Midwest Pride

It took living in another country for me to realize that I am proud of where I come from.

I was born and raised in Metro Detroit, the only actual suburbs in the state of Michigan. Everything about how I grew up just screams how I am a midwesterner through and through. The most obvious of these traits? I apparently have an accent and when I speak French or English here, Europeans always know exactly where I'm from. "Vous êtes de Chicago?" Basically. Just a little more north, guys.

Europeans seem to have an unsaid rivalry between their countries. People are proud of where they come from. There is a similar concept in the US. The states are all like little countries and there are these little characteristics special to the territory that meet you at the boundary of every one.
One day, early in the semester, a girl from the west coast made a nasty comment about Detroit. I reacted without thinking: something about how diverse (UP-Suburbs) Michigan is, Yooper dialect, Meg and Jack White, Iggy and Motown and how we were once a huge engine room in this country. I remember saying something like "So many historical things have happened in my city. Name three important things that have happened in the entire state of Oregon." She stared at me, completely stunned and caught off guard. I know all kinds of important things have happened there, but that wasn't the point. It was a knee jerk reaction. I think it's kind of like you can speak badly of your family when they get on your nerves, but no one else can. No one talks crap about Michigan unless they live there. (CIDEF really is a bit like high school, huh?)

My sister told me today that my dad is now legally deaf. He's been losing his hearing for a couple of years now and I guess now it's officially on the books. I don't see my parents very often (not enough) and when I hear stuff like, that it blows my mind. My parents are starting to get old- they're not going to be around for forever. I've always dreamt of moving far, far away from everything and suddenly I have this epiphany. Yeah, I want to live in the city, but I think I'd be really happy living and working in Chicago. I love the Midwest.