So far I lived in 3 distinct areas around the country. I have lived in Ohio, California, and Illinois. Each has its distinct micro-culture that which gives the places and the people a unique feel and a unique set of endearing quirks to note and appreciate.
Ohio is where I was raised, and Central Ohio will always feel like home. However, moving away from it made me realize what a strange little place it is. People always say "Excuse me" when they bump into you. They are extremely friendly and easy to get to know. And yet, there are are more conservative to the point of ridiculous church people per square mile than anywhere else in the midwest except Indiana. Scarlett and Gray clothing is everywhere, along with dumpy fashion standards, and rabid Buckeye football mania is the region's other uptight religion. Still, I love it.
Northern California was huge culture shock from Ohio, but within the first year, I adjusted. People get to know each other through activity and work, and there isn't a lot of sitting around and hanging out and talking. Californians play hard and work hard. Native Californians, as a rule, made flaky employees--they had learned before the rest of the nation that no employer is loyal to them, so they had no loyalty to the employer. No one says excuse me when they bump into you unless they did it really hard--there are just too many people there, the courtesy was not observed. Northern Californians dress better, and have a definitely cooler style.
When we moved to the Chicago area, and there was a new culture to explore. Less friendly at first than Ohioans, but able to have deeper relationships than a Northern Californian. If invited to a group of women that I did not know, depending on the social status, this is what would happen:
With my softball team, when I first joined we went out for drinks after a game, and no one asked me about myself. I was acknowledged, yet not invited directly into any conversation. At first I was feeling like this was rather cliquey and unfriendly, but eye contact was made and pauses were made in the conversation, as if allowing me to interject something. No one was going to ask anything directly, but I was welcome to chime in if I had something to add. This was a more blue collar group, and once I understood the dynamic, I was able to join in and start making some friends.
My white collar friends also had some part of this in their dynamic, but usually some of the give and take rules of conversation were observed as well.
Another thing that I found socially a little confounding was how much complaining is a part of the way people converse around here. A lot of the people that we met first had me very worried about how negative they seemed all the time, but later I realized that complaining was not personally directed at me, but instead a way of thinking out out loud what is happening, big or little, and how it affects them. Complaining is pragmatic for a Chicagoan, it is a way of organizing thoughts and sharing experiences. Complaining was also used as a conversation starter, a way to find common ground. Coming from Northern CA, where things are a lot more superficially "just fine", this took some getting used to.
I have loved each of these places dearly, and love each one for what they are. If anyone is reading this, what have you noticed as strange when you moved to a new city?
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