Living in Texas - Page 3 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Phanuthier · 03-08-2010, 04:48 AM

I moved to the USA almost 2 years ago (California, San Francisco Bay area) and I find it very different vs previous travels to the USA. Some good, some not so good. I hear Dallas is a fun place to live. Best advice I got? Be open minded and try and accept the difference in culture, minute changes tend to be easy to critisize and if you move to a new place and try to keep things "more of the same" you're really missing out. Have fun!

Hack&Lube · 03-08-2010, 04:53 AM

Remeber, you can conceal carry handguns in texas. Yeeeaahaaaw!!!

jeep991 · 03-08-2010, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

As long as you like country music, eat meat or are white you will be fine.

How's the race relations in Texas? Have been thinking about moving there but Texas seems to have the reputation of being a hick redneck town ... funny enough, much like Calgary. I'm Chinese and my wife is Irish but we've never experienced any kind of discrimination here in Calgary but once visiting my wife's mother in small town Ontario, I could feel the eyes on my wife and I and we walked into the local pub. Not really interested in dealing with that on a daily basis. Especially with a two year old daughter in tow now.

texanadian · 03-08-2010, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeep991

How's the race relations in Texas? Have been thinking about moving there but Texas seems to have the reputation of being a hick redneck town ... funny enough, much like Calgary. I'm Chinese and my wife is Irish but we've never experienced any kind of discrimination here in Calgary but once visiting my wife's mother in small town Ontario, I could feel the eyes on my wife and I and we walked into the local pub. Not really interested in dealing with that on a daily basis. Especially with a two year old daughter in tow now.

It's so overblown and is a virtual non-issue in the big cities. Houston has a huge Chinatown and a thriving Asian population including the 3rd largest Vietnamese population in the US. Austin is incredibly multi-cultural. DFW is in the same category as Houston.

Really small towns might be a different story, but it is like that anywhere (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Idaho, Arizona, you name it).

Fobulous · 03-08-2010, 10:33 AM

Does anyone know what it is like in College Station, TX? With it being a college town I am sure the amount of racisim is at a minimum.

Based on what everyone has had to say I can honestly say I am extremely excited. Only got 4 months to go until the big move happens!

CaptainCrunch · 03-08-2010, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fobulous

Does anyone know what it is like in College Station, TX? With it being a college town I am sure the amount of racisim is at a minimum.

Based on what everyone has had to say I can honestly say I am extremely excited. Only got 4 months to go until the big move happens!

The only thing I remember about college station was that the chicks were incredibly hot, they got drunk quickly and they were aggressive.

It was awesome.

Komskies · 03-08-2010, 10:59 AM

I can't believe people haven't mentioned BBQ yet. I've never been to Texas, but I hear Texas BBQ is some of the best in the world.

I_H8_Crawford · 03-08-2010, 11:06 AM

Houston has a very very large contingent of Vietnamese people too - if you like Pho at all, you will LOVE Houston - some of the best Pho I have ever had down there.

texanadian · 03-08-2010, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fobulous

Does anyone know what it is like in College Station, TX? With it being a college town I am sure the amount of racisim is at a minimum.

Based on what everyone has had to say I can honestly say I am extremely excited. Only got 4 months to go until the big move happens!

Quintessential college town. Bryan/College Station definitely revolves around the University. Probably leans a bit more conservative than other schools/college towns. I haven't spent a lot of time there outside of hitting up a couple of basketball games with some Aggie friends, but it has a great atmosphere. Be warned that some Ags' devotion borders on fanaticism. Spend lots of time at the Dixie Chicken and don't forget to eat at Layne's for chicken fingers and their magically delicious crack sauce.

It's a pretty tradition heavy school. Not sure how much you've read up on it, but you will be expected to have a hatred for the Texas Longhorns (known as Whorns or sips, in Aggieland) and A&M and Texas Tech have a intense hatred that goes way beyond Flames-Canucks or Flames-Oilers. Think battery throwing and trying to kill opposing fans with the football goalposts.

Should be a great time. And don't be afraid to use the weekends to check out some of the bigger cities within a couple hours drive.

Cactus Jack · 03-09-2010, 10:11 AM

$Texas

FlamingLonghorn · 03-09-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fobulous

I am a huge football fan so I am looking forward to that.

I am going to be living an hour and a half away from Houston, TX in the town of College Station, TX where I will be going to school at Texas A&M.

What kind of things do you enjoy? I can tell you all about College Station. I am a Longhorn but visited friends in Aggieland all the time. One cool thing is you are pretty much equidistant from Dallas, Austin and Houston. So weekend trips to any of those is not a huge deal. A lot of what is in College Station is aimed at the college crew. 25 cent drink happy hours (Dixie Chicken) and stuff like that. College Station is a very conservative town, but people are generally friendly. Let me know if you want any specifics.

psicodude · 03-09-2010, 10:57 AM

What is that saying they have at A&M again? "Gig'em" or something like that?

No clue what the history behind it is either.

Fobulous · 03-09-2010, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sowa

What kind of things do you enjoy? I can tell you all about College Station. I am a Longhorn but visited friends in Aggieland all the time. One cool thing is you are pretty much equidistant from Dallas, Austin and Houston. So weekend trips to any of those is not a huge deal. A lot of what is in College Station is aimed at the college crew. 25 cent drink happy hours (Dixie Chicken) and stuff like that. College Station is a very conservative town, but people are generally friendly. Let me know if you want any specifics.

I am a huge football fan so I am definitely excited about the College football...

I also love to play golf... any good golf courses around college station? Are they cheap?

Also, I will be staying in new graduate housing that they are building by the university apartments. Any idea how much of a walk it would be to the main campus area (specifically the business building?).

Thanks!

Fobulous · 03-09-2010, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psicodude

What is that saying they have at A&M again? "Gig'em" or something like that?

No clue what the history behind it is either.

Not sure, but isn't it "Howdy"?

Montana Moe · 03-09-2010, 02:15 PM

List of Texas A&M traditions (and there's a LOT of them):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditi...26M_University

Quote:

Howdy

Many incoming students at Texas A&M choose to attend the campus because they feel that the students are friendlier than those at other universities. This perception is created partly by the Aggie tradition "Howdy", the official greeting of Texas A&M University.

Students are encouraged to greet everyone they pass on campus with a smile and a howdy. Howdy is the preferred method for a speaker to get a large group's attention, as the members of the group are expected to return the "Howdy" back to the speaker.

Gig 'em

Rather than end a conversation with "goodbye," many conversations between Aggies end with "gig 'em," usually accompanied by a hand signal in which the hand is fisted and the thumb extends upwards in a thumbs up.

This tradition began at a 1930 Midnight Yell Practice held before the football game against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. In an attempt to excite the crowd, Pinky Downs, a 1906 Texas A&M graduate and member of the school's Board of Regents, asked "What are we going to do to those Horned Frogs?" Using a term for frog hunting, he answered his own question, "Gig 'em, Aggies!" For emphasis, he made a fist with the thumb extended. The phrase and hand signal proved popular, and it became the first hand sign of the Southwest Conference. Gig 'em is also the name of one of the school yells, which is used during football kickoffs.

simmonjam1 · 03-09-2010, 08:14 PM

When down there...

Embrace the Shiner Bock...

FlamingLonghorn · 03-10-2010, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fobulous

I am a huge football fan so I am definitely excited about the College football...

I also love to play golf... any good golf courses around college station? Are they cheap?

Also, I will be staying in new graduate housing that they are building by the university apartments. Any idea how much of a walk it would be to the main campus area (specifically the business building?).

Thanks!

The University apartments are definitely within walking distance if they are what I am thinking of.

One of my aggie friends says there's a new course there that is very good, don't know the name of it but it's the one that the Aggie Golf team uses.