Hometown Culture

Ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you I am from Syracuse, New York through and through. I am live or die Syracuse basketball, cuisine, and activities. All over my dorm room walls are posters, autographs, and pictures of everything "Cuse". My warsrobe includes numerous orange shirts from almost every season. Sweatshirts from the universities, high schools and country clubs. It was not until I came here to Marist did I realize that the place I love and see as the most normal place to live is actually seen to the "boondocks" to most. All my friends are from Long Island or New Jersey and they see their hometowns as much better than Syracuse in all ways. They tell me I have an accent, live near cows, and have way to much snow for their liking. It was not until this point that I realized that every hometown has it own unique culture and many times others do not understand these differences.
One of the greatest examples is some of the slang. Syracuse says "wicked" while Long Island says "mad". since they are so used to saying "mad" all the time and think of Bostonians sayig wicked they think it is so bizarre I say this one word. Another great example is some things we eat. When I visitied Long Island it was mandatory for me to be taken to the bagel shop but in New Jersey I had to be taken to the deli. I would never take my friends to either places. We would simply go to Dunkin Donuts or the grocery store Wegmans! Also in Jersey at these delis I was forced to try Taylor Ham aka Pork Roll. I liked it and thought it was great in the sandwich but the Pork Roll following is huge in Jersey. They have to have it every morning. There are so many other differences between different towns it is almost too hard to lost. I would never change where I grew up and my friend wouldn't either. There are cultural differences between these places but that is just what makes America Great. Although I am an American, from New York I am unique also to my region. Simply put, I am from Syracuse and I bleed Orange!