Michigan and Ohio are separated by just an abstract boundary.
Yet even though they engaged in the Toledo War 180 years ago, they have since been on friendly terms and would seem to be rather similar in both culture and climate.
However, I am quickly realizing that this isn’t the case.
There are a lot of factors that played into choosing what college to go to, as I’m sure there were for pretty much everybody. But even when that decision was finally made there was still apprehension. I was especially nervous about leaving Ohio, where I’ve lived my whole life until now.
It was nerve-wracking going to a different state for school. But Ferris is a really cool place and making friends hasn’t been too difficult. However, in the past few weeks I have realized that when it comes to going to an out-of-state school, there are things that you don’t think about. I never for a minute thought that a language barrier would be a problem.
Now don’t misunderstand, I actually mean this in the nicest way possible. The adjusting process has not been the easiest and here is why:
When I ask where you live and you point to a spot on your hand, I don’t know what that means. In addition to this, I’m sorry, I don’t know where “the bridge” is. No, I haven’t heard of Euchre and you trying to explain it isn’t helping. You have a special deck of cards specifically for Euchre?
For the life of me, I’m still trying to figure out what a Michigan left is. I don’t know what calling someone a “Troll” or a “Yooper” means, but it sounds derogatory. I think the “U.P.” means the Upper Peninsula, but I’m still not sure.
Evidently, we have very different ideas of what is sold at a party store. Being from Ohio doesn’t make me a Buckeye fan (even though I am). It continues to baffle me just how many lakes there actually are in this state.
What exactly is “The Joe” again? No one can help me when I ask where the DMV is. Livonia sounds like a place where vampires live.
Everyone just keeps warning me about Michigan winters, but they can’t be much worse than an Ohio winter… right?
Yes, sometimes I do feel like I am going to school in a foreign land. So if I look confused when you say that you live on the thumb, please just be patient and remember: at least we all drink pop not soda.