Obviously the most important reasons to date someone, or become their friend, have to do with common interests and chemistry. However, there are a lot of secondary reasons to date or make friends with a local. For Pitt students, that would mean finding someone who’s actually from Pittsburgh, since a massive amount of people who go here are actually from “outside Philly.”
1. You can stay at their house during breaks.
If you are from somewhere that is relatively far away, you might not have the luxury of being able to go home for breaks. However, if you have a friend or significant other who lives nearby, a lot of the time they will invite you home with them. It’s a great gesture because being alone for occasions such as Thanksgiving or Easter, or even spring break can really suck. Honestly, it can be a bit awkward to feel like you are imposing on someone else’s family, but awkward is better than lonely. Plus it can be really nice to be around a family when you haven’t seen yours in a while.
2. They can decipher the Yinzer accent for you.
First off, what the heck is a “jagoff?” And what is “wuter?” I only drink water. Also where on Earth is “dahntahn?” How am I supposed to understand anyone when all of their words are mushed together into one?! The Pittsburgh accent makes little to no sense to me, and I catch myself often making people repeat themselves 6 times before I can make out what they’re really saying. Luckily I have my local friends to step in as translators.
3. Their parents bring food all the time.
As someone who lives in New Hampshire, I don’t get food from my family often, and when I do it’s usually just packaged stuff because it’s too hard to ship anything homemade. Everyone I know who lives in Pittsburgh gets delicious food delivered from their parents so often! They’ll bring back leftovers from simply stopping home for a meal. It’s almost a fact that homemade food tastes way better when you haven’t eaten anything but processed junk (RAMEN) for a while.
4. They know all of the good places to eat.
They grew up around here. Even if they didn’t live by downtown, chances are it’s where they go for birthdays or special nights out. There’s an absolutely massive amount of restaurants in Pittsburgh, and most of them don’t have good enough websites for you to tell if they’ll have decent food or not. If you are dating or friends with a local, you can always ask them where to go because chances are they’ll have some pretty good suggestions.
So, there you have it! Go find some lovely locals.