I traveled a long distance to go to college. I could have moved to California or somewhere else glamorous, but my career path took me out of Colorado to the great city of Peoria, Illinois. I am not saying that it was the worst choice ever. I love it out here and things are going great. But here are nine things that you must know before moving to Central Illinois.
1. Don’t make the mistake and say everyone is from Chicago. Chicago is not the only thing in Illinois.
I made this mistake so many times. People will tell you a city and my response would be, “Is that near Chicago?”. Fifty percent of the time it would be close to Chicago, but most of the time it wasn’t. And some people take offense to that.
2.The suburbs of Chicago are different than the actual city.
Again, how am I supposed to know that. I have only been to Chicago a couple times before college and assumed the entirety of Chicago was the city. Don’t assume things. People don’t like explaining it over and over again.
3.The weather is bipolar.
I thought home was bad. The weather can change quickly and sometimes the season will be not the season is supposed to be. It is summer this week and it didn’t snow too long ago.
4.There are a lot of small towns. As in too many to keep track of.
I learned that your hand looks like the state and this become my “map” of learning where people are from. There are so may small towns and I can’t keep track of many. I know Springfield, Decatur, and Dunlap exist. But that is pretty much all.
5.The water taste terrible.
Be prepared for the strangest tasting water. I still can’t drink it and live off of bottled water.
6.There is a lot of corn.
Corn fields are fun. And the only thing around really. Get to like corn and apples.
7.Culver's and Moe’s will be your new best friend.
I have no idea about how I am going to survive this summer without Moe’s queso. It is amazing and these two places will be your new life.
8.It sometimes smells like fish and something else I can’t describe. You will never get used to it.
You will never get used to it. Ever. I can’t describe the smell, but it is so gross. I smells like plants and fish.
9.It is a fantastic place to live and go to school.
I am so happy I moved here. It is a wonderful place to live and learn and I would not change anything.
