<p>pierre, grits are made from corn, sort of like polenta when it is a porridge, not when it is firm and sliced. </p>
<p>Have you had cream of wheat? Sort of like that, but the pieces of grain are a bit larger.</p>
<p>As a midwesterner, my suspicion is that people in the south are slower because of the ridiculous heat/humidity! As for why the obesity rate is so high … is it? I didn’t know that. Fried foods, maybe?</p>
<p>okay pierre, I get her point. I lived in Egypt for 4 years and the local people walked a lot. But to be fair - did she (or the folks in Egypt) have much of an option? In Egypt, my DH had the car at work, so I had to walk or use taxis (with no A/C). Here, most people DO have cars and choose to use them.</p>
<p>And, yes, when I was working in downtown New Orleans and wanted to go out for lunch - I walked. Because it was too much of a hassle to get my car out of the garage and parking would be a nightmare. But given then opportunity - in the horrid heat - I would rather enjoy the A/C of my car!</p>
<p>Can’t answer the obesity question, you’ve got your fat folks and your skinny folks. Lots of poor people can’t afford healthy food. Lots of people just like fatty foods. </p>
<p>As for the slow pace - what so wrong with that? Why are northerner always in a hurry?</p>
<p>By taking things at a slower pace, maybe we are enjoying things more. I remember MANY a holiday meals at my mother’s house when we would sit down to eat at 11 and not get up from the table (for good) until 4. Lots of great family discussions over wine, dessert and coffee. No rush to go anywhere.</p>
<p>Grits - <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/725702-southern-schools-6.html#post1062694033[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/725702-southern-schools-6.html#post1062694033</a></p>
<p>Oh - and please don’t judge all Sweet Tea based on what you get at McDonald’s!! :)</p>
<p>pierre - I’m just playing with you too!!! I do think you’re in for a major culture shock - but I really think you’ll be just fine! Especially with folks like us to help you out!!!</p>
<p>By the way - my DS was looking at Clemson (he’ll be a junior next year), but he wants Architectural Engr and Clemson doesn’t have a program and from what he could see - he couldn’t even get a minor in Architecture.</p>
<p>oops - my link for grits got messed up - </p>
<p>[Grits</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits]Grits”>Grits - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>mafool - the 5 minute ones are just fine - much better than the instant ones.</p>
<p>Our love of fried foods definitely contributes to our obesity.</p>
<p>I took a college friend to Deanies when she came to New Orleans for a seminar.</p>
<p>Upon looking at the menu, she said, Is everything fried?</p>
<p>Well, of course it is!</p>
<p>But she was able to get the seafood platter broiled.</p>
<p>It was not the most appealing dish, and it definitely didn’t look like there was enough food on there to warrant the price of the dish.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, that’s another thing. When we go out to eat, we better get our money’s worth.</p>
<p>A restaurant, no matter how delicious its food, is not considered good down here unless you’re able to walk out with a doggie bag.</p>
<p>No fancy restaurants for me. I am not paying a hundred bucks to go home hungry!</p>
<p>Okay, now I see why I’m obese.</p>
<p>At least I don’t smoke.</p>
<p>Ah ok thanks a lot for the info on grits! As for sweet tea, do they sell that in restaurants or do I have to make my own or look for it somewhere?</p>
<p>I’m kinda nervous and excited at the same time. People already think that I’m crazy for going to college in South Carolina so that adds to the nervousness of going somewhere people up here in Boston consider “foreign” and the whole culture shock thing but at the same time I can’t wait to go and experience something different from what I’ve seen for the last 18 years. Hopefully I’ll be fine, as long as I keep an open mind and not try and act like an ignorent Northerner haha</p>
<p>and montegut, did I help your son out? I give out a lot of engineering advice since I’m planning on being a civil engineer someday!</p>
<p>In the south, I have to specify “unsweetened tea” in restaurants! Sweet tea is readily available. If you decide to make your own, understand that you need to make a “simple syrup.” You don’t just add sugar to iced tea; the sugar would precipitate out of the mixture.</p>
<p>
with that outlook you will definitely be fine.</p>
<p>Pierre, South Carolina is a wonderful state. If you want to enjoy yourself, you most certainly will … remember, only you can decide to be happy.</p>
<p>You can make your own sweet tea, but I prefer to let the pros do it. Order sweet tea in a restaurant & you will be able to drink all you want for one low price!</p>
<p>I agree with Kelsmom—South Carolina is a terrific state with one of my favorite cities in the US in it–Charleston. Pierre, make sure you visit it during your 4 years at Clemson.</p>
<p>You will love the friendliness of the South. I remember years ago when H & I were considering a move and visited the Atlanta area. We were living in the northeast at the time. We both noticed how ridiculously friendly everyone was and were very skeptical at first. “Why is everyone being so nice to us. It’s a little weird.” This was our sentiment.
But let me tell you, it doesn’t take long to really enjoy it! We are now proud southerners and have lived happily in this part of the country for 20 years. All our preconceived notions were blown out of the water. We were simply wrong, wrong, wrong.</p>
<p>And it’s also incredibly beautiful in so many parts of the south. No doubt it will be a culture shock, but I believe you’ll find that mostly, you’ll enjoy it!</p>
<p>it seems like it’s only a problem if you fixate on it.</p>
<p>I must give out this warning to all you coming to Southern schools.</p>
<p>We all hug each other.</p>
<p>Now, this may be very offputting to you Yankees and Midwesterners, but you will learn to love it.</p>
<p>^^^
Good point Montegut!!! We are a bunch of huggers!</p>
<p>Sweet tea that will make you smack your lips can be had at any humble Bojangles restaurant.
If any of ya’ll get the Jim Dandy 5 minute grits (or are they only in NC?), the cheese grits casserole recipe printed on the side of the bag is awesome.</p>
<p>Sweet tea is just iced tea pre-sweetened with sugar. You can add the sugar to the tea while it’s hot, or you can add simple syrup when it’s cold. There is no mystery about it. IMHO, iced tea must have lemon. The stuff they sell at McD’s does not. Yuck.</p>
<p>Cheese grits are another thing I love. You can get Quaker grits in just about any supermarket in New England. Or buy some stone ground corn meal, like Hodgson’s Mills.</p>
<p>grits are only real grits if they have been cooked in cream and takem orethan 30 minutes to truly make.</p>
<p>You can get lemon at McDonald’s. I always put a lot of lemon in my tea- and I usually do half sweet/half unsweet. Fewer empty calories.</p>
<p>Ate dinner at a 150 yr old farmhouse last night. Interesting, yummy “New Southern” cuisine menu. [Milton’s</a> Cuisine & Cocktails](<a href=“http://www.miltons-atl.com/dinner.html]Milton’s”>http://www.miltons-atl.com/dinner.html) The other couple wanted “half sweet, half unsweet” iced tea (like MOWC mentioned above) and they brought little itty bitty pitchers of simple syrup. I’d actually never seen that before, and then consolation mentioned it above. They also had grits in many different combinations, but if I hadnt know they were grits, I would never have guessed it. Very rich, creamy, cheesy, polento-like. Definitely NOT what waffle house serves as grits, LOL!!</p>
<p>After dinner, went to see a concert-- Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire. Great show! The summer tour just started. If it comes near your home town, catch it. No grits or iced tea required.
<a href=“http://www.livedaily.com/news/18376.html[/url]”>http://www.livedaily.com/news/18376.html</a></p>
<p>*** by the way, the manager of the restaurant we ate at’s name is Jimmy Carter!! I’ll bet he gets tired of the comments…</p>
<p>I am kind of late chiming in here - as a Native New Englander who relocated to PA - I admit I was very “nervous” about the south when my kids started looking at colleges.
My visual was something like “O Brother Where Art Thou?”.
After many years of trips and visits - I am a convert. I love the south. The excessive friendliness and hugging get to me sometimes though! </p>
<p>IMO - this a difference between “Southern” schools and schools that are in the south. Duke is not a “Southern” school. University of South Carolina is a “Southern” school.
One of mine just graduated from a school in the south that is not southern - most of the kids were from PA, NY, NJ or NE. No one on campus had an accent.</p>
<p>My youngest was turned off from a southern school because of the accents and poor grammar. She is kind of a grammar-freak anyway. But what hasn’t really been mentioned here is the Regional influence of the English Language. This can be quite a culture shock. She didn’t want to find out if the kids could speak with correct grammar in the classroom.
One of mine spent a year in central Alabama. Rural and poor. She was nervous about the food an accents. In some really rural areas the people are hard to understand but in the big cities the southern accent is going away.
She fell in love with the food - Sweet tea, grits and biscuits and gravy. We have a Chick-Fil-A and she will occasionally buy a gallon when she is home.
You can’t add sugar to a glass of Iced tea and get Sweet tea. Sweet Tea is made with simple syrup - this is how it gets it’s “thick” texture. You can’t get that with granulated sugar. No way is it ever “diet” - lol. I don’t even want to think about the extra calories!</p>