What do you consider special about regional cultures in the US

[XemaSab]

OTHER THAN YOUR OWN REGION?

The Mexican food in Texas is totally different than Mexican food in California.

Cuban food in Florida is delicious.

Lobster rolls in the Northeast are something that I'd never seen before.

Low country cooking in South Carolina taught me a few new tricks.

[Kali]

1. did you mean regional cultures or cuisines?

or are you just hungry?:rofl:

[XemaSab]

2. Either/or

Food is an easily accessible example.

And BTW I had the HUGEST burrito at 3 and I may never be hungry again.

[Kali]

3. heh

sheesh the Mexican food in New Mexico is different than AZ and they are right next to each other.

I guess the thing I notice most is the difference between rural and urban as I haven't spent a lot of time in any other regions.

I did really enjoy Alaska when I was there in the 70's. The sparse population and darkness of winter kind of created a great tolerant party atmosphere - there wasn't anything else to do or people to party with so everybody just partied together - all ages, ethnic mixtures, backgrounds etc. I really liked that and wonder if it is still like that up there.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. When I first went to the Northeast

I learned to like New Haven-style grinders (hot subs), thin-crust pizza, and fried clams.

[Kali]

5. kicking for XemaSab

or for me, because it seemed like it would be a good thread. I'm interested.

[XemaSab]

7. Thanks

:)

[NJmaverick]

6. The south has a slower pace and friedlier (like "hi how are you") people

[carpetbagger]

8. Food aside, I find it interesting how people relate to objects and history.

I'll take the example of Texas, where I lived in the early 80s and again for most of this decade. It's got its own symbolism (yes, you can even buy tortilla chips in the shape of Texas), and it's own history. 1821 replaces 1620, Austin replaces John Smith, Houston replaces Washington. Archetecture is very regional, with very distinctive limestone and tin roof looks that even integrate themselves into the skylines of the cities. The art is completely different, with a very Texan landscape painting style as unique as the old western artists or the Hudson River School. They even have chains of jewelry stores unique to the region.

Texans talk differently too. Sure, there's dialects, sayings, and mannerisms, but deeper than that is the way Texans relate opinions and emotions. It's very much like the episode of Star Trek where some planet's people talked in mythical phrases and alliterations. Texans really do talk like John Wayne, many of them (I'm not kidding) have his picture on the wall, like my grandfather had a picture of the pope. They convey meaning in vague posturing phrases. That's what drove a lot of Northerners nuts about Bush. I, Carpetbagger, saw through the guy, having as the name implies a long history of feeling like a sojourner in the South, but at least I understood what he was saying, even when he and I knew it to be bluster with a hidden meaning. It's odd, but it's at least as effective as other regional means of communication.

I thought Texas to be as unique a North American culture as Canada. I explained it to people when I moved there this way: once you understand you're living in a foreign country, the resemblences to the U.S. is remarkable, about half of the chain stores are the same, the form of government is somewhat familiar, and 3/4 of the people speak English as a first language. (The last point brings up a more complex topic of why nobody understood Bush's "softness" on immigration. Texas has a different attitude towards this).

And the music's different, too. I'm not talking about regional music as sources of similarly influenced bands, I'm saying there's whole genres of music, Western, Tejano, Rockabilly, that exist nowhere else. Listen to alternative in Seattle, Chicago, Jacksonville, and Baltimore, it's the same. Listen to alternative in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, it's completely different.

Viva Terlingua

[Swede]

9. It's warm and moist down south.

[jeff30997]

10. I can't remember...

the last time I could check that by myself.

[Swede]

11. Walken was playing the character Colonel Angus when he said this.

Hope that helps.

[jeff30997]

13. :P

[Gormy Cuss]

12. The accents, the attitudes, the foods all distinguish one region from the others.

When I graduated from college I took Amtrak around the country and that was the first time I truly appreciate this wonderful experiment of the United States. It was intensely weird to encounter so many variations on people who thought of themselves as Americans first, but still clung to a regional identity.

[csziggy]

14. Anote about Cuban food in Florida

There are actually two slightly different traditions. There is the food as prepared by the Cubans who came to the USA in the early 1900s. It is more adapted to American tastes since the restaurants that cook this style have been catering to Americans and Cuban Americans for nearly a century. The Columbia Restaurant that began in Ybor City is an example of that tradition.

Then there is the Cuban food as prepared by the more recent immigrants. It is probably much more traditional and authentic to the style in Cuba.

Both are excellent food traditions, but they are distinctly different.

[datasuspect]

15. i bought a round for some hipsters in chicago (strangers to me)

and they didn't even acknowledge me.

i bought a round for some farmers (strangers to me) in buffalo missouri and they practically gave me the key to the city (seriously). rode with one of the prominent landowners and his wife out to a fish fry in the woods, went to the bar he owned on the outskirts of town, got assigned some female company, got fed breakfast.

night and day. night and day.