Enjoying life in a new city

The move to Wisconsin is complete. My belongings were packed up on Saturday 14 April in Iowa, and they were unloaded on Sunday 15 April in Wisconsin. The move went smoothly thanks to help from friends and family. Abigail remains in Iowa but will be in NYC for the summer. I miss her much.

What differences have I noticed between Iowa, the land of my education, and Wisconsin, the land of my birth? Wisconsin has tons and tons of little neighborhood bars. Bars are a primary point of socialization in this state. Also I’ve noticed that none of the coffee shops in Iowa City have drive-thru because everyone sits with their laptops to study. But virtually all the coffee places here have drive-thrus. In fact there are many drive-thru ONLY coffee shops in the Appleton area. They plunk them down in the middle of some parking lot. A popular chain around here is Jo-to-Go. And these places are busy. Nobody sits to enjoy their coffee — it’s something to be had on the way to someplace else.

Surprisingly, I’ve found that the Wisconsin people of this area are amazingly friendly. More so than Iowa definitely (and Iowa people are pretty nice). Wisconsin people strike up conversations with you in the grocery store or wherever you happen to be.

People dress better here in Appleton. Maybe it’s because this city is fairly well off and maybe partly it’s because Iowa City is a college town. At any rate, people wear a higher grade of clothing.

One similar thing between Iowa City and Appleton is that the local people hate it when bars take over downtown. Bars starting taking over the Iowa City downtown after the opening of the Coral Ridge Mall in 1998. Locals here in Appleton feel that the downtown is turning into an entertainment district. Some see this as a necessary part of urbanization. Others see it as Appleton losing the big “small town” appeal. The change in Appleton can probably be traced to the opening five years ago of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in the heart of downtown.

I’m sure I’ll notice many more differences and similarities as time goes on. Mostly though I miss my Iowa friends. It seems strange to be in familiar territory but on unfamiliar terms — that is, I know Wisconsin well, but I’ve been away for so long that it’s all new and different.

Well, those are my musings of the moment. I just wanted to get them written down so I didn’t forget. It’s good to move. Scare away the cobwebs, and try something new on for size.