One of my first experiences of living in the mid-west was being surprised by the naivety of a few people I encountered. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not painting with a broad brush here, nor am I saying this doesn’t exist elsewhere, BUT from my experience people, in general, need to get out just a little more…
Shortly after arriving in Indianapolis, my car was in dire need for an oil change. We had just travelled from Vancouver BC to Jacksonville NC and back to Indianapolis IN, which was a ton of miles in all kinds of highway conditions. I drove up to the local oil change facilities and checked in. The usual routine commenced, they took my name, car year & model, and checked the odometer. Then they asked me the strangest question…
“Do you want high mileage oil?”. I’m sure the look I gave them implied “you’re crazy!” my car was only 4 years old with approximately 75,000 KMS, yes kilometers…or as Americans would say ~46,000 MILES!! Well, when I told the technicians the car was Canadian and those were KM’s, they grabbed the keys and literally ran to the car to “see the odometer”. Turns out they have neverseen a dashboard which displayed kilometers. OMG, guys…20, 30, 40 km/h still looks the same as 20, 30, 40 mph! Let me tell you, this made my day! And I soon learned that many people I would experience while living in IN, lived a comfortable little bubble!
My next little welcome to the neighborhood was that there really wasn’t a neighborhood…In my effort to remain healthy despite the stress, travelling, and disrupted routines, I decided to take myself on a little jogging journey in my new area. I set out enthusiastic, I jogged out of our complex, down the street and thought I would weave my way through the side streets to see the sights. Not far down the state road, I decided to hang a left and make a big circle.
I jogged ½ a block off the main road and found myself literally surrounded by corn fields, what the heck! No sidewalks, ditches lined the road on both sides, and surprisingly quite a bit of local traffic made my “jog” go from casual sightseeing to survival of the fittest. I guess I need to find another route…well, I tried but it was either run on the sidewalk of the busy state road or the country backroads. The logo here should have been “where city meets country”…
It didn’t take us long to realize Indiana wasn’t for us. Our time here from beginning to end was 9 months and that seemed like a long time! The jobs weren’t what we imagined, it was lonely, and we missed a landscape with mountains. What will we do now?
Have you ever lived somewhere that didn’t live up to your expectations? I’d love to hear your stories, leave me a comment!
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Trudi
The Nomad Nightingale 