That’s easy. Either order “UNSWEET tea” (say “unsweet” loudly!) or ice water.
also! You could o what I do as a southerner who also dislikes the insanely sweet tea…half sweet - half unsweet, please
Have to laugh at how people define the South. When I lived in the NE my definition would’ve included anything below the Mason-Dixon line. When I lived in TX, I considered it the South. After 3 decades in South Carolina, I’d exclude TX and much of Florida. My H, a native of SC, jokes that VA is the North, as well as North Carolina …it has “North” in the name - lol. His view is SC, GA, AL, MS and LA. I love the South, but also hate sweet tea!
My best friend in high school in suburban Philadelphia was raised by an adoptive mom originally from High Point, NC. She made the best sweetened mint iced tea every summer, which we would drink as an accompaniment to Pennsylvania Dutch hard pretzels until the cows came home.
The sweetest tea I ever had was hot and in a Moroccan restaurant. As long as it’s fresh-brewed and made with real sugar, it can’t be bad!
(My friend’s mom used to make Chex Mix from scratch at Christmas with real butter and fresh almonds and pecans too. She was the best!)
@Overtheedge I agree with you H views of what is the south. My W is from KY…no, no, no.
@2015pop - Agreed, but you have to concede that the Derby, mint juleps and big hats are a valuable contribution - lol.
I don’t care for sweet tea, either. My H still laughs about the first time I ordered iced tea upon arriving in the south. I took one sip and made quite a face. I quickly learned to say “UNsweet, NO SUGAR”…especially in Drive Thrus where it can be hard for workers to hear the UN. When I go back home to Calif, I will accidentally say, “unsweet,” and I’m sure some waitstaff think I’m nuts.
Thankfully, nearly all restaurants offer an UnSweet version of Iced Tea.
Up here in Minnesota, anyone from Missouri, Indiana, Illinois (south of Chicago) and Pittsburgh is southern. 
When I lived in San Diego, many folks referred to Chicago as “back East,” whereas to me it is solidly Midwest. As with most things, though, I let folks define themselves and don’t worry so much how they define others. 
We are from Philly area – CULTURAL SHOCK for us was
- Greek Life. Southern sororities is a sub-cultural that fascinates me. My son is in his 2nd year – he just ignores sororities.
- Lack of live music – Philly is nothing like NYC, but on any given night my underage kid can find live music in Philly in various genres. No such thing in Tuscaloosa or Bham
- My son has not adapted to the Southern friendliness yet
- Humidity can only be truly understood when you live through it. Even with A/C, it has an impact.
All of the above were “adjustments”, but certainly not a long term difficulty
That’s a shame about the live music, @Longhaul, especially since so many great indy musicians are out of Alabama. I’d love to see the Alabama Shakes and St. Paul & the Broken Bones sometime, but I guess I’m more likely to see them here in Philly.
Has your son checked this site for any ideas?
http://eventful.com/tuscaloosa/events/categories/music
Glen Hansard (of Once fame and The Frames) is coming to Birmingham in February. I’ve seen him live and he’s fantastic.
@LucieTheLakie He checks sites occasionally, but the number of events for under age 21 is so much different than here or NYC. He was home 2 weeks over break and saw 3 shows here (TLA, UnionTransfer and I forget the other venue) - that is a lot after considering he had family obligations with holiday dinners. First World problems…
^^^I thought you would be interested to know that the average relative humidly for June, July and August is:
State City Morning Afternoon
Alabama Birmingham 88 56
Pennsylvania Harrisburg 84 54
New York Syracuse 87 56
Florida Tampa 89 63
I really never find it that much more humid in Alabama than in some other areas of the country I frequent.
I’m a native Southerner with parents from western North Carolina. Just last night my grandson curled his lip at grits, and I had to tell him, “that’s OK honey, you’re half Yankee. You can learn.” Everybody’s got their own definition of the South. To me, anything from Dallas/Houston east is southern…Kentucky is mostly southern, Maryland is mostly not southern, Virginia used to be Southern but NOVA now is decidedly not…and North Carolina is only southern in the western part, where the mountains are. Cary NC, a big suburb of Charlotte, is famously known as the Containment Area for Relocated Yankees. Much of Atlanta is not, and the only part of Florida that’s southern is the northern part, including panhandle. Anything south of Jacksonville is not. Oh, and parts of Oklahoma are southern.
Lots of live music, especially in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, but yes, you pretty much have to be 21 to go to the bars to find live music. Although Tuscaloosa and Auburn bars often allow underagers to come in, either before a certain time or with a handstamp.
I have concerns of the culture shock too as a prospective student from NY. However, different doesn’t mean bad. I’ve heard a lot of negative stereotypes about the south from people who have never even been to the south (particularly regarding racism)! Then, I spoke to several people of color who went to Alabama and lived in Tuscaloosa and they loved it! They said it was a warm and welcoming community.
It’s weird. As a New Yorker, people always say “huh, you wanna go to Alabama?” And I just laugh them off. Your loss, not mine!
@mom2collegekids Lol, is tea really that big of a part of Southern culture? Or is it just Alabama?
@calicash, you are welcome to chat with my son, a junior at Bama from Long Island, for his perspective.
@Chardo wow, that would be awesome! Does he have an account on CC?
@CaliCash, it’s most definitely a “Southern” thing: