[Samual]

Most us know what countries/states/counties we all live in, but a lot of us have never been to those areas and don't know what they are like. So I thought we could be ambassadors for our areas.

Me first

I live just outside Aberystwyth in Wales, we have the first Welsh University, now we also have a modern university campus. We have the National Library of Wales, loads of primary schools and a Welsh secondary school and an English secondary school.

We have the lowest crime rate in the UK and more students than residents!

We have some beautiful coast lines, Constitution hill has a cliff railway, the longest in the UK. Our town centre is quite small and not very green.

We have a steam railway which leads to the UK famous Devils Bridge where supposedly a little old Welsh woman out witted the devil.

All of our signs are in Welsh and English.

We have loads of these even the university has a flock!

Sadly a lot of our churches are now bars which is a massive shame as some of them are beautiful.

We have a castle which isn't in the best of shape!

The best thing, I live here of course!

[mcmama]

I live in Navarre Florida, home to the most beautiful beach in the world. We're an unincorporated gulf coast area about 30 miles east of Pensacola.

We have Mardi Gras. A lot. None of you who are French or French Canadian would understand what we are saying when we say "Laissez les bon temps roulez". It's more like "lay say les bone tomps roolay"! If you want to join a public service organization, sure, you can join the Lions Club, the Masons, Kiwanis, etc. But here, you can also join a Krewe.

We have bald eagles flying overhead. And real bluebirds.

We are near Pensacola NAS, Eglin and Hurlburt AFB, and there is a whole lot of flying going on around here. We've gotten used to hearing them blow stuff up in the early evening. It's like thunder. We love the Blue Angels and Fat Albert.

We are the part of Florida that is in the central time zone. "oh, but you're in FLAWRIDA. Thats not CENTRAL!!!! " Well, yeah, it is. 6 counties in the Panhandle are in the central time zone.

We are the part of Florida that is definitely Dixie. Many people will tell you "oh, FLAWRIDA, that's not the south!" Well, here it is. Right here in the L.A. section of the Florida Panhandle (that's Lower Alabama). You'll see a lot more bumper stickers here for Crimson Tide than Gators.

We say please, thank you, yes ma'am, yes sir. We raise our children to do the same. People step aside for you, open doors, and drivers are a bit more polite than most places.

We live in mansions, condos, and trailers. Sometimes all three are right next door to each other.

There is nothing to do here but hiking, fishing, boating, beaching. Nothing. When it rains, you have nothing to do. AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY!

There are churches here that will baptize you in the Gulf of Mexico if you like. In it. Or more likely, in the calmer waters of Santa Rosa Sound, East Bay, or Pensacola Bay.

Pelicans are our neighbors. Sometimes great blue herons walk right up to fishermen and wait for a good catch.

We don't have to have hermit crabs as pets since we can go to the Gulf Islands national seashore and the kids can play with the wild crabs in the water. We are a major destination for monarch butterflies making their last stop in the fall before they cross the gulf waters to their winter roost in Mexico.

Free concerts on the beach every week all summer.

Y'all come.

[mcmama]

And BTW Sam - thanks for the pics. Always wondered about your home, and you have some neat stuff there.

Too cold for me......

[purelegance]

I just moved to New Braunfels, Texas , it's a strange town that i haven't quite figured out yet. We're in Texas (which is like it's own little country) but it's a mainly german town. Everything is german. The food, the heritage, and the people here are mostly either hispanic or german.

We have 2 rivers, the Comal and Guadalupe. People here will tell you that Comal is the world's shortest river, but Google says otherwise. Tubing down the river is a big thing here. It's free, minus the cost of renting or buying a tube. We also have Schlitterbahn, which is a huge waterpark and tourist attraction.

We are 15 minutes from San Antonio. home of the famous Alamo & River Walk. If you like basketball, the Spurs are here. Although, this is Texas, and even though Dallas is about 4 hours away.. you can't go far without hearing about the Cowboys. When i say "hearing", i mean.. it's everywhere from billboards on the highway to cowboys bbq sauce in the grocery story to you name it. (it's a little uncomfortable for a Philly Eagles gal, like myself)

There's a huge rivalry between the Longhorns & the Aggies. They're college football teams, but i haven't quite figured it all out yet. DH told me as long as i respond "longhorns" that i'm safe. I think it might be a regional thing. Somehow there's more Longhorns gear in the grocery stores & on people's cars than Cowboys gear (if that's even possible).

People here are very very friendly, which makes this east coaster seem rude & uptight. Complete strangers come right up to you and start talking to you. It's even worse if you have a young one with you. With DD they just want to talk to her & get her to say hi (which she never does). But if you have an actual baby they HAVE to touch him/her. Which really isn't going to go over well with me once DS arrives.

it seems like a lot, but this is literally all i know so far. Great idea Samual!

[jkl123]

I love where I live!

I live in Massachusetts, right near the Rhode Island border. We have a little bit of everything. There is beautiful Cape Cod, with miles and miles of untouched national seashore. Once you cross the bridge into the Cape, it is like you enter a different existence - there are antique shops, art galleries in peoples' homes or converted garages, artists selling their paintings on the side of the road, lemonade stands, fresh flower stands (where they trust you to just leave the money), quaint little cottages, sand dunes... and of course, you can ferry over to the infamous islands, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Martha's Vineyard has been made famous by the Kennedys - it is where JFK Jr crashed is plane a few years ago.

Don't like the tranquility of the ocean? Come to Boston for some city life! Night clubs galore, seafood restaurants, beer brewerys (home to Sam Adams!!), museums, sports... yes, we are loyal to our teams here in Boston (Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and the Patriots). Cobblestone roads, trolleys, subways, and taxis are the way to get around.

History buff?? Then you've come to the right state! Too much history to list in Boston (and honestly, I am not much of a history buff myself to start reciting it all!), but if you're there, take a duck tour and you will learn more about history-packed Boston than you ever wanted to know! But, don't forget Salem, home of the famous Salem Witch Trials. If you're feeling daring, take a haunted tour of the cemeteries there on Halloween. And, one of my favorites, Plymouth. Here, you will find Plimouth Plantation and see first hand how the pilgrims and Indians lived and co-existed. Everyone who works here is in period costum and never steps out of character. You can also see Plymouth Rock. This is where most people believe the Pilgrims first landed here in America. Truth be told, they actually landed at the tip of Cape Cod - Provincetown - set up camp there for a month or so, then headed on to Plymouth.

Western Massachusetts is beautiful as well - with beautiful lakes and waterfalls, miles and miles of forests... but I have not yet seen that part of my state yet. The foliage in the fall there is supposed to be breath-taking.

We are a Democrat state ( ), however, we usually have a Republican governor to balance it out (we currently do not). We have a lot of political corruption and have some of the highest taxes in the state and are one of the worst in debt.

HOWEVER.... there is no where else I'd want to live.

[jkl123]

Ok, so I know we were supposed to write about our town, but there's nothing exciting about mine. Except, everyone seems to know everyone, which is nice. We are right near all the major highways, and close to both the Cape and Boston. Oh yeah, we have a liberal arts college that has a very pretty campus. That's about it.

[wanna be a young mother]

Well we are in Chicago, Illinois. We live in a small area "inside" the city called Central Stickney. Our neighborhood is about 8 blocks by 4 blocks. Yep pretty small. I grew up here and everyone knows everyone. The school is on the next block from our home. It is one of the top 10 schools in all of Chicago. It has 2 gyms, a high school size swimming pool and goes from pre-school to 8th grade. Many of the teachers have been there for years. I actually had the same English teacher as my father. Needless to say you can't get away with much around here b/c everyone "talks" lol.

Since we are in the middle of the southwest side of Chicago we do occasionally get some crime. Not as bad as the city or other areas. Actually compared to Chicago's crime rate our is very low lol. We have our own free Clinic on the next block for the school and all residents to use. We also have a park district with a gym, indoor basketball court, park and area to rent for parties. Most of the residents are like my Grandparents and have lived here for 50+ years. We have a large amount of Polish and Spanish people moving in the area which is nice because they are rebuilding homes and raising property value.

We dont have a High School. So we are bused to Burbank, IL which is about 15mins away. We also have many private Catholic schools in the area. We actually have a church/school 4 blocks away were everyone in my family was baptized and I was married at. We are in walking distance from Midway Airport and everything from buses to trains.

As a "South sider" I should be a hardcore White Sox fan like Dh but I'm a Cubs fan lol! Having two baseball teams makes for a lot of "interesting" family parties. Being so close (about 10-15mins) from "downtown" there is a lot to do. We have an aquarium, tons of museums and of course Lake Michigan. We also have the "Magnificent Mile" which if your a shopaholic is pure heaven! We have the USA's tallest building (the Sears Tower) and are known for a pretty crazy history with gangsters lol.

We have lots of nicknames like "the windy city" and yes it's true. You have no idea how "windy" it can get. I've seen peoples roof fly off! Of course the BEST thing about Chicago......A Chicago style hotdog!! lol

Here is a link if you would like to know more about Chicago...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago

[mcmama]

Originally Posted by purelegance

I just moved to New Braunfels, Texas , it's a strange town that i haven't quite figured out yet. We're in Texas (which is like it's own little country) but it's a mainly german town. Everything is german. The food, the heritage, and the people here are mostly either hispanic or german. ..........

People here are very very friendly, which makes this east coaster seem rude & uptight. Complete strangers come right up to you and start talking to you. It's even worse if you have a young one with you. With DD they just want to talk to her & get her to say hi (which she never does). But if you have an actual baby they HAVE to touch him/her. Which really isn't going to go over well with me once DS arrives.

Sounds like you are making some adjustments - and leaving the northeast can be an adjustment. It took me about a month to slow down again after living in NJ for 22 1/2 years. Being originally from South Florida, I was glad to again make the adjustment.

College football is of more interest here too than the pros, although where you are pro football is certainly something to be interested in. We don't have any teams near us, and people are from so many different areas that there is no one football or baseball team that catches on. There is a minor league baseball team in Pcola - the Pelicans, of course.

The touching thing takes some getting used to, we don't really have that here. I do find that casual acquaintances want to hug you more here and I don't mind it since I was really afraid to let people in NJ get too close!

If you come across as uptight, inflexible, and moving too fast, people will view you with suspicion. They think you are being snotty, or that you think you are better than they are. I found that there are a lot of negative stereotypes that folks I left behind in NJ believe about the south, and that people here have all encountered that - so when you are brusque or hurried, they think you buy into that.

Someone in my office recently dealt with a vendor who was very rude. When I called their office, I realized they were in N Caldwell, NJ - they talk fast, argue, and are abrupt because they know everything. They were told our office functions in the central time zone because that is where we are - and they argued that they were calling FLAWRIDA which EVERYONE KNOWS is in the Eastern Time zone. So when I mentioned this to the local rep, he said - uh, thats how things are where that office is....its in NJ, the rudest place in the world. The irony is that the other person in my office is from NJ, and she was offended by the attitude. We've gotten used to being treated differently, and not expecting rudeness and an argumentative attitude.

Because of the experience people have down here with folks from the northeast, they may perceive you are being rude when you are just hurried or annoyed. Takes some getting used to.

[mollymae]

I live in Ansford, Castle Cary in the UK. Castle Cary is a small attractive town situated some 12 miles North East of Yeovil and 24 miles South of Bath. It lies on the edge of rolling countryside between the Somerset Levels to the West and the high ridgeline of Penselwood to the East and halfway between the Mendip Hills and the Blackmore Vale.

The old part of Castle Cary, which is still the town centre, runs along the foot of steep, grassy Lodge Hill. Most of the modern development has taken place on the gently rising land to the North, joining the town with the village of Ansford.

The population is about 2,000 (3,000 including Ansford).

http://www.heartofwessex.org.uk/castlecary.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Cary

[Labhaoise]

I live in the suburb of Oakhurst in New South Wales, Australia. Its known as "Western Sydney" and is about 45mins to an hour away from the Blue Mountains which are apart of the 'Great Dividing Range'. Where I live is commonlly known to be a.. how do I put this? Umm, well the term commonly used is "the ghetto". Overall it isn't, but there are many neighboring suburbs which could be described that way. But the one I live in isn't. When other people from Sydney ask where you're from and you reply with Oakhurst, then explain where that is people generally look down there noses at you. Which isn't as bad as it sounds.
The greater area where I live is known as Blacktown, which was named because of the large Aboriginal settlement. Blacktown also has the largest population of Aborigines in NSW. (according to Wikipedia). Also according to wikipedia, 25% of the population of Oakhurst is Phillipino.

As for things to do in the area, there are numerous skate parks and regular parks. We have Featherdale Wildlife Park, and a drive-in movie theatre (one of two still operating in SYdney) a couple of Bowling Alleys. There are also a few shopping centres/malls one of which, is situated right in the centre of Blacktown and has a cinema which is home to the "largest standard cinema screen in Australia." (wikipedia) We also have a rock-climbing centre and an ice-skating rink too.
There are also a heap of sporting fields; cricket, soccer, Rugby League, AFL, Netball courts and the softball stadium which hosted the Baseball and Softball Competitions in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. I've played a couple of school softball games there when I was in yrs 11 &12. We don't really have any sort of team in a major league sport but there are quite a few in other towns/cities close-by. But we are apparently getting NSW's second AFL team. Oh, many of you probably have no idea of what AFL is and to be honest I dont either. Its a weird combination of rugby league and basketball, and is played on a round field. I don't know the rules, but if you're intrigued enough to want to look it up google "Australian Rules Football". Its a weird game that I dont follow.

Transport-wise, we have trains and buses that will get you to most places around the city. And taxi's too, but they're REALLY expensive. I think I've been in three my entire life, and only one in the last year. The council is increasing the number of cycleways in the city too.

There are tons of schools in the Blacktown area both public (which are run by the NSW State Government- and not very well either) and private.

Graffiti is everywhere! It's disgusting. It's almost as if the vandals think "if it doesn't move at all, I must put my tag on it" and so they do. But there are some areas where spray artists have done beautiful artworks and you'd think that'd be safe from others tagging it, but it isnt. People are overall kinda rude. Not everyone, but generally its teenagers and kids whose parents don't parent. If that makes any sense.

Oh I nearly forgot, just up the road from me is Plumpton High School, which made the news frequently because the previous principal allowed teenage mothers to attend with their babies/children. It was quite controversial and earned the school the nickname "Plumpton Pram Pushers" lol. But since that principal left they don't have it anymore.
Thats it I guess. I like where I live because its where all my family is. But... I don't really know if I'd want to live here with my kids. I think I'll wait and see how everything develops.