Episode 49: Exploring the U.S. - Midwest Region

Welcome to the Midwest, where the winters are cold, the cheese curds are fried, and saying goodbye can take forever. Join us as we talk food, culture, traditions, and more! 

Show Notes 

Transcript

Midwest States and Regional Conversation Podcast

D        Welcome to Coffee and Conversation for ESL Listening. I'm Donielle

K        And I'm Khrystyna, so grab a cup and join the conversation

D        Hello. Happy Thursday

K        Oh yeah, happy Thursday, or as they call it here, Friday eve.

D        Friday eve, that’s hilarious.

K       Well, I'm excited for Thursday or Friday eve because at the college I work at during the summer, we have half-day Fridays. 

D        Nice! It wasn't like that before, was it?

K        No, this has been a few years, I want to say, like two, three-year thing that it started. I mean…really grateful for it. However, I do know that some colleges in the state have Fridays off during the summer. But we haven't gotten there. Maybe one year our leadership will decide that that's what we want to do. But half-day Fridays, I get off at noon tomorrow. 

D        Take it. Oh awesome!

K       Yeah.

D       Well, I worked at a college also in Chicago, and it was a state college. And when I first started there, they had Fridays off, and so you had to work like 10 hours, in the summer. So you had to work like 10 hours a day, and I'm like, "That is fine." And then as luck would have it, I think the very next year they're like, "Nah, we're not doing that anymore." An I'm like, "Oh man, I was just getting so excited that..." Yeah.

K        Well, this is nice for me because I don't even have to work 10-hour days. Like, this is something [the] college does where they just you half a Friday off. Yep, yep. So it's really nice.

D        Very nice. awesome. You watching the basketball games these days? there's a big game on... Is it tonight or tomorrow? I don't know. Are you into that at all?

K        Absolutely not. No. 

D        No? Go Knicks! 

K        No, I am not into basketball. And, you know what? The sad thing is that I really like soccer, right? And I used to play soccer when I was kid, but I am not watching World Cup.  Nope, nope. It's just with everything happening, I can't. It's so sad.

D        Yeah. Let's, let's keep this on a happy note. 

K        Yes. Yeah. So

D        But go Knicks.

K        Yeah. Oh, okay.

D        I know you don't care. That's the one sport I actually do like, so 

K        Okay. Oh, that's nice

D        All right. Let's get to our topic. Today we are going to talk about... You know, I've talked to students before, and they're always interested about the U.S. the states. They're interested in a lot of things, but basically, this giant country that we have, all the different states, places to visit, stuff like that, you know? And everybody knows New York, everybody knows California and Florida, you know. But it's still interesting. We've got a lot of other interesting states. So we thought we would talk about the different regions of the U.S.

K        Yes.

D        And today, let's start with the Midwest because that is the one we probably both know the best.

K        Yeah. And well, and, do you remember we talked the other day, I was like, how many regions are there? Because I feel like you look at different sources, and different sources tell you different things. But the funny thing is that everywhere we looked, there is Midwest.

D        Oh, yeah. Yeah. I kinda went by, I think this is what the US government says is the actual official Midwest, and we've got 12 states. We'll talk about those in a little bit. But yeah, it is funny how there's a lot of different interpretations to things, and that reminds me of, continents even, some countries will teach there are, I don't know, seven or eight, and then some that there's just five. And I remember being in classes with our students from other countries, and they were just getting into this big fight, like this big competition. "No, that's not right. There's five continents." And I'm like, "Oh, okay. Okay." So yeah.

K        That’s interesting. Yeah. Yeah

D        But today we're talking about states, not continents. So anyway, all right, so well let's first of all talk about the Midwest. When you look at the map, and we'll talk about which states these are exactly so you get a look at this later, but you look at the map and you're kinda like, "Midwest? Like kinda weird. Why would it be called that?"

K        I know. I remember when I first heard this term Midwest, and I'm like, Okay, I can see the mid part because it's kind of like right in the middle of the United States, but the west part I can't understand because I feel like it's kinda like equally in the middle from west or east. Somehow for some reason they call it Midwest.

D        Well, there's actually a good reason for it and it does make sense, and it has to do with when the country was making its westward expansion, towards the, Pacific Ocean. You know, we had, a few things on the east, not a whole lot going on, but as they were making their way west and, California was out there, they knew that was, far, far west. And so, as we're making our way towards that, they wanted to define that in some way to make it clear that they're not talking about, like California. So that became Midwest, which, for that time it was, you know, considered pretty much west.

K        Yeah, that's true.

D        from that perspective. So it makes sense

K        It just seems like Midwest is a lot larger than, West or East or,

D        Yeah. And in fact, like one of the Midwestern states is Ohio, which if you look at a map, it really feels like it's closer to the East, you know. So it, it does feel strange. And then you go all the way up to North Dakota

K        Yeah

D        and you're like, "How is this even in the same region?"

K        Right. Right.

D        Yeah.

K        It's interesting

D        And the thing about, you know, you could say there's so much variation within the region itself, cultures and weather and everything, but even within individual states there's so much difference. So it's like, it's a big place.

K        It is, it is. I agree. Even within the state there's a difference in culture and everything else. Yep. Yeah

D        Yeah. So, well, let's get into it real quickly. Let's talk about the states that are part of this region, and then we will at some point talk just a little bit, we'll touch a little bit on each of the states. I don't know about you, but I haven't been to all of these states, so I don't personally know a lot, but, we'll share what we can. So we've got Ohio,

K        Right.

D        Michigan, 

K        Mmhmm

D        Indiana, Illinois, and you'll notice there's an S at the end of Illinois, but we don't pronounce it. It's Illinois.

K        Mm-hmm

D        Wisconsin,

K        Mm-hmm

D        Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. And that makes up... Did you get the same states on your list?  

K       Yep.

D       Okay, cool. All right. Well, what can you say about the Midwest in general?

K        You know, I would say, the biggest thing about [the] Midwest that I noticed, and I didn't travel to all the states either, 

D        Yeah, which ones have you been to?

K        Oh let's see. Well, I live in Illinois. I visited Missouri, Ohio, 

D        Indiana, I’m sure you went 

K        Indiana, yes, definitely. Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa. I think that's about it. I've never been to Dakotas or Nebraska or Michigan, unfortunately.

D        You've never been to Michigan?

K       No.

D       It's like right there!

K        It's on my, it's, mm, on my list. On my list.

D        It’s right there. Oh, that’s so funny.

K        Now, when, when you, when, when you mean right there, it's four to five six-hour drive.

D        Yeah. Well, you know how it is here. Like, we'll think that something that's five hours away is, pretty close, whereas if you're in Europe, five-hour drive, it's like, "Psh, that's not happening.

K        Passed through three countries.

D        Exactly, yeah. but anyway, so I think you and I pretty much visited the same states, except I’ve not been to Ohio. I've driven through Ohio. I don't think that counts. 

K        I've been to couple cities in Ohio. And that was one of the first states I visited when I first came to the United States for the summer camp, the cultural exchange.

D        Okay. Well, I'll let you tell us a little bit about Ohio then, since I don't have a whole lot 

K        I don't think Ohio, like, the culture or things I've experienced there are much different from Indiana or Illinois or Missouri. I feel like especially these states that are kind of around, I feel like there's a lot of similarities. And, you know, when some of them, when you think about, landscape, right? It's kind of flat for the most part, right? There's not much... I mean, there's some hills. Depends on which part of the state you go. But there's no mountains or, you know, stuff like that. But one thing about Midwest is they do have beautiful lakes. 

D        Yes 

K        I feel like that's just one of the very, I wouldn't say unique, but it is kinda unique, right? They have gorgeous lakes. And, when you think a lot of people on coasts, either west or east, they always talk about the oceans and going to the water there. But for Midwestern people, lakes is their vacation spots, right? 'Cause people like to go, and there are some beaches around those lakes, so you could go and swim or just relax and, 

D        But it's a bit of a different vibe I say the coastal beaches 

K        Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. But the problem with that too is that the weather. 

D        Yeah 

K        So that's...

D        That’s where it goes wrong.

K        Yes, so another thing about Midwest is, the weather, and you experience all seasons, all types of weather. I think the only type of weather you don't  experience in Midwest is a hurricane.

D        Yeah, that’s true.

K        That would be the only thing. But it gets hot and humid. It gets really cold in winter. You can have a lot of snow. You could have a dry winter with barely any snow, and then the next day you could have tons of snow just, dumped overnight. You could have, bad storms, like rainstorms, thunderstorms, windy. A lot of the times Midwest is known for being really windy here. In fact, Chicago, right, another name for Chicago is [the] Windy City.

D        Yeah,

K        'cause it's always windy. And one of the worst things about the weather in Midwest is tornadoes.

D        Yeah, there’s a lot of that.

K        And that's usually, where it happens, in Midwestern region and all across those states. So yeah, it's... That's no fun. But the funny thing about Midwest and the weather, since I kinda went into that area, because there, there's always it's hot or it's cold, and so usually when you go from winter into spring and it starts warming up, I mean, if it is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, you will see tons of people wearing shorts and T-shirts.

D        Yeah, you will.

K        Or the, the one that I just can't understand still, they will be wearing shorts and sweatshirts.

D        Yeah, that's common.

K        I still can't understand that. How are you hot down there but cold up here? It's just, I don't know.

D        Well, I can kind of understand in a way because if my arms are cold, then my whole body is cold. But if my upper body is warm, I can handle like my lower body being more cold. But if my back is cold, oh, that's awful.

K        If my feet or legs are cold, don't talk to me. Like, no.

D        Oh my goodness.

K        But I just always thought it was strange see wearing shorts and sweatshirts.

D        Well, it is strange. But yeah, I mean, actually you see that kind of thing here too. I'm in Alabama and, you know, it doesn't get very cold here very often, but the times that it does, you'll definitely see people doing the same thing, walking around in shorts. It's like, What…What is wrong with you?

K        I know, it's strange. Well, and the thing is that sometimes, like in winters, it gets so cold in here that they will close down schools, right?

D        Yeah.

K        You know, kids standing, waiting for the school bus, it is not safe for them. But I remember a couple winters, it was so cold that, you know, we had to let our dog out, go outside, right, do her thing. I had to put socks on the dog.

D        Oh cute! Oh my goodness.

K        Her feet would get frozen there.

D       Sweet.

K       Oh, she did not think it was sweet at all. 

D        Oh, I bet. Probably was walking funny, like they do the thing with their legs kind of flopping around.

K        Yeah. 

D        That's adorable

K        And, you know, just so our listeners know, one of the reasons why you moved to Alabama is so you could run away from this weather.

D        Oh, yeah. I was trying to do that for a long time.  Oh, we’ve got to sell the Midwest a little better. We've talked about how cold it is.

K        Oh, Yeah. No, no, it gets really nice. You know what? Spring and fall, absolutely beautiful. Just absolutely beautiful weather here. It gets kinda warm, but it's still crispy in the morning, and the fresh air, and it's just great. So yes, Midwest is great in spring and fall. Summer and winter, find other places to go to, but spring fall is great.

D        Yeah. And fall is great in the Midwest too because of the colors for sure, although we'll talk more about probably when we get to Northeast because they've really got the fall colors. But, you know, the leaves are beautiful, and then there's a lot of things like pumpkin patches where people will go and then they'll have like little, activities and hayrides and cool stuff like that, and that isn't a thing everywhere.

K        Right, and that's one of the things about Midwest. It's... I feel like it's kind of famous for that, like the fall activities, and I noticed that it became a tradition in my family and with my friends here, that every fall we will go to pumpkin patch or apple orchard. That's another thing. People in the Midwest just love going picking apples off the tree, and, you know, growing up we had to do that, but that was like a job, right? You have to go pick apples from your trees and your... or your yard.

D        And here, people are like, "Ooh, this is fun!"

K        And I was like, Geez, who would love this? But, you know, here you go and do that for fun because you don't have to stand there and, try to pick bushels and bags and these huge buckets of apples. Here you go and you pick a little bucket or a little bag and, you know, it's all cute, and then there's

D        Then you go have some hot apple cider, and then you walk around.

K       Oh yes…apple fritter and an apple donut and pumpkin donut, and all these things. So yes, it is cute, it's lovely, and it's just fun for kids and adults and all that. But you know, I kind of have a funny story about it. I'm used to…you know, growing up I always had fresh fruit off the tree and I remember when I got married, with my husband we started going to these apple orchards and picking apples, and he kept saying like, "These apples just taste so good." And I'm thinking like, well, yeah, I mean, they taste better than store-bought apples 'cause they're right off the tree, the fresh apple. There's nothing like it. And he goes, "I've never had a fresh off the tree apple in my life we started doing this." And I'm like, "I barely ever had store-bought apple in my life until I moved here." And I felt so bad for him.

D         Yeah, it is kind of sad because nothing like fresh apple, oh my goodness.

K        Oh, it's wonderful. So yeah, that's kind of a big thing in the fall here, and, there's that whole, sweater weather.

D        Oh yeah, sweater weather.

K        Gotta have sweater weather, right? Everybody loves their oversized sweatshirts or chunky sweaters with a

D       And drink a latte…

K       hot apple cider or a pumpkin spice latte, which I…Nope. No, thank you.

D        No 

K        Pumpkin is good, on the porch with a candle on the inside and cut out stuff, but no pumpkin spice latte for me. But yeah, it's a huge thing here too, with the pumpkin spice lattes and apple ciders and all that in the fall. It's kind of fun so, yeah 

D        So of course in Illinois we've got Chicago. It's a big city, of course, part of the Midwest. But, there's certainly a whole lot of other stuff in Illinois besides the city, and lots of corn and fields and, you know, you can drive... How long does it take to drive from top to bottom of Illinois? Like eight hours or something like that?

K        I would say at least eight hours because, I live pretty much right in the middle. I live in what they call Central Illinois. So it's about two, two and a half hours to Chicago, and it's about four to five hours going to the Shawnee Forest area [located at the southern tip of Illinois]. And here's another thing about Midwest, and it's kind of across all the states. Besides beautiful lakes, even though there's no mountains or big hills, there are beautiful forests and parks here, like state parks, hiking, all sorts of trails. Just the nature is really beautiful here.

D        Yeah that's for sure.

K        Yes. Yeah. If you ever want to, get... I always like to do that. If you want to get a little wooden cabin in the middle of the woods, you know, the Midwest is a really good place for it because you can always find some sort of a wooded area in the middle of the park or somewhere by the lake and then kinda have a little getaway.

D        Yeah, nice and cozy and get, make a fire – a campfire, and all stuff like that. Yeah. Fall.

K        Fall. Yep, again fall, Come here in the fall.

D        Right. Okay. So, that's just kind of a brief overview of, the area in general, but of course it's a huge area, so you're going to have a lot of different things. But, there are some stereotypes about the Midwest.

K        Mm-hmm

D        And most of them are pretty good, I guess. there's something called Midwest Nice. It's specifically, I think, more so often directed towards Minnesota - Minnesota Nice, but in general, Midwest Nice is a thing, that people are just kind of down-to-earth and friendly and warm. But of course, all of this is relative, you know? I mean, you're not going to get the same friendly reception in a big city like Chicago as you are, in the farming areas. 

K        and you know, the funny thing is, Minnesota is known for the Midwest nice, but also the more south you go in the Midwest, the nicer and friendlier and more talkative people become. 

D        Yeah, that's true. I'm sorry, I got distracted. My cat is walking on my desk, and her tail keeps hitting my microphone, so sorry about any extraneous noise – sorry about that.

K        But she's cute.

D        She is, she's always gotta be in the mix. 

K        Yes.

D        Okay, so what else? Oh, so besides the Midwest Nice, there's another thing, and I was looking this up, and I'd kinda forgotten about this 'cause I don't know that I do this. I don't think this is my style. But have you heard of something called the Midwest Goodbye?

K        Oh, Yes

D        And I've definitely seen people do this, but I feel like it's, older people somehow. I don't know. and the idea is you go to visit someone, you're at their house, and you're trying to leave, and you've been talking for a while, and so you kinda, hit your thigh and you're like, "Ope, well, mm, gotta go." You know? And then you get to talking about something else, and then they're like, "Oh yeah, and one more thing," and then you end up talking for another half an hour. And then you kinda make your way to the door, and then you start talking some more. And then you get outside, and then you're by the car, and then you get in the car, and don't roll down the window because the conversation will keep going.

K        You know, and it's funny because this Midwest goodbye reminded me very much about, the Ukrainian goodbyes.

D        Oh, yeah

K        Very similar. And sometimes it still involves drinking too, you like have a drink for the road and drink for, you… 

D        Drink for the road? That doesn't sound like a good idea.

K        Well, you know, usually not, but people walk most of the time everywhere, so it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it could be. But it's always, yes, it is like that. it's like, "Oh, well I gotta go," and then you start talking about something else, and then kinda move into the hallway, and then something else comes up, and then you already have your shoes and a coat on by the door, and then something else comes up when you start talking,

D        Or, someone else comes in and then now you gotta talk to them and oh my gosh.

K        And then you talk outside, like on the porch or steps, and then you still talk about... So it's, yes. Yeah.

D        So basically, plan to leave about two hours before you actually need to leave.

K        Yeah. Yep, yep. Well, and you know, another thing depending on the part of the Midwest, it's more of a slower pace, because if you are in a big city, especially Chicago or like even mid-size cities, yes, it's kinda faster, everything. People are kind of on a mission, gotta go here, gotta go there. But as you're going into more like rural areas, right, it's a lot slower.  People take their time. People do have that time to sit down and talk and then have the Midwestern goodbye and all these things. So it is nice. Sometimes you do need to slow down.

D        Definitely.

K        But sometimes if you're used to living in the city and then people are just so slow, it can get on your nerves a little bit.

D        Yeah, I suppose so. Okay, so we talked a little bit about Illinois. Let's see. I just want to hit on a couple of these other places. So Michigan, the place that you said you have not been, now that's a pretty interesting state, because it is surrounded by lakes. So basically, if you look at a map of the United States, you can literally see Michigan because the outline is formed by the lakes. And it's actually in two parts, two peninsulas. So... And I've had the, experience, shall we say, of living in both parts of Michigan. 

K        Really? 

D        One of the things that people do, when people are from Michigan and they want to tell you, where they're from in Michigan, because of the shape, it's kind of like a hand sort of thing [actually, a mitten, not a hand]. So we'll do this thing where they'll hold up their palm, and they'll be like, "Oh, yeah," and they'll point to where you know, on their hand that they live in Michigan. That's... Yeah, right? You've seen people do that. Yeah, it's kind of funny. Now, of course, if you live in Upper Michigan, it's another thing, then you gotta put the other hand up there and then, point. Yeah, it gets really complicated. But yeah, it's a lot of lakes. Yeah, much slower kind of areas there, too. Wisconsin, I want to talk Wisconsin a little bit. that's the place of the cheese. The cheese and the beer.

K        Yes, cheese and beer. And one of the things about Midwest, if you haven't tried cheese curds,

D        Mm.

K        then you have not experienced Midwest. 

D        Yes. So if you're going to… yeah, but especially Wisconsin. I mean, it's crazy how good the cheese is there.  I mean, people rave about pizza in Chicago, and it's like, yeah, it's pretty good, yeah, for sure. But I remember being in Wisconsin, I'm not even that far deep into Wisconsin, and going to a restaurant, ordering a pizza, and it was so delicious, and we all decided it's because of the cheese. There was something about that cheese that was just amazing. And we had nachos and just, it was so good. Cheese is first class.

K        Cheese is really good. So a couple summers ago we went there camping with our friends, and we went into Wisconsin and Iowa. It was, on the border, but we went into both states. And, it was in the fall, so we hit some apple orchards. Apples there are delicious, by the way. So good. But we had to try cheese, obviously.

D        Obviously.

K        And they have these cheese curd trucks there.

D        No.

K        They make fresh cheese curds, like beer-battered cheese curds in that truck, and you just buy them still steaming hot. Well, one of those trucks allowed…it was, my son and then our friend's kids. They allowed them to go into their kitchen area there where they were frying things so they could watch them, dip the cheese curds into the batter and then fry them.

D        Okay 

K        Well, the next week after that, my son was telling everybody at school that he was eating cheese with alcohol.

D        Oh good.

K        Like, no, it was a beer batter. They put beer into the batter and then it cooks down and then there's no alcohol really, but so, 

D        All of a a sudden you get a call.

K       Oh my gosh. But yes, I agree. For some reason, Wisconsin cheese is so delicious. So good.

D        Yeah, very nice. I mean, okay, so people listening, from France or something, okay, yeah, just cut us some slack. This this is what we've got, okay?

K        Yes, this is American kind of cheese that's really good.

D        It is, yeah, not the same

K        but since we're on the food part here, let's talk about pizza.

D        Okay

K        So pizza is a big part of Midwest, even though pizza is not Midwest, we all know where pizza came from. Hello, friends from Italy. But, there is a thing about pizza in Midwest, right? Because there's famous notion about Chicago-style pizza, right?

D        Right

K        So there's always been this kind of rivalry, or I don't know, I would call it rivalry, right, between New York and Chicago, and it's about pizza. And New York pizza is usually a thin crust, right? It's a little kind of more…foldable piece.

D        Oh yeah, you’re supposed to fold it and eat it like that. Yep, Mm-hmm

K        Chicago pizza is a deep dish pizza, so the crust is really thick. It's almost like a bready crust, right? And then it has tons of, tons of filling there, like the sauce, the cheese. It's like a whole... Like, you can't usually eat it with your hands. You have to have a fork and knife for a lot of the times.

D        Yeah, and I think a fork and knife in New York will get you thrown into jail.

K        Probably. Yeah. Yeah. But then there's also Detroit-style pizza

D        I was just going to say that. That's pretty good too

K        Yeah. Yes. And it's also like a deep dish pizza almost, but it's square usually, not round. And it's a little different too. So there's that. However, our good people of Midwest usually do not discriminate against pizza. They'll eat whatever pizza you give.

D        You're not kidding. Yep.

K        They just love pizza here.

D        Oh yeah, for sure. And you know, I'm not really married to any particular type of pizza. I mean, good pizza is good pizza. What do I care? 

K        Yeah. I know. So, and it's nice to try different types of pizzas and all that.

D        Absolutely. But yeah, some people have really strong feelings about their pizza.

K        Ah, no. Nah.

D        But me, good is good. Oh, of course, we're coming up on time. Man, it goes so fast here. 

K        I know, here's so many good things to talk about.

D        So just a couple other quick things we can talk about. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes or something like that. So you talked about, there’s lots of lakes there. Beautiful, places to go for vacationing there. They've got a big city, Minneapolis. Never been there, but, it's supposed to be a really great city, too.

K        And they say it's very diverse, so there's a lot of cultures.

D        Yes. a lot of culture. I do love that. one of these days I'll go to Minneapolis, but it will not be in the winter, that is for sure, 'cause it gets cold. 

K        Ah geez.

D        Like Chicago. It's the same.

K        You and your fear of a little cold.

D        Yeah. No, no, no. I'll go in the summer. That'll be good.

K        Okay.

D        Missouri. Yeah, we got St. Louis there. I've been there once. I really don't know that much about it except, I mean, it was a pretty cool city, but it's a bit smaller. What else? Iowa is a lot of corn. 

K        Yeah. Yes, and it's pretty flat. As you drive through Iowa, there's just, flat surfaces.

D        We got a lot of that flat stuff going. Nebraska, Kansas. Kansas is also Midwest, and Kansas is famously flat.

K        Yes

D        and I think that's part of, they call, Tornado Alley or something that, where they have a lot of tornadoes.

K        Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, are kind of in that tornado path of the valley. 

D        In fact, if you, if you've ever heard or watched, The Wizard of Oz, that's Kansas. Very famous there.

K        So what about Dakotas though?

D        Yeah. I think that's all I've got left on the list here to talk about, which I can't tell you much about except that North Dakota is a very big state, but it's number 47 in population, so it's very sparsely populated. South Dakota is... Is it South Dakota now that I'm thinking about it? Yeah, South Dakota is Mount Rushmore, right?

K        Yes. So there are some mountains there.

D        Yeah. You gotta go all the way there to find a mountain, but Yeah.

K        Well, because when you think of it, as we're going more west, right, from Dakotas, that's when the mountainous regions start. So I think it's kind of like that little transition from flat Midwest into mountainous regions, and Dakota is right there, kinda half flat, half not. So, makes sense.

D        Exactly. So, yeah. You know, the other thing about Midwest that, I think it's pretty famous for, I just thought about right now, is college sports. And it's really big here too where I live, but Midwest has got those Big 10 schools and most of them are in the Midwest, and, people really, really are... They have strong feelings about their team, you know?

K        I mean…they’re obsessed with sports here.

D        Yeah. Okay. Obsessed is really the word.

K        Obsessed is right. It's just, you know, big things. Every time there's sport events, there's these big parties.

D        Yeah.

K        So

D        What else? Oh, you were going to tell me something about Ohio because I haven't been there. What can you tell me about Ohio?

K        You know, I didn't think that Ohio was, especially different from, let's say Indiana or Illinois or Missouri.

D        But did you go to, Cincinnati, or where did you go? 

K        Yes, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland. So Cincinnati is a really pretty city. It's actually, there was a lot of German settlements there, and you could kind of see that little kind of a German vibe to it.

K        So it's kind of flat, but then not because if you go a little south of Ohio, it goes into Kentucky and Kentucky is very hilly, right? It has a lot of hills. So there's that, but it's very pretty; the landscape is very pretty, the nature and all that. And so, yeah. And then there's a lake, there's a big Lake Erie there, so it's also a nice area.

D        Yeah, lots of lakes in the Midwest, tons of them. And, yeah, so, any other last thoughts? I mean, we could probably talk all day about different places in the Midwest, but I don't think we need to do that. Oh, you know what I did want to say? This is a big thing. A very famous, highway, Route 66, starts in Chicago actually, and it's very famous, and you can still travel this, this route going all the way to California. And some people do this. If you, look online, there's all kinds of tour guide things about where you can go along this route, and it does start in Chicago, so it’s pretty cool.

K        Yeah, it goes straight through my town here.

D        It sure does.

K        Yeah.

yeah, and there's a lot of road marks they're celebrating... Oh gosh, I should know this, but there is some sort of an anniversary of Route 66 when it was started, like a big celebration this year along the route. But yeah, it is kinda neat.

D        All right. Well, that's cool. Darn it. Time just keeps getting away from us. One last thing I do want to say is about some Midwest vocabulary.

K        Oh yeah.

D        Okay, since we're talk- you know, language, we gotta talk about this 

K       Yes, absolutely.

D        Okay, so this is a very Midwest thing. If you call the thing that you drink the soda, you know, like a Coke or a cola or something like that, if you hear someone call it “pop”, they are in the Midwest, 100%, because nobody else says this.

K        Yes, they call it pop here. The other thing is, casseroles. it's really popular here. But even though in a lot of parts of Midwest they will call it casserole, but if you go to Minnesota, they call it “hotdish”.

D        Hotdish, yep.

K        That was interesting.

D        Yeah. So okay. Well, I think that's all we've got today about that. We'll have to explore another region some other time, but this was fun as always.

K        Absolutely

D        So until next time, here's to good coffee, good vibes, and great conversations.

K        Cheers

D        Cheers