Originally posted by: beer
OK, so I graduated in 2002 from the district immediately south of Frisco, Plano @ Plano West Senior High. I don't think the biggest shock will be conservativeness, because for the most part it isn't readily apperant. Most high-schoolers aren't informed enough of political orientations and don't care enough to have solid opinions.
I will say that the biggest culture shock will be not politics, but money. Dallas suburbs, moreso Plano than Frisco but still to an extent, are all about FSCKING MONEY. The culture promotes everyone trying to one-up everyone else. Money is everything in north Dallas, and you will definitely see it. Frisco, Plano, Allen, and to a lesser extent Richardson, are all new cities. They are built on a grid. Everything is going to be four lanes wide, turn lanes, huge blocks of stores and commercial seperated from endless miles of residental development. They are the definition of true, uncontrolled urban sprawl. You will be far enough north of Dallas to never really be able to go there, and you will be stuck in suburban hell. Nor would you want to, Dallas has a crime problem that exceeds the per-capita crime of New York City by a factor of about four. But back to Suburban hell - that is to say, everything will be closing at about 9 PM, except for the occasional Starbucks an Ihop. Oh, and at the intersection of 121 and Preston, which you will undoubtably spend your weekends at, you will have five (5) starbucks within about a 1 mile radius - 3 in Stonebriar mall, one across near the Office Max, and one to the north behind Krispy Creme.
People will be incredibly fscking materialistic. It isn't about clothes, or fashion, or attitude, it is about MONEY. MONEY to have the latest cars, MONEY to have the biggest house that can be reaosnably afforded, and since the kids grow up under that environment, it rubs off on them too. It is the basis to not only be judge, but to judge others - or so is the mindset.
Part of the culture will be that 'there is never enough of anything.' You go to restaurants, you will get a 12" wide plate covered with food. You go to the mall, there will be thousands of empty parking spaces. The Homeowners Group that your host family will belong to will try to micromanage every part of their house, because there can never be enough power. The parents of the kids you will be around will work their ass off, 16 hours a day, because its more money and more success.
Dallas suburbs (norther ones at least)aren't really about the right to bear arms everywhere you go or to commend GWB at every moment. It is about the fact that people are going to be greedy as hell.
And if, for any moment you think I'm even remotely exaggerating, wait until you get there and head on down south about two miles, straight down Preston Road, and hang a right on Parker.
Have fun. Moving out of Plano was the best thing I ever did. Parents move to Dallas suburbs primarily out of job relocation, and it keeps expanding north, north, north, and there is no end to the development in sight although in Frisco you are already about 90 minutes north of downtown Dallas. Very few of your peers will have been there from 1st grade or preschool, they will all have relocated from other states. The companies that their parents work for expand in Texas because Texas has very leniant business tax laws - it attracts greedy corporations, which hire and attract greedy professionals.
I don't think you will care about the dress code once you arrive. I really don't.