A texas culture guide for easterners

Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest

When people from the east coast find themselves in Texas, they often experience a culture shock. Easterners are used to close proximity, no nonsense, practicality, harsh winters, and a bit more liberally minded thinking. While New York and Boston are fashionable meccas, many easterners are less concerned with fashion than they are with their work ethic and riding the changes in the seasons. Texans are generally very fashionable and much more relaxed than their eastern counterparts. Texans like to look good, smell good, and dress nicely for most occasions. They are used to wide-open spaces, mostly warm weather, a more conservative mindset, and a relaxed pace of life that many easterners have never known.

Here are a few tips for an easterner who finds himself in Texas:

1. The accent difference. Texas accents are charming to outsiders, but they dont want you constantly pointing out their drawl or their use of yall. Its just the way they talk. Similarly, youll find that they think you talk a lot faster and have funny sayings, as well. They may not understand the term, wicked good. In order for everyone to get along, it is important to remember whose turf youre on and be respectful. Keep a sense of humor and laugh at the differences but not at the people.

2. The wide open spaces. Texas has its share of trees, but most of it is flat and a large part of the state has big areas of open grasslands. Cities are spread out over great distances and superhighways abound. Easterners may be used to highways and traffic, but in Texas it often seems that you have to travel very far to get anywhere. If a native New Englander travels 400 miles, he can easily drive through 4 or 5 states, while a Texan will only have crossed less than half of Texas.

3. The speed. Life in Texas is as relaxed as the southern drawl. People do work hard there, but they dont seem to get uptight like so many of their eastern neighbors. Texans know how to sit a spell, have a little visit, and mosey. Easterners would do well to learn these techniques. Texans know how to get the job done without furrowing their brows and walking with a clipped eastern pace.

4. The personalities. Often easterners who are used to less-than-friendly neighbors and big city brusqueness are taken aback by the cheerful friendliness of Texans. Even just arriving at the airport, easterners will hear the wonderful accent being played out over the loud speaker, kindly announcing the next flight. Sometimes easterners mistakenly think that nobody could be that nice and that Texans must be the most fake people on earth. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Spend any time there and youll learn that Texans are genuinely happy, kind, helpful and cheerful people. They smile, they offer you hospitality, and theyll go the extra mile.

5. The fashion. There is a legend about Texas women always looking good. The people in Texas arent necessarily better looking than those in the rest of the country, but like everything else, they take pride in their looks. They learn at early ages how to put fashions together, apply make-up, do their hair, etc. Texans are beautiful people because they make it a priority.

6. The food. Southern cooking is a thing of beauty, though it isnt always the healthiest choice. Fried foods, slow-cooked vegetables and home baked breads are only a few of the mouth-watering choices youll find in Texas. And easterners wont have had real iced-tea until theyve been to Texas.

Although Texas and the east coast states are in the same country, they are as different as night and day. All travelers would do well to remember that anything outside our comfort zone is a foreign experience and we must be open-minded and accepting of other cultures to fully enjoy the differences.