About a year ago, I boarded a plane bound for Wayne, Nebraska. I knew there would be changes, and Nebraska and its people would be very different from Idaho, but I never expected this. Here are a few things I learned from my time in the Midwest.
1. Cornhusker nation
I remember someone joking right before I left "Oh, you'll be a Cornhusker!" and I remember thinking, "That's a kind of mean thing to call Nebraskans." I had no idea what I was getting into. Cornhusker Nation is a very real and intense lifestyle. It's not a fan base, it's not just a fun thing to do on Saturday, it's a lifestyle and they take their lifestyle very seriously.
2. The trees
Or should I say lack thereof. And they don't really seem to care that they have to plant every tree. Maybe they just don't know what they're missing, but they are oddly proud of the trees that manage to grow and survive the wind.
3. Omaha
Holy. Shit. The place has cities within the city. There's Millard South, and Millard North, and downtown, and so many others. It's huge. The traffic is crazy. I thought Boise was a big city. I thought taking thirty minutes to get from one side of town to the other was obscene. You can't even see all of Omaha from a hill. It's huge. I'm still coming to terms with this one.
4. Country Music
Now, being from Idaho, I was used to having mostly country stations and personally, I like all kinds of country, but in Nebraska, it's a rare person that doesn't like country music (Val). They're the people you don't mess with though, because they're forced to listen to it everyday. They have built up a formidable patience and will power. It plays on every radio except two-- and one of those is the Christian station.
5. The billboards
This is one of the few negatives. There are anti-abortion billboards in Nebraska. A lot of them. On the highway to Omaha, in Wayne itself. I'm all for free speech, but is a billboard really where we want to have this argument?
6. The snow
We had two and a half snow days for a foot of snow. Now, in Idaho, this would be nothing. Throw your car in four-wheel drive and get your butt to school. But in Nebraska, the wind (it really is the root of all nature's evils) blows the snow up six feet and covers the doors. Look out your window and you'll see a light dusting of snow over the grass. Open your door, and there's a solid wall of fridgid, icy, can't-even-make-a-snowball-out-of-it snow.
7. The wind
Oh. My. Goodness. I can't describe it. It's always there. It never stops. You think it would stop eventually, or wane (pun intended), or change somehow, but it doesn't. It's like the longest, most violent fart ever ripping its way down from South Dakota. Windy Wayne is not just a cute name. It's a very serious warning.
8. The landscape
It's flat. Very, very flat. There's some rolling hills and lots of cattle and the sunsets are pretty, but everything is very flat. You can see for miles. There are no trees, nothing to break the skyline.
9. The People
The people of Nebraska (Nebraskans?) are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Everyone is so friendly, and welcoming to everyone else.
10. Highway 15
It's only like ten or so miles until you're in Wayne, but it's mentally exhausting. You go over the hill and you're like "Oh, there's the town lights. Only one more hill." Up the hill and... "Oh, there's another hill." Fifteen minutes later and you're sure this has to be the last hill...but it's not.
11. Cornhusker Nation
I cannot emphasize this enough. There was no such thing as a quiet Saturday when the Cornhuskers were playing. Everyone knows the season's stats, the best players. Almost everyone has been to a game. The loyalty and fierce pride that surrounds this team brings you in. Even if you don't care about football, you'll spend Saturday watching the game because, well, when in Nebraska... and that BYU Hail Mary still hurts.