Personal Cultural Artifacts

Ask anyone from Florida, and they will tell you that Florida can be split into two parts, North and South.  South Florida is materialistic and full of tourists.  They're not real Floridians.  Whereas the more north in Florida you get, the more southern it gets.  North Florida has it's own separate culture from the rest of Florida.  Matter of fact, the two are so different, that a lot of officials want South Florida to break off and become it's own state.

In the summer in Florida it's too hot and humid outside to do anything that doesn't have to do with water.  Tubing the many springs and rivers in North Florida is one of our favorite pastimes.  You get together with a big group of friends and family, either rent tubes, or bring some of your own, and float down altogether, relaxing.  Going down in a thunder storm is considered a bonus.

I've tried to explain the concepts of Hurricane Parties to people outside of Florida, and they just look at me like I'm deranged.  If you live on the coast, then it's more serious, but for those of us more inland, when we hear a hurricane is coming, we shrug, make sure none of the trees are going to fall on our house, buy extra batteries, buy lots of junk food, and break out the board games.  There's nothing else to do.

Boiled peanuts, or rather "bawled peanuts", are considered a treat in North Florida.  You'll see them at every big get together, and you'll see signs advertising them on every road.  Most of the time, you buy them from friendly road-side vendors like this guy.

Give him a couple of bucks, and he'll hand you a styrofoam cup full of "bawled peanuts".  All they are really are whole peanuts that you throw into a huge pot, usually full of salt water, and then boil until the shells are nice and soft.

If there's a body of water, however shallow, there either is an alligator in it, there was an alligator in it, or there will be an alligator in it.  And Florida is about 20% water.  Alligators are everywhere in Florida, and they come in all shapes and sizes.  from the little four footers that hide under your car, to the 12 footers that take over golf courses.  They teach you how to avoid alligators in school (Just sprint, running zigzag will do nothing for you.  Also climbing trees is useless, they'll follow you, right up).  Before we go swimming in the river or lake, we always have to try and guess whether or not that's really a tree branch, or an alligator.  We don't really start getting worried until the tree branch disappears after we've already gotten in the water.

We have the weirdest place names in Florida.  Things like Kissime, Hypoluxo, Loxahatchee, Okeechobee, Chatahoochee, Ichetucknee, Okefenokee.  We could always tell whether or not someone was from around here if they could pronounce those names.

I was in a psychology class here in Utah, and the teacher was doing a lesson on symbols, and he asked the class what the confederate flag represented to them.  I didn't think much about it.  The confederate flag has always just sort of been there to me.  But then one of the students stated that it represents "ignorance", and "prejudice", and "bigotry".  And I was surprised how offended I and another fellow southerner sitting at the back of the classroom got.  The confederate flag to southerners represents southern pride.  It represents our heritage, rebelling, and standing up for ourselves.  It represents all of our southern values, like common courtesy.  There are those who use it to symbolize their racist bigotry, and everyone in the South hates them for it.  The confederate flag has come to rest in the same category as the Swastika.  It used to represent something good, but in later years people turned it into a symbol of hate.  It doesn't represent that to people in the South because we seem to be the some of the few that understand that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery, and everything to do with state's rights.  People in the South need something to represent their pride, because in our very biased education system, every unit on the Civil War is geared towards making southern kids feel guilty over something they had nothing to do with.

The Olustee Festival is a huge deal in my area.  It celebrates a battle that was one by the confederates near my town.  There's a massive battle reenactment, camp reenactment, beauty pageants, parades, fun runs, arts and crafts, singing, fairs, and so much more.  It sort of represents southern pride, and southern victory.

And then for the Fourth of July we have a fireworks show.  And that's it.

We have a lot of sayings and colloquialisms in North Florida, and in the South.  One of my favorites being "bless yer heart".  It's the polite southern way of saying, "I love 'em, but they're dumber than a sack of potatoes."  Or "Well, they try."  Or, "At least you're pretty."  If anyone from the South tells you "bless your heart", they are politely calling you an idiot.

The South is big on good manners.  "Good manners are never out of style."  Ma'm's and sir's, please's, and thank you's are considered common courtesy, and those who don't are considered to be extremely rude.

This plate is very special to me and my family, because it represents times of celebration.  Every time someone has a birthday, or got big news, or made an amazing accomplishment, my mom broke this bad boy out.  

History is a big part of my culture.  And so the oldest city in America, St. Augustine, holds a special place in my heart.  It was always our favorite field trip growing up, because it was so big, and so old.  We learned about Spanish explorers, and pirates, and strategic defenses.  It's part of the reason I decided to become a history teacher.

Camping has always been a tradition in my family.  We go every year as a sort of unofficial family reunion, and our extended family is always invited.

Disney has played a huge role in my family.  We have a large collection of Disney movies at home, and there are very few Disney movies we haven't seen, including the old live action ones, like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, or The Apple Dumpling Gang, and we're always shocked and surprised when people tell us they haven't seen them.  Disney movies represent to me times when the whole family got together with a giant bowl of popcorn.

Board games are a big pastime with my family.  We have huge shelves full of every type of game you can think of.  To me, these board games represent rainy nights, and summer afternoons, when the family could all be together.  Living in a place where the power goes out frequently due to thunder storms, these board games are well used.

I've been swimming competitively since I was eight years old.  I practically grew up at the pool.  For ten years, my perfume was chlorine and sunscreen, and I counted in 25's, listening to my coach shout out "Five one hundreds on two fifteen.  Go!"

My family has a habit of searching out bad or crazy movies on Netflix like we're looking for buried treasure.  A few of the titles that have become classics in our household are A Town Called Panic, Creature, The Swamp Thing, and Chasing the Kidney Stone.  These nights are times for our family to get together, and laugh until we cry.

Every year for our birthdays, my parents cook us our "birthday dinners".  Every year I get potstickers, so this particular meal holds a special meaning for me.

My brothers and I love playing video games together.  Our schedules are always so busy, that it's very rare that we're all home together.  But when we are, video games like Mario Kart, and Smash Bros.are great ways for us to spend time together.  And to scream at the TV.

Being a Mormon in the South was always an interesting experience.  We were definitely the minority in a sea of Baptists, Methodists, and Pentecostals.  CTR rings were our way of subtly standing out.

Reflection

I noticed two things while doing this.  The first was how important family is to me.  Most of the artifacts on here have to do with bringing the family together.  The other thing was Southern pride.  This, to me, seems like it would be the biggest issue in the class.  Most of America has a very set view of Southerners: ignorant, racist, obnoxious.  The fact that I'm from the South might make students outside of the South view me as different.  In the South, it would make me be more accepted by the class.  However, being Southern gives me a unique perspective on much of American history that I would be able to share with my students.