go one-way or dead end and change names halfway across town (not to mention a very poorly lit freeway). Good ethnic restaurants are difficult to find, as well; the last time we went to a Mexican restaurant here, I had a chili relleno that tasted more like a celery relleno!

[Andara Bledin]

I do remember having a hard time finding Dr. Pepper anywhere out of the South several years ago. But I think they were bought by Pepsi, and it's really widespread.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc, but it is bottled and then distributed by Coke or Pepsi, depending on the region.

Oh, and it's soda. Made with soda water. I'll have none of that "coke" nonsense, although I'll accept pop. And soft drink is always good, until you add something hard.

^-.-^