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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-04-2017, 03:18 PM
I am English, 34 and I'm in the USA solo for for 1-week mid October. I'm going to be spending that time in West Virginia, but I am not sure where yet.
I have heard good things about Morgantown but I am not sure of
1) How I will be greeted as an English guy with London accent?
2) If being 34 (look 30-31) is too old to game the WVU crowd?
3) Why the hotels are so damn expensive mid October!?
Any advice is very welcome and appreciated, thanks!
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-04-2017, 03:44 PM
I've only been there once for buisness but its a college town.
End of october is probably homecoming, basically a big football drunkfest.
Its probably far safer then most any place in England, unless you are susceptible to alcohol poisoning.
No idea on no2 but no one will kill you if you try.
Use the London accent to help you.
Ignore all the WV jokes, its a pretty nice place with lots of Appalachian outdoorsy stuff to do.
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-05-2017, 05:24 AM
Place is safe but insular. Helps if you are white.
If WVU has a home football game, those hotels were reserved a year in advance.
Morgantown is not large but its the unofficial capital of a very rural, depressed region. They used to mine coal in WV.
Most people hunt, drive pick up trucks, etc. Polar opposite of Miami.
They have an odd tradition of celebrating/rioting by burning old sofas in an intersection. As close as you'll come to America's version of hooligans, although closer to salt-of-the-earth than bad seeds.
Get yourself some flannel shirts and outdoor clothes made by Carhart.
For fun, watch the film Deliverance. Its a little bit exaggerated but you'll get the gist.
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-05-2017, 05:47 AM
People in WV are nice but a bit insular. They don't like people who think they are better than them, so you want to avoid giving that impression.
As for clothes, they value function over style, so ironically quality clothes like Carhart are in style. Not the place to be a posh tosser.
As for lodgings, Pittsburg is a large city an hour or two away with likely plenty of hotel rooms.
Sorry if I sound negative. WV is actually a wonderful place, just a little different. And they will love an English accent and won't care if its upper crust or cockneye - its all the same to us yanks.
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-05-2017, 09:12 AM
Quote: (09-05-2017 09:08 AM)DirectDanger Wrote:
Quote: (09-05-2017 05:37 AM)Londoner Wrote:
Cheers. I have just checked and the Friday I arrive (13 October) is the Homecoming football game
If you have never experienced the spectacle of an America college football game day then do it! You don't even have to go to the game, just all the events surrounding it are just as fun. Tons of people tailgating and having a good time.
You will be a novelty with your accent. As long as you are friendly you will be welcomed with open arms.
You should go.
I second that. A really fun atmosphere.
Meet people, they'll hear your accent. You'll be a novelty.
With the accent and your age, you'll have fun if you want to.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-06-2017, 02:07 AM
OP is this trip inspired by the Brit going to the States (I think Wisconsin) in the movie Love Actually?
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-09-2017, 11:48 PM
Dude, as a foreigner in Appalachia, see if you can get some of the locals to take you shooting and 4x4 wheeling.
Ask maybe on hometown forum of ar15.com (largest gun forum)
or pirate 4x4?
A couple of hundred dollars of ammo and diesel will definitely be an experience.
Gun people love to take foreigners shooting because afterwards all the gun control brainwashing falls right off.
Ammo is super cheap now too btw (thanks Trump!)
See if you can hike some trails, I seem to recall there are some waterfalls in the area?
Defiantly go to the football game if you are there (this might be dangerous though, alcohol poisoning and all....)
As a side question, have you ever been to a place with dark skies, where you can see the milky way?
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
09-10-2017, 09:12 PM
WVU is a massive party school, so if you like mixing with college kids that could be fun. Truthfully I'd rent a mountain bike and cruise around the trails, and maybe hit up some college bars.
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Morgantown, WV, will I be ok?
11-11-2017, 12:00 PM
Londoner....
Did you go? Tell us your experience.