Going to school in a different part of the country can bring some serious culture shock, especially if you're from New England, like I am. While you may think Pennsylvania is not too far from Boston, I can assure you there are some pretty big differences. Maybe I'm just clueless and living in New England is basically like living under a rock, or maybe everyone who's visited Pennsylvania can relate.
The Wawa vs. Sheetz debate.
If you are like me, then you had never heard of Sheetz or Wawa before going to Pennsylvania. Honestly, I've been going to school here almost two years and I still don't quite understand the whole concept of going to a gas station for food, even if it's drunk food. I also seriously offend people whenever I say I've never been to either and I don't understand what the difference is. I'm sorry! I just don't understand!
Diners.
There are diners everywhere. It's like I've entered a previous decade. I was honestly so confused my entire first semester because I would hear other students say, "Do you wanna go to the diner?" I thought this was some special place, but then I learned that there are diners everywhere. If you ask someone if they want to go to the diner, they probably don't know which one you're asking about, but are saying yes because it doesn't matter. The food at these places is always good. The service is great and it is cheap. What is this madness?
There are too many highways.
Did you know that there are 23 major highways in Pennsylvania? Compare that to only five in Massachusetts. That's a lot of highways. I get that PA is a much bigger state, but how do you keep track of all of them?! I have a hard enough time remembering which highway I take to go north/south and east/west.
The smell.
It smells like cow manure pretty much all the time. The only time it doesn't smell like cow poop is in the winter, but then it's so cold and windy that you honestly would prefer the smell. And that's coming from a New England girl, and I've had some long winters. But in all seriousness, I get that we're surrounded by farms and we're in Amish Country, but why, in the city, does it smell so strongly?! I just don't understand.
Townships.
What the heck is a township? As I was writing this, I Googled what a township was and where in the country they exist. I learned that, apparently, we have them in some form back home, but we just call them towns. Townships are a type of local government, but I had no idea. I honestly thought it was just an Amish thing.
The names of these places.
I, honestly, don't know why places like Blue Ball, Intercourse, and Paradise exist all in the same state. Who would do that? What about the children? I seriously wonder what they think about those names. Do they think that intercourse is just the name of a town? The children of PA must question the world when they go through sex ed. and learn that their hometown is just another word for sex
.
Like I said, maybe I've been living under a rock, or maybe PA is just really different from MA. But, if you're from this great state that I chose to go to school in, help a poor Boston girl out next time she leaves her bubble to venture to the real world, and maybe answer some of her questions.
