When I was around eight or nine, I moved all the way to Kentucky from Seattle, Washington; needless to say, it's been quite an adjustment. These two places could pretty much just be considered two different planets becasue lives there are incredibly different. There are a lot of things to get used to when you move to the South, and I have to say that I've not gotten used to everything yet. I've spent about half of my life living in the south now, and there are still many things that I just do not understand.

1. "Y'all" and "You all"

Okay, but what? I've spent ten years as a Kentuckian and I can promise you that I have never uttered those "words" that aren't even actually words. I get that "y'all" is a contraction of "you all" but I don't get that phrase either. It's not that I have a better phrase to use when addressing a group of people, but I just don't have one at all. I might say "you guys" every once and while, but typically when I'm talk to a group of people I just, talk?

2. "Ain't"

No. Just no. I do not even understand what this word is supposed to be contracting. I've heard this used in so many, inconsistent parts of speech that I don't know what it's supposed to mean. Normally it's even thrown in with a double negative so I get even more confused. Obviously, comprehending some people in the South is still a struggle for me.

3. Sweet Tea

If ever a piece of my articles created controversy, I know it's going to be this one. Don't get me wrong, I like sweetened tea just as much as the next girl, but I also enjoy unsweetened tea. No, I don't mean unsweetened with 27 Splendas poured in, but with no sugar at all. In the North, when you say "May I please have an iced tea?" you either automatically get unsweetened or more likely, they ask if you want sweet or unsweet. In the South though, the phrase "iced tea" doesn't even really exist, it's just "sweet tea". So if you wander into a restaurant in the South and order an iced tea, you're going to get rot-your-teeth sweet. It took me and my grandmother many orders to realize that if you want it unsweetened, you have to be very specific.

4. Snow Cream

I don't have many friends here who aren't Kentucky natives aside from maybe one or two, so I have had multiple people try to explain snow cream to me and I still do not understand. For those of you who don't know, snow cream is when people go outside after it's snowed, grab a big handful, and add sugar and milk to make it into ice cream. I have a few concerns with this. Like, that snow was outside, there's dirt, bugs, and animals outside. Also, what is wrong with just playing in the snow? Most importantly, just buy some ice cream? I guarantee that some rocky road from Baskin Robbins is going to taste much better than anything you collect from your backyard.

5. "Mudding"

I've been informed that "mudding" is an outdoor activity where people take varying sporting vehicles and drive around in muddy areas, all with the intention of just getting dirty. This will be one thing that I guarantee I will never understand. No matter what activity I'm doing, I always try my hardest NOT to get dirty. Why someone would go out with the intention of getting their clothes and themselves covered in head-to-toe mud escapes me.

6. Acres

Yes, I know that acres aren't a unit of measurement unique to the southern states. I also know that they measure area, but until I moved here, I had never heard this term once in my entire life. It's not that I just don't get it, but I don't know what kind of acreage is impressive. 7? 17? 700? You could tell me anyone one of those numbers and I would stare at you as blankly as possible. However, if you tell me that something is 20 blocks away, I know that that's a long walk. Different skills people, different skills.

7. "I love your accent!"

When I worked the counter at a cafe, I got this one all of the time. People with thick, southern accents will tell me that they think mine is "so cute" or "just plain weird". To me, I'm not the one with the accent. Aside from a few words that get "ah" sounds when they should just get "a", I speak relatively clearly. I pronounce my words the way they're supposed to be pronounced and I enunciate. It's not like I speak with a "Washington accent" (I don't know that that actually exists), I just think I have no accent.

8. Trucks

I get it, the bigger the better, but how can I person justify spending that much money to jack up and truck and then spend thousands upon thousands of dollars in gas because your precious truck gets approximately 3.2 miles per gallon. In the parking lot of a high school in the South though, the more rigged-up your truck is, the more girls you get flocking to your parking spot after the bell rings. My boyfriend drives a Rogue, and I'd say that I like him pretty fine.

I could make this list go on for miles with things that I still don't understand about living here in the South. I have learned some things along the way, but I don't think I'll ever get it all. After a while, you just come to terms with the fact that you're different and that you're going to be alien to a lot of things. It's okay, I promise. Just make sure that you find that one friend who you can talk about how little biscuits and gravy make sense to the both of you.