Even after living here for 2 years, I am still asked, "How do you like living in Milledgeville, Georgia?" or "I bet this is a lot different than Los Angeles." Life in Milledgeville is totally different than life in LA. However, I was not born and raised in LA. I was raised in a
smaller town than Milledgeville, if you can believe it. Yep, the town I grew up in was only 6,000 people, Hughson, California. When I would tell people I was from Hughson, they would say "Houston, Texas?" And then I would have to give this long explanation of where Hughson was located. Despite the fact that I was born and raised in a small town, there are still several differences between where I grew up and the South (or maybe it's just Milledgeville). Some of them are pretty humorous too.
Here are a few:
1. The most obvious one is that we don't say "ya'll" in California, we say "you guys". I still haven't found it natural to say "ya'll" yet. I sound pretty awkward when I do.
2. Another thing that is quite funny, is in California I would say, "Let's have a BBQ" which meant let's have people over to grill. In the South, BBQ is a type of meat. If you say, "We are having a BBQ," people think you are inviting them over for a type of meat. I still catch myself asking Jordan, "Want to have a bar-b-que?"
3. In the South, you have thunderstorms a lot through out the summer. In California, (at least where I grew up) it hardly rains and when it does, it's a cold rain!! So, everytime it is overcast here, I want to put on warm clothes. One time someone asked me, "Why are you wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt?" during the summer, and I thought in my head, "uhhhh because it's raining, DUH!!" But after she said that I thought to myself, "This isn't California--thunderstorms and rains are hot which means you don't have to wear warm clothes." But my mind has been trained for 24 years to put on warm clothes when it rains, so I still find myself putting pants & a jacket on when it's overcast & dreary. It's hard to break a habit!
4. In Los Angeles, I'm not even kidding when I say there was a physic on every corner. I even remember seeing them in neighborhoods. In the South, there are churches on every corner. I think I prefer churches :)
5. Where I grew up we would say, "I'm going to mow the lawn". In the South (or maybe it's just in Milledgeville) they say "I'm going to cut the grass." Honestly, the first time I heard that I imagined someone cutting the grass with scissors. Funny how the mind works.
6. Has anyone heard of "sleeting?" I remember the first time I heard that word, and I thought to myself, "what the heck is sleeting?" Then someone said, "It's icey rain". I have never heard of that word nor have I seen it until I moved here. In California it either rains or hails, there's no sleet.
7. Oh and get this! Jordan's aunt kept saying how she was wanting a new "commode" the other day, and finally I asked her "What is a commode?" I guess people around here refer to a toilet as a "commode". Toilets aren't something I talk about a lot, maybe that's why I have never heard of it.
8. Have you heard of "Black Eyed Peas"? I thought that was just a band until I moved here. Yeah, it's actually a type of food that is pretty common around here.
9. I knew sweet tea was pretty common in the South, but I didn't realize that it tasted like sugary water. I want to say sometimes, "Can I have some tea with this sugar water please?" But I understand how people get hooked on it, who doesn't like sugar?
10. A few things I observed, in California, there's a McDonald's in almost every town (no matter the size). Here it seems like there is a Waffle House in every town. In California, it's called Carl's Jr. Here it's called Hardees. In LA, it was kind of trendy to not wear make up and leave your hair messy, that's not the case here.
These are a only a few that were on the top of my head, I know there are a lot more. Living here has been quite the adventure and I feel like I'm learning something new all the time.
