1. Everyone says they are from three places.
In actuality, they may live as far as three hours away from that city, they just get lazy and don't want to explain where their small town is located. You can ask to be polite but honestly, not even Ohioans know the entire layout of their own state.
2. "Cincinnatians" in particular get very defensive over their Skyline.
It's pretty much Skyline or die, and I'm not exaggerating. There are real fights that break out over the debate of Skyline vs. Gold Star. Don't mention Gold Star (unless someone makes the first move).
3. Pro Sports
Coming from Louisville, a town where college sports reign supreme, I've never had a true interest in professional sports teams. In Ohio, people are extremely passionate about their teams. I once mixed up a player from the Bengals with a player from the Browns and I was met with absolute silence. Also unless you want to get on someone's bad side don't mention the Steelers.
4. Don't mention Qdoba.
This is a Chipotle town, queso be damned. I mentioned how much I missed it once to my sisters and they looked at me like I was crazy. Just get a Chipotle rewards card and keep your head down.
5. Get all of the winter apparel.
When I first moved here, people kept telling me to buy a parka and I just laughed. They aren’t kidding, without a parka you will freeze and die on your way to class. This campus will literally blow you away, around every corner is an entrance into a new wind tunnel. Don’t try to be a tough guy, just put on some mittens so you don’t lose your fingers.
6. "It's off Vine" is not helpful.
Vine Street runs through the entire city of Cincinnati, if someone says you're going somewhere "off Vine", use Google Maps. Once I ordered food from a Chinese place on Vine Street, thinking it was in walking distance from campus. They called me to ask where I was thirty minutes later because I couldn't find it, then realized it was a ten minute drive away. Just do yourself a favor and look it up.
7. It's a huge player in presidential elections.
Hamilton County is the largest county in Ohio, which happens to be an enormous swing state. Ohio has a true impact, especially with the upcoming presidential election, so make sure if you're not already registered to do that as soon as possible. There are people all over campus who would jump at the change to help you register to vote.
8. UC vs. Xavier
The rivalry between the two goes unmatched, I can't go into the nice Kroger by Xavier without getting sneers in my UC gear. The tension has doubled since they got their new pizza ATM machine.
If you follow these steps, you'll achieve great things. Welcome to Cincinnati.
