Alabama--subculture

We've been talking a lot in class about culture and subculture. Our teacher emphasized our social norms, and how other countries have their own cultures--and sometimes each country has their on subculture within. We learned how culture can depend on a lot of things: materialistic things  (clothes, phones, cars, etc..), resources, and even religion.

Last weekend my mom and I went to look at a college in Alabama. When I told all my friends that I was looking at schools there for next fall they all made fun of me saying I'd be the only jew. I thought it was soo weird that it was even a big deal that I'd be going there; being jewish is a part of me because everyone in my family is, but I've never really payed attention to my religion. When I went to visit Alabama, I met up with an old friend I have that goes there, and she introduced me to her friends, and they were asking me all about being jewish. Like they had never met anyone jewish before.. it was really strange and uncomfortable!!

Although Alabama is in the US, it felt like a completely different culture to me, even though it's a subculture. In Chicago people drive so fast and everyone is always in a hurry, but in Alabama I noticed that people even drive like 15 miles under the speed limit, and they take their time and go really slow with everything. I've seen Illinois colleges before, and Alabama college was so different also. I don't know if it was just the town or particular school, but there were a million churches, and no materialistic stores on the campus.

I think it's possible to evolve with whatever culture you're surrounded by, but visiting Alabama and comparing it to Illinois (even the people were so different there!) was so surprising to me!! Everyone says the south is different from the midwest and it really is true!!

(a photo I took in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...a few minutes past the college campus)

Culture shock definitely came into play for me when I visited Alabama. Not only were the people so different in the south than in Illinois, but the town (from what I saw) and some of their regular day customs were so different. I drove 5 minutes past the college campus, and was shocked when I saw the tornado damage in Tuscaloosa (left over from when the tornados hit in April just past the campus). It was horrific and I had never seen anything like it!! It was really shocking to see that such a beautiful campus where nothing looked wrong at all, had immense damage just a few minutes past the school. I was so shocked to see this.