First of all welcome from Georgia. I think you will find that when you wear your kilt, the response will be different than the opinions you got from your friends. They are just not use to seeing you in a kilt. When I wear my kilt I usually get positive comments. As you can see I live in the south and I have never seen anyone else wear a kilt around here except during Celtic festivals (except me of course). Although my sons do wear theirs on occasion. Just wear it with confidence and you should be fine. Enjoy your new kilt.