So, this blog is mainly going to display VS-which for some reason I've been contemplating a lot of lately-and hopefully you may be wondering the same things. If not-it should be interesting stuff either way :) (or at least I thought so).
South Carolina vs Utah
--When Seth and I first arrived in Utah we, of course, had our SC mindsets. We are currently living in a completely different culture/environment versus what we grew up in. Overall living in Utah has been a nice experience-pssssh don't tell anyone-but I like the way the South do things :). So here I go with SC vs. UT.
a. So, Utah has what they call a 'grid' system. The roads are basically laid out in a grid like manner, which when we first arrived thought was very neat. It would be easy to get around-all you had to do was go North, East, South, West from Main Street and you would arrive at your destination. Huh-like I said easy right? WRONG! Whoever arrived at this 'grid' road method didn't plan it out to well-for example. 200 E will randomly stop and only allow a right or left turn and then 200 E will resurface at another random road. We went to a couples house and they live on 200 E-well 200 E stopped and we didn't know where it resurfaced. Well needless to say we had to call around and finally figured it out. Second example-we were going to another couples house and they lived in a different area-so we were following this 'easy' simple grid system and were confused when the North or East streets vanished and street names began to appear. We were like what-How does that happen. So not only do we have to know where the numbered streets are we also have to know which street numbers apply to the named streets. Also, the house we were looking for was 1110-but these house numbers went from 1096 to 1112. Where was house 1110? We made it-just a little late-but that's okay we are Cooks :). South Carolina VS Utah--South Carolina wins.
b. As most of you from the South know-churches are pretty much on every street corner-and these are the churches with crosses on their steeples-representing Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterians, Catholics, etc. I will have to say it is like that in Utah-with the exception that every street corner here houses an LDS/Mormon church which just has a plain steeple. In the South the different denominations are majority-In Utah our faith is the minority. There are a handful of churches in Utah that we could choose to attend-thankfully we found the right one for us. Actually the whole Utah/LDS culture is so different from ours. We have also met a few people of different religions-nonbelievers and a few other beliefs. We are common as a young married couple here. A lot of couples are married and both still attending school to obtain there undergrads-and there are also a lot of couples that are our same age with 1-2 children (don't worry-we won't be following the crowd with that one!). I won't go into detail about the differences between LDS vs Christian-to much information, complex, and we would be here awhile-but if you are interested go look it up and I can just simply say we DON'T believe in the same things-no matter how much they try to tell us that we have most of the same beliefs. Again I'm going to have to side with the South on this one :).
c. Southern food-ahhhhh. I will just say that Utah residents do not eat the same things that we do back South. Most people I've talked to have never heard of Fried Okra-and half of the time the grocery store doesn't carry it. Chicken and dumplings is a rarity-as well as grits (most of you know that though I think). BBQ isn't the same here-a lot of times Utah folks will say lets do a bbq tonight-but its more of just hamburgers and hotdogs-so the first time I heard "lets do a bbq" I was highly disappointed. They don't fry as must stuff either-so no fried squash-tomatoes-pickles-hushpuppies. Seth and I try to keep to our southern roots :)-I will have to give this win to South Carolina again-so we are at 3-0 SC! One small comment though-less obese people in Utah-don't see many at all.
d. Our next vs will be drinks. Folks here aren't that into coffee/hot drinks-so Seth and I are outcast in that category. We still brew our 12 cups of coffee every morning and are good to go for the day :). Many folks here also don't partake in hot tea and the like (this is part of their LDS beliefs)-but they will drink caffeine drinks ?-don't ask I don't understand either-I constantly inquire about this and get different answers so there you go. Alcohol-they don't drink this either. I went into WalMart looking for a bottle of wine-and they don't have it. You have to go to the liquor store to get good wine/beer-which is where they also have the alcohol percentage that we are use too from the South. The beer in the grocery stores water everything down-so the percentage is lower. There is also no happy hour here-so don't expect to go grab a cheaper beer at happy hour :). We do miss Clemson very much-and going downtown just to hang out with college kids and friends. So, again I will have to give the win to South Carolina.
e. The scenery. Utah-and the west in general is absolutely breathtaking. I've posted pictures, but they simply do not do this place justice. It is amazing to walk out of our apartment everyday and look at the huge mountains and breath in the fresh dry air. Seth and I have never left our home without commenting on how gorgeous the views of the mountains and vibrant colors are. This is a picture of the mountains we get to see everyday-this day it had a little cloud around it. Don't get me wrong the South is has breathtaking views as well as nice scenery-but it is NATTA compared to where we are right now. Seth and I can drive 10 minutes and do a nice/intense hike and be up on top of something looking over the valley or Logan or out throughout the canyon. Back South-most of the time we would have to drive 2 hours or so to get to a nice hiking environment. Utah wins on this one. :).
So..........................................
South Carolina hands down wins our SC vs UT debate :). I was going to go into another VS with this blog post-the Cooks vs Sineaths :)-I'm sure that would be interesting for some of you-I'll do that one tomorrow after church. This post is already super long-and I'm sure you guys may be tired of reading. Plus, Seth and I are hosting guests tonight and we have to get started on supper. I will have to shoutout to Jaybird-Will-Chase-Stevo. Seth and I went to our first Utah 'bar' last night with some friends and when we got home we both said- Not the same as In Clemson with those guys. We miss yall very much and can't wait for yall to come visit! :).
Another thing-we went into Walmart today and it smelled like Christmas time :) So excited we will be coming home to celebrate with our families and friends.
The Cook's :).
You didn't even need to do this post we all know SC will win hands down every time!!! Love You!!
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