- The summer weather is very nice.
- The mosquitoes are monstrous, meaning you can't enjoy #1 lest your entire circulatory system be sucked dry in three minutes flat.
- People here drink Diet Mountain Dew the way people in Texas drink Diet Dr. Pepper.
- People here drive the speed limit.
- There are more Obama bumper stickers in Madison than there are in the entire state of Texas (including Austin).
- The cheese aisle at the grocery store is bigger than the deep-fat-fried food section of the Texas State Fair.
- Bicyclists galore.
- The accent. It's real. "Wisconsin" is a very nasal "Wis-KAHN-sin." And you hear what sounds to me like Canadian vowel raising (though I'm sure to the trained ear it's totally different, but to me, the population sounds like a bunch of Canadian curlers).
- People are happy. Really happy. So happy that for the first few weeks I was a little weirded out, and then that feeling turned into sheer paranoia. Why was everyone so happy??? What was the conspiracy?? Why wasn't I in on it? What did everyone know that I didn't? Was I the butt of a huge joke that involved everyone acting happy? I still don't know why everyone is so dang happy. Perhaps it has to do with #3 and #6. Or perhaps it brings a person profound joy to raise one's diphthongs. Whatever the cause, I'm glad for the effect.
- Every little town, including ours, has a Culver's.
- Small prosperous-looking red-barned dairy farms dot the landscape. (Figures. That cheese has to come from somewhere!)
- It is beautiful! In the soul-inspiring way! Yes, and this is the Midwest! What a happy surprise. (I'm still trying to figure out what makes Wisconsin so much more beautiful than the other midwestern states I've lived in, namely Missouri and Ohio. I suspect it has something to do with the lakes, the freshly painted red barns, the restored prairie grasses, and the hilly topography left behind by the glaciers.)
Like many first impressions, I could be wrong. But, then again, I could be right.
