People Who Moved From A Major US City To A Small Midwestern Town Are Opening Up About What Gave Them Culture Shock

[Harris Hawg Farm]

Moving from a major US city to a small town in the Midwest will likely
introduce you to many new cultural norms.

I recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell me about their
culture shock after relocating to a quiet Midwestern town from a larger
city in the US. Here are some comments I got in response.
1. "The mayo! In South Florida and New York, itís a condiment you eat
sometimes. ... In Ohio, it comes with everything. Huge cups on the side of
your plate. Whole bottles on tables. Itís in the salad. Itís on all the
sandwiches."
A small plate with a sandwich that has meat, lettuce, tomato and mayo sits
on a wooden table
Jojo Wardjojo / Getty Images/500px
ótabyb

2. "I'm living in the Midwest temporarily, but it is different from New
York City in a big way. Mainly, it is very quiet here, and most people
I've met have not lived anywhere else. The biggest shock for me is that
it's not very diverse; it's mostly white and Christian, and I'm neither.
Also, the locals understand more about the outdoors, farming, and hunting
than I do. The people are really friendly IMO. It is a very conservative
area, but I haven't run into anyone too hateful like I did in the South."
A woman and man sit for a meal with friends on a farm
Mike Harrington / Getty Images
ómaddi8889

3. "All the different uses of jello. Jello with pineapple and cream
cheese, jello with strawberries and Cool Whip, etc."
Two glass cups filled with jello, cream and strawberries sit between a
napkin and two spoons
Shaiith / Getty Images/iStockphoto
ósofaaaaa

4. "Biggest shock for me was the food. I thought I knew good American
comfort food, but theirs was to another level. It was also interesting to
see how they had their own little language and words for things that I
thought were called another."
"For example, when you bring over a casserole, they call it a hot dish. Or
car tags are called tabs. Or when they say 'oofdah' ó first time I heard
someone say that I thought they were having a stroke lol. It was an
experience living in the Midwest, but ultimately, I felt like I didnít fit
into their white suburbia because I stood out as one of the few
minorities. I worked for a school with close to 100 employees, and I was
one of four minorities. Beautiful weather, but not for me."

óamericalz

5. "I moved from the east coast to Indiana. On the east coast, sarcasm is
part of the language. Working retail, I used my sarcasm as a way to be
humorous, but it was interpreted as being rude in the Midwest, so I had to
adjust my strategy."
ócarrieb446108921

6. "I lived in NYC and moved to a suburb of Minneapolis. As an organizer
and activist, it was definitely challenging to have to be far more guarded
about my politics. If we drove 10 minutes east, we'd be in a very
progressive part of Minneapolis, but 10 minutes west were 'Trump won'
signs... yes, in 2023."
"You also have to work a lot harder to build community around you. A lot
of people there had never lived further away than Chicago and had their
set friend groups. You have to really put yourself out there because few
people will invite you into their groups. On the flip side, when you do
find your community, like I did, it's the best. People care about close
friends here the same way most people reserve for family members."

óAsMK192123

7. "I grew up just outside of NYC and went to the Midwest for college. The
biggest one for me was the way they cut pizza. Pizza was cut in a grid
('party-style') by default unless you were ordering from a major pizza
chain or it was deep dish."
A meat lovers pizza is cut into squares on a wooden cutting board
Lauripatterson / Getty Images
"Also, learning 'take your tractor to school day' was like...a normal
thing for high school students. Wild."

ójessarosem

8. "I moved from LA to a midsized Southern town. Later in life, I moved to
rural Midwest and settled in major metro Midwest. Summers are absolutely
the best in the Midwest, especially on the Great Lakes. Summer festivals,
produce, weather, water activities, and extra long days in the sun canít
be beat."
A dock on a lake is pictured on a summery sunny day in Wisconsin
Matt Anderson Photography / Getty Images
óm0m

9. "I moved from Seattle to Lincoln, Nebraska, and I think this qualifies.
Biggest culture shock is how friendly everybody is, second is how cheap
houses are. I deeply miss good/varied restaurants and access to the ocean.
Beyond that, I wouldnít move back."
A suburban one-story home with a "sold" sign on the front lawn
Yinyang / Getty Images
"I can actually afford a house here, and despite what people think,
Nebraska actually isnít the least diverse state in the country. Especially
living in the college town, my community is diverse and politically
active, and really strong. I have a better/more diverse group of friends
here than I did in Seattle."

óalenavbruzas

10. "When I moved to a Midwestern suburb, I noticed that inclement weather
is normal. People just deal with extreme weather without batting an eye."
Lightning strikes at during a storm at night in a suburb of Indianapolis
Alexeys / Getty Images/iStockphoto
"It is also much less diverse. Therefore, itís pretty taboo to talk about
race or social issues. There are fewer choices when it comes to places to
go for fun and much fewer cuisine choices when it comes to restaurants.
Since there isnít a whole lot to do, sports are everything. Whenever
people make small talk, they always bring up sports!"

ópinkrayne

11. "I moved from Seattle to a midsized town in Missouri. I was amazed at
the number of megachurches and how many people talked about their religion
so much and so openly."
The exterior of a large modern church building
Tennesseephotographer / Getty Images/iStockphoto
"I was also surprised that coworkers were uncomfortable when I wore my BLM
shirt."

óannamarieg419711186

12. "I moved from the LA area to a small, rural town in Wisconsin (10k
population, and that's mostly because of the state university there). The
biggest shock for me was going from being in the 'majority'
(Hispanic/Latinx) in LA to being the only Latina in my entire middle
school. Up to that point in my life, I don't remember ever truly
experiencing racism, but that town changed that quickly. Don't get me
wrong, Wisconsin is beautiful, and I love it, but growing up in that town
was rough."
A sad young student buries her head in her knees as she sits in the
hallway against the lockers
Andresr / Getty Images
ójessieanneh19

13. "Iím from New York (downstate), and the biggest thing for me was
feeling like there was no sense of urgency. Whether that was walking,
driving, talking, etc., I constantly found myself asking, 'Am I the only
one with somewhere to be?!' Sometimes, I still do."
The sun sets on the main street of a South Dakota town
Larrybraunphotography.com / Getty Images
ójessez43905a88b

14. "How many people cannot understand any 'foreign' accent. Not even in a
xenophobic or racist way (although those types exist, too) ó for many,
their brains just cannot understand the faintest of accents."
ómelbel811

15. "I've ping-ponged. I grew up in the Midwest, moved to the east coast,
moved back, etc. People are friendlier at face value but less open-minded,
and more likely to reject you if you don't fit into small-town values. Big
city folk may come off as rude at first but may be more accepting of the
types Midwesterners are currently voting against. This is why I left and
am leaving again, and this has been my experience. But the chili is good."
ódmma0726

16. "Everyone has kids. If you donít have children, youíre in the minority
at best, and the only one at worst. All life revolves around children's
activities."
A couple and their three kids walk in the grass together as they hold
hands
Rebecca Nelson / Getty Images
óbrennaanderson

17. "When I saw the deductions on my first paycheck, I called payroll
because I assumed the state taking less than $10 had to be an error."
A woman talks on the phone at work
Hill Street Studios / Getty Images
óannab4fef789d4

18. "I moved from just north of Houston, Texas, to a small village in East
Central Illinois, and the biggest change has been traffic. When I first
moved to Texas in 2008, my commute was 20 minutes each way, but the area
was overdeveloped so quickly that within three years, it was 40 minutes,
and by the time we left in 2020, it could be over an hour. The entire area
was built up at top speed without any public transportation and without
even expanding existing roadways to accommodate the growing population.
Now, my commute to work in a neighboring city is 15 minutes each way and
never varies."
A man drives a car on a sunny day
Grace Cary / Getty Images
"I didn't realize how much of a toll the unpredictable traffic was taking
on my mental health until I didn't have to deal with it anymore. My new
version of a traffic jam is getting stuck behind farm equipment on a back
road."

ócollinna

Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

If you've moved from a major US city to a small town in the Midwest, let
us know what culture shock you encountered in the comments below.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/devinherenda/people-who-moved-to-midwest-sharing-
culture-shock