So if it wasn't already clear from the title, this video is going to be a little different
from the ones I've made in the past. Basically, I want to take you along for a day in my life
as a college student at Tulane University, so you can learn a little bit more about me
and also because I live in New Orleans, which is one of the coolest cities in America.
Tulane is a private university that was founded in 1834. We have about 14,000 students, most of whom
are not from the South, including myself since I'm originally from Chicago. Now I absolutely
love living here, but there's definitely a few things that took some getting used to.
#1: Hurricanes. #2: Cockroaches. Everywhere. #3: The worst roads in the
entire country. #4: The language. That's because in the North, people say "you guys" to
address a group of people, whereas in the South people say "y'all." For me, this has brought on some sort of an
identity crisis, because when I'm visiting up North, I say "y'all" since that's the natural thing to do
for me, whereas when I'm here down South I always say "you guys," since doing otherwise feels fake.
Alright let's go!
Alright so today is Wednesday, which means that I only have two classes today: Southern
History and Corporate Finance. The good thing too about being in college in America as opposed to
high school is high school starts around 7 or 8 o'clock, whereas with college
you usually get to pick your own schedule so my first class right now isn't until 11am.
But since I have a little time before classes start, I thought I'd show you guys around.
Alright, so we're on Maple Street right now, which is one of the more well-known
streets in New Orleans and I'm about to go get a haircut, because boy things are looking rough.
Alright awesome, we got that done! If you're ever in New Orleans, check out Mason & Binder in Uptown.
So I decided to stop and show you guys around because there's a couple
things in this neighborhood that can teach you a lot about New Orleans.
Alright, so we're in the Carrollton Cemetery right now. New Orleans is pretty much the only
city in America that uses above ground cemeteries. Most other places use in-ground cemeteries,
although this cemetery does have a decent amount of in-ground burials too. So the 1st reason is
because New Orleans for many years was a Spanish and then a French colony. And more recently, like
within the past 150 years, there's been a lot of Italian immigration in New Orleans. And obviously,
all three of those countries use above ground burials and vaults pretty frequently. And the
2nd reason is because the water table in New Orleans is so high that when New Orleans' early
settlers were burying their dead, oftentimes after flooding the bodies would actually rise out of the
graves and obviously that's not a very good look. And one thing about this cemetery in particular
that you'll notice is that the rows of graves are actually pretty well ordered, almost like a city
grid system and the reason for that, at least as people say, is that this neighborhood in particular
had a lot of German immigration and obviously Germans are known for their order and efficiency.
There's also unfortunately a lot of abandoned buildings in New Orleans from 2005, when
Hurricane Katrina struck the city and flooded some parts of it with up to 15 feet of water.
Before Hurricane Katrina, about 460,000 people lived in New Orleans. But after the hurricane, the
population fell by 50%. Nowadays, there's about 390,000 people that call New Orleans home,
meaning that New Orleans still hasn't recovered to its population levels before Katrina.
Because of the wide variety of cultures that have influenced New Orleans over the years, the city
also has a really unique architectural history and its architecture is different from most cities in
the United States. One of the most common styles of house in New Orleans is called the shotgun house.
It gets its name from the fact that if you fire a shotgun through the front door, the shot will come
all the way out the back door. There's two basic varieties of shotgun house. This is a single barrel
shotgun house, and it has one door in the front. This is a double barrel shotgun house, and it has
two doors in the front. Historians believe that they originate from Haitian immigrants coming to
New Orleans, and because of this they're usually really colorful just like Caribbean houses are.
So just south of Tulane's campus, there's the St. Charles Streetcar line, which is the
oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the entire world, operating since 1835. And
just south of that is Audubon Park. So usually, I like to come to Audubon when I have breaks
between my classes and I don't have enough time to go home. But today, I didn't have enough time to do that,
so I decided to come after my haircut. You see, the thing YouTubers don't tell you about making videos is that
it takes more time to film the b-roll than the parts where you've actually talking to the camera.
Audubon Park has green spaces, biking and running trails, sports fields, a golf course, and even a zoo.
It's also the 2nd biggest park in New Orleans. The biggest is City Park,
which is a 10 minute drive from campus or a half hour bike ride.
One. Two. One, two, three, and!
I just made friends with the cat lives underneath my house! See, we always see him down there
Like, right by the porch. He lives underneath the house. Because all the
houses here in New Orleans are up on stilts--so they're raised a few feet off the ground.
And that's in case of flooding, because obviously we get a lot of hurricanes here, which also means
that we get a lot of flooding. And if you have your house straight down to the ground on--ground level
--then you're gonna get flooded, even if there's a little, tiny baby flood.
Alright, I just got home, it's about 5:30 p.m., which means dinner time--since I didn't eat lunch today
so I'm feeling pretty hungry. So we're gonna be cooking this ravioli. Not gonna lie I'm a little
scared to be filming this, since I'm admittedly not the world's best cook and I know that about
half my viewers are Italian, so please don't crucify me guys. These are obviously pre-made
too, so I know I'm kind of cheating here, but just to prove that I know how to cook actual
pasta, listen to this: you boil your water, when it's boiling you put in your salt, then your pasta,
then when it's cooked to al dente, you strain out the water. and pour in the sauce.
Parmigiano Reggiano.
Denominazione di Origine Protetta.
Imported from Eataly.
Cheers!
Connor, uz etalians do not like det u eet r food like dis.
Makes uz very engry!
Alright, now I'm gonna go to the gym. Today is leg day and I haven't
trained legs in over a week, so there's a good chance I'm not gonna make it back tonight.
Only thing I'm missing is the workout band.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the lights
that my neighbor has in his backyard? Like, literally, all across the fence.
And then compared to us: we literally just have a pit of gravel.
Alright, so right behind me is the Reily Center, which is Tulane's
gym/recreation center/pool/the reason my tuition costs so much.
And behind that is actually Yulman stadium, which is where Tulane's football team plays.
Our team has historically not been the best, but this season they're actually pulling their weight.
Yeah guys, not gonna lie, that was not pretty. Not at all.
Alright, so I'm back from the gym, I made myself a smoothie, and now I got a decent chunk of free time,
which usually means that I'll get some homework done, study a language, or work on YouTube. But guys,
today I got a confession to make:
I'm a big fraud. Today's December 9th and I just finished up my
finals, which means I didn't actually have class today. In all seriousness though, this is my first
attempt at doing any sort of vlog type format, as well as an insight into my own life and an
introduction to my city, so I hope you enjoyed it! And if you did, definitely give this video a thumbs
up and click subscribe. And you may have already noticed, but I actually got a new toy. This is the
DJI Mini 2 drone, and just as a special treat for bearing with me as I try out this new video format,
I've included some footage of the French Quarter at the end of the video. In case you don't know,
the French Quarter is New Orleans oldest and most famous neighborhood: therefore it's the
place where all the white middle-aged tourists go to get drunk. You might also recognize it
from Drake's In My Feelings music video, which was filmed in New Orleans. But anyways, it goes
without saying the French Quarter's streets have been pretty empty over the past few
months, which has allowed me to get some pretty cool shots. So, I hope you enjoy and thanks for
watching!