New England is the epicenter of the east coast. New York City? Washington D.C.? Maine? These are all places that anyone not in New England is guaranteed to fail on their fifth grade geography test.
The Midwest? What even is this? Is Kansas there? Is Ohio there? All the way to Nevada? These flyover states are the worst part about the American driving tour.
The Midwest
Indiana is where I'm from. What do you think of? I think of corn. Corn and soybeans and basketball and small towns and county fairs.
I grew up in a city. A city of ~75,000 (we had a university, too), but you could see a farm field from almost every road you drove on. I grew up knowing of cows escaping their fences and walking into a school yard. I grew up knowing (not thinking, knowing) basketball is a bigger (personally, better) sport than football. I have always gone to Chicago and Louisville and Cincinnati for school field trips; I took an agricultural development (we call it ag) class where I learned how to farm and take care of crops and the sciences of the crops, but most importantly, how to operate John Deere equipment (it's pretty cool to non-farm kids to know how to drive a combine).
One of my favorite discoveries thus far about the Midwest was when first visiting New England; I went to a restaurant and it said "Midwest Steak." And guess what? That was the most expensive/best kind of steak on the menu! (Yes, I am proud) Growing up with friends who hunt, have animal farms and smokehouses in their backyard treats one to some pretty fine suppers. Not to mention the great event of a farmer's market every Saturday morning. This is the gathering place...You see your classmates, neighbors, and even strangers you befriend over a single summer (Yes, the Midwest is as friendly as television portrays it to be, if not friendlier, it's kind of awesome).
Finally, the county fair and the state fair are the biggest, absolute biggest events of the summer. I typically go to the county fair three to five times in the nine days it's opened (and then I go to other county fairs, because why not?). Deep fried corn, Twinkies, potato curls, funnel cakes, and elephant ears are all food you must have at least once in your lifetime (maybe not when you're on a diet, though...). The state fair, then, has the largest tractors, largest hogs and cows, finest sheep and goats of the state. If you didn't do 4-H as a kid, you weren't cool. Having your name called for the 10-Year-Commitment Club is one of the best parts of your high school experience.
New England
What even is New England? It's a place somewhere up in the northeastern area of the U.S., right? You're on the right track...
As a Midwesterner, born and raised, I grew up believing everything from Canada's border down to Washington D.C. was "the New England area". Whoops, was I wrong. There are only six states, not all the tiny states that could fit within Indiana, only a few of those are New England (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine).
Of these six (I still can't get over this minuscule number), one of which has creemees (what we other Americans call soft-serve ice cream) [Vermont], another has an accent so thick I could barely understand the words my roommate spoke when we first met (good thing I love my roommate!) [Massachusetts], and a third has no sales-tax (is this real?!) [New Hampshire]. Not to mention the discrepancy the entire east coast has with that of Connecticut (apparently most states agree Connecticut should be kicked out of New England). Ouch.
Growing up being told the Midwest had the most subtle accent in the nation, I still had so much to explain. BDubs = Buffalo Wild Wings, warsher = washer, bubbler = water fountain, pop = soda, tomata = tomato, double-ya (w) = double-u, and drawer is pronounced drew-er not draw-ah. Oh, "Masshole". That's not a thing. It's just a word. Apparently anyone with the Massachusetts license plate is a "Masshole" for their poor driving techniques (apparently they don't understand what turn signals nor speed limits are).
But no matter, New England is pretty cool. Currently, I live two hours from Montreal (yes, Canada!), three from Boston, and five from New York City! Plus, there are trains everywhere; it's casual to 'just take a train home'. Oh, and mountains and beaches! Living in the epicenter of the northeast is totally a fact I would (and do) boast about.
Don't even get me started on being an Indianapolis Colts fan in Patriots' country (NFL, for those who don't follow). It's miserable some days. I have gotten chided about wearing my gear here (some worse than others), but, hey, it's my team. I gotta support it, even in enemies' territory.
Home
These two regions have commonalities, yet, in first comparisons, there are more differences than expected.
Indiana is home. It's the Midwest. It's a place everyone dreamed of getting out of one day. Now that I'm out? I miss it. I miss blasting the music in a car while driving down dirt roads surrounded by miles of corn waving in the wind. I miss having to take a highway to the nearest super market. I miss the flat, simple horizon of a rising sun.
New England is a new home now. It's a place of excitement, of riches I don't quite understand, and of strange folk who don't have conversations in passing. New England does have mountains, extravagances of history mixed with the new, and of outdoorsy people that live in a city (or vice versa).
New England is diverse and complex. The Midwest is simple and lucid.
But is it possible to have two homes? I think so.
