Orientation program or orientation period are commonly used phrases which almost everyone understands as a period and process for becoming acquainted with a new situation. Orient, as a root of several words, flows freely off American tongues, but it usually relates to the phrases above or Oriental food, Oriental rugs, Oriental art or Oriental furnishings. Oriental is everywhere in America, while it’s opposite, Occidental, seldom occurs in either spoken or written communication.
Traditionally, being “Oriented” meant knowing the compass direction for the East. The assumption was that knowing that direction provided a firm locus for discerning every other direction.
From colonial times residents of America had a strong sense of The North, The South and particularly The West, which offered adventure, wealth and freedom. There was no reason for the shore hugging colonials and later American citizens mentioning The East, where most of them resided. Only people in The West talked about The East.
The East was America and the United States. Large communities, many of which became towns or cities, emerged as elsewhere in the world along protected areas of the ocean’s coast, in favorable spots along rivers, or at intersections of significant roads. With the exception of Washington, D.C., American cities in the East emerged without master plans. The same was even more true for roads, which generally followed the course of least resistance. (For centuries in some mountainous regions of the Middle East road builders would entice a mule to climb a rugged terrain and carve a road in the animal’s course.) Wild animal trails and Indian paths often defined the best way to traverse areas in Eastern America. That resulted in numerous curves in the roads to avoid nature’s obstacles and limited the necessity for excavations and bridges.
My early life in the western part of Virginia accustomed me to roads with abundant curves and at least as many hills and steeper grades. An automobile trip to Richmond at the age of eighteen made an indelible impression on me, as east of Lynchburg I could see miles straight ahead on the road we traveled. There were plenty of gentle hills, but virtually no curves.
Easterners almost never mention the points of the compass when giving directions. They typically say something like “stay on this road for another five miles and turn right at Jamison’s store for another three miles. When you get to that small white church on your left you will see the place you want on the right.”
Moving to South Dakota for my last three years of college required a reorientation based on an awareness of the compass. Even within the symmetrical grids of towns and cities all directions contained compass points without any mention of the Eastern standbys of left and right.
Unlike in the East, most of the West settlement came into existence fairly quickly. Populated areas, as well as the broad farm and ranch lands, resulted from plans rather than haphazard evolution. The flat prairies, which began in Western Ohio, made the grid structure of the Midwest possible. The fact that the United States government, often in conjunction with the railroads, controlled land sales and distribution, allowed those entities to design and control land usage and configuration.
In the East one only needs the fundamental knowledge of the difference between left and right. Out West one needs to be well oriented in knowledge of the four major points of the compass.
Traditionally, being “Oriented” meant knowing the compass direction for the East. The assumption was that knowing that direction provided a firm locus for discerning every other direction.
From colonial times residents of America had a strong sense of The North, The South and particularly The West, which offered adventure, wealth and freedom. There was no reason for the shore hugging colonials and later American citizens mentioning The East, where most of them resided. Only people in The West talked about The East.
The East was America and the United States. Large communities, many of which became towns or cities, emerged as elsewhere in the world along protected areas of the ocean’s coast, in favorable spots along rivers, or at intersections of significant roads. With the exception of Washington, D.C., American cities in the East emerged without master plans. The same was even more true for roads, which generally followed the course of least resistance. (For centuries in some mountainous regions of the Middle East road builders would entice a mule to climb a rugged terrain and carve a road in the animal’s course.) Wild animal trails and Indian paths often defined the best way to traverse areas in Eastern America. That resulted in numerous curves in the roads to avoid nature’s obstacles and limited the necessity for excavations and bridges.
My early life in the western part of Virginia accustomed me to roads with abundant curves and at least as many hills and steeper grades. An automobile trip to Richmond at the age of eighteen made an indelible impression on me, as east of Lynchburg I could see miles straight ahead on the road we traveled. There were plenty of gentle hills, but virtually no curves.
Easterners almost never mention the points of the compass when giving directions. They typically say something like “stay on this road for another five miles and turn right at Jamison’s store for another three miles. When you get to that small white church on your left you will see the place you want on the right.”
Moving to South Dakota for my last three years of college required a reorientation based on an awareness of the compass. Even within the symmetrical grids of towns and cities all directions contained compass points without any mention of the Eastern standbys of left and right.
Unlike in the East, most of the West settlement came into existence fairly quickly. Populated areas, as well as the broad farm and ranch lands, resulted from plans rather than haphazard evolution. The flat prairies, which began in Western Ohio, made the grid structure of the Midwest possible. The fact that the United States government, often in conjunction with the railroads, controlled land sales and distribution, allowed those entities to design and control land usage and configuration.
In the East one only needs the fundamental knowledge of the difference between left and right. Out West one needs to be well oriented in knowledge of the four major points of the compass.
Yes, out here in the Northwest we say things like take hwy 82 for 1.3 miles to the Indian Trail turnoff and go west to Queensgate. All these words are referring to the green highway signs with white letters that clutter up our highways and biways out here. Some of them are actually written in large enough letters to see them. I, myself, being visually challanged or maybe its mentally challanged (can only drive when I drive, not search out unfamiliar road markers) drive by landmarks. When asking directions I am likey to say, where is it in relation to the University? or, Is that near the Yakima River Bridge? or,Is that the restaurant behind The Riverton Apartments? That way I know I will get there. Otherwise, if all else fails, I just get a ride with someone who knows where we are going, or call a Taxi.
ReplyDelete~giudetta
ps when were you in South Dakota? I spent every summer there from 1967 - 1987 near Wentworth, 40 miles SE of Sioux Falls.