Indianians...or are they just Indians?

Culture shock. I didnt think that culture shock would apply to me when I moved up here to Indiana two years ago. Well, it happened. I can't really explain how, but it did hit me that things were different. It's subtle but when the realization hits you, it can feel huge.

First of all, southern hospitality is way different than midwest hospitality. Being from the South, you grow up with a soft and "overly polite and patient" sense when meeting new people or talking with people, and having guests in your home. In the midwest (dependent upon region) that politeness only goes so far. By no means would anyone in the true midwest be outright rude to you, no way, but you do have a time limit in patience and cordiality with people. I consider it this way:
In the South, even if people do not like you, polite conversation and feigning interest is always applied. No way will someone walk away from you in mid sentence. You can finish your conversation and a polite comment/excuse is made and then you can make your get-away. But you always wait until the conversation is over, no matter how freakin' long it takes. In the Mid-West, this polite comment/excuse is usually made about half way through the person's comment or conversation because there is no way they can stand it any longer. But if they like you, their hospitality has no limits.

Second, the people in the Mid-West are a lot like Southerners (again, dependent on region) but with "snow experience." I dont mean snow like in Alabama where it's and 1/8 of an inch once every 4 years...I mean some serious snow. My first winter was considered a "mild" winter. At one point in November, when I had only been here for a month, it snowed about 2 feet in one day. It started in the afternoon when I was a work. I work in an arena and we have no windows, so I didnt see it begin. Students were coming in and telling me about it and I started to sweat. "What do I do?" I asked with wide eyes. I got a lot of laughs with that. Hey, I had never driven in snow before. 1/8 of an inch shut down cities for 3 days usually in Alabama!!!! How was I to survive 2 feet?! I wasn't gonna make it!!!!! Tell my family I loved them but I'm doomed!!!!!
Before I really started to silently freak out, one of my students asked what kind of car I drove. When I told her she laughed even harder at me. "You are gonna be fine. You drive an all-wheel vehicle. Just take it slow."
Take it slow...I can do that. Of course I live about 3 miles down on the same street from where I work. Usually it takes me no more than 5 minutes to drive to work (dependent on the one traffic light I have inbetween). That night, it took me 20 minutes to get home...I'm not kidding. I took it REAL slow, and made a lot of people REALLY angry.

A similarity that midwesterners have with southerners is that they don't do change very well...just like southerners (case in point, read any school U.S. history book). The year I moved to Indiana was the year the state finally decided to observe what is apparently a horrific offense to all decent people in the world...day-light savings time. Indiana used to spend half the year in the Eastern Time Zone, and the other half in the Central Time Zone because they never changed their clocks. Well, now the state was gonna stick with the Eastern Time Zone...forever. When the time came to change the clocks, people started to panic. "Do I move it up or back?" one student asked me. "So...I do what, when?" another asked. "Do we stay up to change it at 2:00am on the dot or can we do it before that?" Really? Now it was my turn to laugh. So I told them what they told me, "It's not a big deal...just drive slow (ha ha)."
Well, the obvious indecency of such an outright unfair act was so great that two counties decided not to partake in this outlandish event. So, they are stuck in transition of half the year in Eastern and half the year in Central Time Zone. Another county even has gone so far as to only not change their clocks in federal buildings...but everywhere else will change there clocks. So, the post office will be closed at 5:00pm, but its 4:00pm on your clock at home. These people are weird.

"The Region." People from "the region" are also called "region rats." This "region" is the upper west corner of Indiana. My first experience with someone from the region was a student I met my first day here. I was making polite conversation and asked him where he was from. "Chicago" he said.
"Oh! Okay," I replied.
Another student heard this and came up to me later and said, "He's not really from Chicago."
"What?" I asked. "Then why did he say that?"
"He's from 'the region.'" she stated. "He lives in the upper west corner of Indiana but a lot of people say they are from 'Chicago.'"
"Why?"
"I dunno." she said. "I'm from St. Louis."
"Oh," I said.
People from the region can be very easily picked out. All you have to do is talk to them. They come from Indiana but can have the personality of someone from Chicago (refer to description of Butler boy). They can be brash, but with politeness instilled by osmosis from the state Indiana. They are very interesting. My first student here was from "the region." She was a great person and we had a lot of fun. I would chuckle every once in a while because she had a very distinct, very thick Chicago accent (watch The Blues Brothers and you will understand). But she never lived a day in her life within the state of Illinois. Weird, huh? To demonstrate, say the word "mom." Now pinch your nostrils together and say it more like "ma'am," but not all the way like it. That is probably the closest you can get to this accent.

On the opposite side of "region rats" you have the farm kids. They make me miss home very much. It's almost like they have been plucked from my backyard and came up here with me. They are usually very hard workers and some of the most easy going kids I've met here. Overall, I love Indiana. I really enjoy living here with all of its quirks and new people and new experiences. I wouldn't trade it or change a thing about it.