The first thing that usually comes to mind when the SEC comes up is football. But the craze of football is not the only thing that is different from the north. But the football is just the beginning of feeling unattached to the Southern culture. Some of the other major things that I have noticed are that people distinctly notice my different accent, how people dress, and that people are nicer in the south wherever you go.
As you can imagine, when the first gameday came around, it was a complete surprise to me. I didn’t realize that people would wear dresses and skirts for game day. So that was the first thing that I learned about Alabama football before the game even started. I have never seen anything as big as gameday in Tuscaloosa. But the only thing that is crazier than a game day in Tuscaloosa, is going to a football game in Tuscaloosa. My first game was an experience. There is so much happening around you, you can’t keep it all straight and you don’t know what to think.
I’ll be in the middle of a sentence talking with someone and they will stop me to ask where I’m from. Being from Philadelphia, I have a distinct accent. And I know I have a different accent just because I have had so many people ask me where I’m from. But even though people notice my different accent, I still get told that I have a little bit of a southern accent. Now going to school in the South and having friends that have a Southern accent, I was sure that it would rub off of me eventually.
One of the major differences on how the north and south dress is that southerners dress in norts and baggy tee shirts. Although I have learned to embrace the norts and tee shirt style, I was not used to dressing that way back home. I do understand why girls dress like that, but northerners do not have the same fashion sense. I was used to getting dressed up for school, so when I came down here it was a surprise that you only get dressed up for special events and game days.
Even though there are many differences between the south and north, I have learned to love my school. Even if there are things that happen differently than what I’m used to.