The first person I interviewed is one of my friends from Taiwan, and his name is Brian. He has been to the states man times since his family has business here. However, the places he went the most were California and Florida. It was not until last year that he decided to go to Amarillo to pursuit his master degree. He had a strong stereotype over Texas before he came. Like he said, “Texas is all about ranches and farmers. You will see lots of pick-ups on the street which you don’t see anywhere else in this country. Sometime, their accent is too strong to understand. ” Then he explained to me that the real west Texas culture in Amarillo and his assumptions matched at a great extent. Since I spent my first two years of college in Amarillo, I totally agree his idea. “Amarillo is definitely the representative of the stereotype. You see a lot cows on both sides of highway. You smell bull crap in the night and it stinks so bad. You can see 6 pick-ups out of 10 cars on the street. Everything here is big ”, he described his first impression of Texas based on the west Texas culture.
When I asked him about his comment on the difference between Texas and his hometown, he started laughing. “I really don’t know what to say. To be honest, Amarillo, Texas is such a country place. I’m from Taipei, Taiwan, which is one of the biggest cities in Asia. We have everything back there except ranches and farmers. ” Even before I asked him about his comments on Texans and Texan accent, he said, “Texans have a strong southern accent. Sometimes it is too strong to understand, especially when I talk to the old people in small towns. Man, it takes me forever to figure what the person is trying to say. However, one thing I noticed that Texans are very polite, not only the way they talk but also the way they behave. For example, they also say ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’ which you will barely hear in California. Also, one thing I like the most about Texas is the way people drive. They are not aggressive at all. ” For sure, the southern or Texan hospitality is very unique. In terms of sociology, the whole conversation falls into the category of impression management. Texans were historically recognized as ranchers and farmers. And I think this is where the stereotype comes from. However, Texans try to establish their images by spreading the southern hospitality.
Irene is an international student like me. We are from the same city in China. When I started the interview, it seemed like that she didn’t know what to say. She told me that she didn’t know anything about Texas before she came here. She only had a general idea of America, like everywhere should be like New York City, where you see skyscrapers everywhere. However, after studying and living here for two years, she started to have an idea of Texan culture. One thing interesting is that she has been affected a lot by Texan culture, her accent as well he behavior. Imagine this, there is a girl with some sort of Asian accent talking to you with the word “y’all” all the time. Isn’t it interesting? Besides that, she uses phrases like “I’m fixing to” which is commonly heard in Texas. Also, she used to care about the way she dresses so much like all the fashion stuff. After two years in UT, her taste totally changed, jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops are pretty much everything she wears. In terms of sociology, people change their tastes and thoughts because the environment makes them do so. As an outsider, Irene tries to present herself as an insider in Texas culture. She tries to manage her accent, the way she dress, and everything else so that she will be recognized. Similarly, that’s what the Texans do. They establish a Texan image. Further, people growing up in Texas are affected by cultural environment. No matter you grow up in Texas, there’s some sense of unity in Texas culture, for example, people are very friendly. Another thing she mentioned was that she noticed Texans have a significant sense of state pride, “you can Texas state flag everywhere, like on the plates, in public parks, in private garden, it’s everywhere. But you don’t often see the state flag when you visit other states. I have been traveling a lot across this country. To be honest, I don’t see other states care their flags as much as Texans. The significant sense of state pride can also be seen through their accent. I don’t know how to explain this, but it is obvious that they are very enjoyable when they talk in southern accent. ”
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