There are various parts of small-town life in the Midwest that really stood out to city transplants Or car tags are called tabs. Or when they say 'oofdah' β first time I heard someone say that I thought they were having a stroke lol. I worked for a school with close to employees, and I was one of four minorities. Beautiful weather, but not for me.
A lot of people there had never lived further away than Chicago and had their set friend groups. You have to really put yourself out there because few people will invite you into their groups.
On the flip side, when you do find your community, like I did, it's the best. People care about close friends here the same way most people reserve for family members.
Especially living in the college town, my community is diverse and politically active, and really strong. There are fewer choices when it comes to places to go for fun and much fewer cuisine choices when it comes to restaurants. Whenever people make small talk, they always bring up sports! My new version of a traffic jam is getting stuck behind farm equipment on a back road.
