I used to chat online with a dude from England a lot, and he thought it was strange that we never open our windows or doors without a screen. I explained to him it was to keep the bugs out, and he didn't seem too concerned about bugs finding their way in his house. If you left your window open and light on over night around here, you would wake up to so many bugs flying around your house it would be ridiculous. I'm guessing the bug population in England ain't got nothin on us.

Iowa boy here, and I usually have to laugh when I explain to my UK friends the temperatures here in the Midwest. Yes, it gets super cold in the winter, often severely subzero, but at the same time, it becomes freaking boiling in the summer. They can't quite comprehend how a place can veer between such temperature extremes.

The first person to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change” was Mark Twain. He was talking about the weather in Connecticut.

“Ope”. I grew up in Pennsylvania and Colorado, and never encountered the word until moving to central Illinois. Now I find that I can express nearly any emotion, and communicate very complex ideas, with just that one magical word.

I came to America from Sweden 35 years ago. My parents came through Camp America, an organization that brings people from other cultures to work at American summer camps. They brought me and my sister with them and we ended up staying. I was 15 years old. But the funny thing I was reminded of here was that we were able to pick out the Brit’s by the amount of calamine lotion they were wearing. 😁 This was back when the only kind available was the pink kind. They got absolutely demolished by the mosquitoes.

I grew up in Ohio, Mom was British. Dad Slovak, but I digress. Growing up I found what we call pants, Mom called trousers. But my smallies underneath... Those are pants. It's a different dialect. Have you gone into a store and asked for an ice lolly? At least I was a kid. I went out into the world (kindergarten) knowing British English, and Slovak. It was hard sometimes when words were different. "Leah, can I borrow your rubber?" Got a weird look for that one. "So, what time shall I knock you up?" Another weird look.

The storms that truly terrified me as a teenager were summer thunderstorms. I was a farm kid in the hills of Pennsylvania so it was hard to see the storms approach and impossible to hear over the tractor. Being in the middle of a field atop several tons of conductive metal is not where you want to be when such a storm comes up. We had a tractor struck once but nobody was seriously injured.

My first 12 years of life were in Chicago and the burbs around it. One of the insects I miss, Lightning Bugs. One spring I was in Danville at my aunt's house. During a rainstorm I stepped outside in back yard and stuck my hand out, it was raining so hard I couldn't see my hand through the rain, that same storm lightning struck a tree in her front yard about 30 ft. from where we were sitting.

I was just talking about this today. My house is 8 miles from the nearest gas station, 10 miles from the nearest grocery store, 30 from my kids school, and 45 from where I work. The only busses in northern Indiana are school busses that stop at every house (so about 2-3 times per mile) and are impossible to pass.

Growing up in Pa. next to a river I can tell you a lot of stories about gnat's. We always had the really small ones. They would dive-bomb your eyes, fly up your nose or fly straight into your ear. Try catching a baseball as one go's into your eye, another crawls up your nose as another one is buzzing in your ear. Yep, the ball smacked me right in the face.

Our family went to Cheddar (the English town) and had some of their lovely cheese. And then we went to the Cheddar Cave near the town and saw Cheddar Gorge-spectacular! Met a nice lady there who wanted to go to US for two reasons--to get American donuts (she didn't think English ones were as good as ours) and to go to Memphis, Tenn. to see Graceland as she was a huge Elvis fan. I thought they were interesting reasons to visit a country.

I’m from Wisconsin, I spent a semester in England in 2008 and the most notable difference for me was how green everything was even though it was fall, the way tax doesn’t get added on to the tab at checkout, elevators/the way the levels are numbered annnd living in a building older than my country. The trip was a bit disappointing in that I was with an American group and we didn’t really get to interact with the country, we just toured factories and castles. So I didn’t have exposure to the actual culture and language much.

Be careful. If you ever find yourself in Alaska, there are horrible biting gnat-sized flies called blackflies. They are very small, and quite horrible. In Florida, they have "No See Ums" which are also known as biting gnats. Yes, they're tiny to the point of invisibility, and yes, they will bite the ever loving crap out of you. Enjoy your benign gnats whilst you may.

As a native Texan we moved to Belgium for several years.... the culture shock is REAL! (but Belgium is truly wonderful)

Born and live in the Enchanted Mitten (Michigan). When I went to London, I was absolutely SHOCKED by how easy public transportation was. If I wanted to go east, cross the street and pick the right bus - one of them goes where you want. If you want to go anywhere west, the stop on your side will have a bus to take you there. D.C. has a fine Metro/circulator system, but nothing like London.

Thunderstorms in Northern, Minnesota. It was raining so hard I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of the car, so I had to pull over. Lightning striking all around me, bolt after bolt after bolt. What to do? Curl up in the middle of the front seat. (The car is a very good Faraday cage.) Sit back and watch the show, nothing else possible. After about 10 minutes, it all passed, and I could continue driving. Very memorable experience, and that was about 1958.

Geographically, I’ve never understood the term, until now, and I’m so excited to see the Midwest myself soon 😃

Only real strange storm I ever saw was when I lived in Hoffman Estates (suburb of Chicago) and it was a nice sunny day, around 70+ F. Looking out my window I see what I can only describe as a tornado rolling on its side towards me. As it swirled past, the temperature plummeted to below freezing and it started snowing.

You'll know your a true Midwesterner when it doesn't even phase you when you swallow a gnat or are bothered by someone grabbing at invisible things in the air (we always think we can catch 'em).

When I was in Junior High (long, long ago), I moved from Houston, Texas to a tiny farm town in western Kansas with a population of about 120. The Houstonian kids insisted that Kansans don't drive cars and, instead, ride goats everywhere. Not horses. Not donkeys. Goats. Why? No clue, but they all seemed convinced Kansas only ride goats for transportation. I have now lived in Kansas for most of the last 3 decades, and I don't think I've ever even SEEN a goat here... but I've seen lots of cars. XD

Depending how old your mother-in-law is ... the reason she may refer to a vacuum as a SWEEPER is there was/is a contraption called a ...CARPET SWEEPER is a mechanical device for the cleaning of carpets. They were popular before the introduction of the vacuum cleaner It's a non-motorized hand held push sweeper with rollers, you push back and forth to picks up dirt, deposits it in side containers on the inside, that you empty into trash In restaurants with carpets, they will call it a "HOKY"

🤣 you should see the mayfly invasion in Michigan! It's freaky but thankfully short-lived & not widespread.

I tried to use umbrellas many times in my life, but inevitably they get shredded by the 60 mph+ winds we get here. Plus an umbrella doesn't keep you dry when the rain is horizontal.

I love a Midwestern deluge!

Whenever an awkward "corridor dance" happens to me, I usually pick a side of the passage and grin at the other person saying, "Shall we dance?" This usually lightens the awkwardness and I get a smile in return.

May I suggest you visit southern Florida between June-September for the true definition of A. downpour B. Suns-shower C. gnats we have our own special type referred to as no-seeum's (a truly vicious type of flying beastie that's mainly just wings & teeth).

I used to love the midwest thunderstorms, where the clouds are so think and black, it looks like midnight at high noon.

Ever had to deal with "no-see-ums"? Bugs so tiny that bite so hard. Being surrounded by a cloud of them is hell. When I was stationed in San Antonio, TX an overpass I went under every day to work would have rain on one side, and dry pavement on the other. Hard on you brain at 0 dark 30..

Culture shock is a thing. When my father retired it was the first time I attended a non Dept. of Defense school. It was bad. I'd been to the Far East, Europe, Philippines. Everywhere. My classmates hadn't moved their entire lives. Things straightened out when I joined the Army and went back to Europe.

Born and raised in small town Minnesota, now living in Minneapolis. Pretty accurate!

I grew up in a Californian city of 50,000 people. There were two bus lines in the city. They each ran once an hour, these times set 30 minutes apart from one another, and they were two miles apart. This meant if you missed the bus, you either stood (no benches or covering) for an hour on a major boulevard inhaling the smog, or you had 30 minutes to race two miles to catch the next bus. So if I was trying to get to my college in the next city over and missed the bus (or the driver simply didn't bother to stop, which happened at least once a week) I would have to RUN to the next bus line, and if I was fast I might make the other bus. If I missed that one too because I just couldn't run two miles in 30 minutes carrying a backpack with 7 thick college books, then I was screwed, because that was running DOWNHILL. The trip back to the first bus would be UPHILL, and if you couldn't make it two miles in 30 minutes running downhill driven by adrenaline, then you simply weren't going to make it back an additional two miles, now winded, lungs burning with the smoggy air, shoulders aching from lugging around a 40-pound backpack. Only twice did I miss the 2nd bus, and one of those was because that bus driver ALSO just refused to stop, despite there being 3 other people waiting and the bus wasn't even half filled. So I had no choice but to stand there for an hour with three pissed off passengers. When the next bus came and was obviously NOT slowing down, one brave idiot leaped out into the street and waved his arms, forcing the bus to slam on his brakes. Like hell were we going to wait ANOTHER hour. As that brave idiot put it, "My boss will accept the excuse that I got hit by a bus, but not the excuse that I missed TWO buses in a row."

I don’t live there, but as a southerner, I find regional dialects very interesting!

As an Ohioan, I understand all of it! We have a saying, "that if you don't like the weather, just wait 4 minutes and it'll change." 😆. My town has a bus... But it's actually a large taxi bus you have to call for.

When my firm moved to downtown Houston, from a suburban location, they offered employees a choice of a parking space in a garage, 1/4 mile from the building or a fully funded bus pass. I took the pass. It was a five minute drive to the bus depot, non-stop bus, a one block walk from stop to work. New, clean and comfortable buses. When I told people that I took the bus, many, many people would react as if there was something dangerous or funky about doing that. Since Houston is so spread out, you would think mass transportation would be more comprehensive, but it just is something that doesn’t derive from common sense.

I'm from the Midwest. I would call a sudden, intense, short-lived rain shower a downpour.

A sunshower is when it rains while the sun is still out, sometimes when there isn't even a cloud in the sky. It's not an interruption of sunny weather by a brief rain.

If doing that zig-zag to get out of someone's way, I usually ask, "Can I have this dance?" That sometimes get a smile.

My mother is from rural MO. I remember my first day of my first visit. 100 F and 100% humidity. You could see the water droplets in the air. And lake swimming . . . the water was *warm*! that, was a novel concept. I once mentioned chiggers to my mother . . . . that triggered a memory for her, as she shuddered . . .

The sounds and views of rainstorms, even thunderstorms are my lullabies. While lightning striking a couple houses over is a bit less peaceful, a torrential rain and some good thunder in the distance is pure peace. As a kid, I slept on the top bunk, and I would listen to the rain on the roof as I went to sleep. (From Dayton, OH)

The only thing about the rain I don't like is it puts me to sleep. Wonderful at night, but less so at noon when I'm trying to NOT sleep. It didn't used to, but once I hit 30 or so, it's like a switch flipped and now a rainy or just overcast day saps the energy right out of me.

"MOVE" is what my Mom would yell at me when I purposely walked very slowly down the hall, blocking her path. Sweet memories.

Culture shock is definitely a thing... be it moving to or moving away from the Midwest. I grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Connecticut when I was almost 13. It nearly broke me. I was mocked for my language... I felt like no one was nice at all, ever... and that doesn't even touch on the fact that I went from a very white town to a very diverse city and had to learn so many more cultural norms for engaging with individuals and groups. Ultimately though, I'm grateful because now my accent is very ambiguous, almost like a received American accent if we're making a British comparison and I can fairly seamlessly transition to most locals between the upper Midwest and the midatlantic and northward on the east coast considering I now live in PA.

I have been through the Midwest many times. On my way from here to there and vice versa. I have been to/in Ohio many times, as it is right next door. In fact, I live about 20 miles from the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.

After living in coastal California for just about my entire life, I moved to Japan 7 years ago. I made many fascinating discoveries, among which was the fact that Japan has a highly variable climate with more than 4 seasons. The weather is in an almost constant state of flux, moving from one season into another in unceasing progression. Not only that, but Japanese people make a sharp distinction between indoor clothes (AKA “room wear”) and outdoor clothes. The former are loose-fitting comfortable garments for lying around on the floor while you read, watch TV, or whatever. When you go out, you change into outdoor clothes, and then back into indoor clothes when you return. Combine this with the ever-shifting weather and it’s easy to see why I now own roughly 11 times the clothing I had ever before had when living in the world’s most temperate climate. The Japanese invented the layering concept, and I realized that it was a necessity for dealing with their climate.

Oh, you said "bus," I thought you were waiting for your boss.

I laughed when it got to the baggy clothes part. It’s like 73 degrees here in Michigan today and I’m wearing shorts, a band t shirt and then a baggy oversized flannel looking straight out of the 90s

I am from Indiana, but I experienced culture shock when I moved to Florida. The ants and gnats here are not so tranquil as the Midwestern ones. They both bite. The gnats, or some call "noseeums" are incredibly tiny, you don't see them until after they have made a snack of you.

Lol! I'm a native of Maryland (Washington DC area) and moved to Ohio 10 years ago. I was SO confused by the term "sweeper"! I took a job as a home health aide for a couple of years. The seniors I helped would say, "Run the sweeper" or "Sweep the carpet." I thought, "You want me to use a broom on the carpet?!" Hahaha! Also here in the Midwest they call a lollipop a sucker. That threw me for a loop too! 🤣

I live in the Midwest, north central Ohio to be exact…about an hour south of Lake Erie. Love the people and vibe of the Midwest. I used to travel all over the country when I was working ( retired now) and each region has its charm, but home is definitely the Midwest. Since it got up to 80 here today the June bugs came out…they are a really annoying. They come out at night and are attracted to light.

As for insects, the trick with gnats that all Midwestern children learn, is to raise one hand above your head, and they will flock to the hand and not your face. Also, beware of dive-bombing June bugs. And I still hear the term "sweeper" used in Kansas, but there it's not the vacuum cleaner but a non-powered floor cleaner with rollers and a long handle. Not the best description, so Google it for a picture.

As a kid, I told my mom that the gnats we're biting me and she didn't believe me. When I came in the house for dinner I had blood running down my face and then she believed me. I ended up with a scab that covered my forehead and sideburns area in one piece. Nasty little creatures.

Born here in Michigan, and lived here all my life. One thing you could comment on is the big city, small town dynamic. I was born in Detroit (actually one of it's suburbs) then moved to a smaller city on the other side of the state for forty five years. My wife, a resident, once introduced me to her coworkers, telling them that I was from Detroit. I had lived here more than half my life at the time. Not only had I lived here longer than any place else, I had lived here longer than EVERY place else. And I was still from Detroit.

I think "sweeper" has been mainly relegated to "older person" use. It's the term my parents used, but I can't recall hearing it in years. Mind you, we also sat on a "davenport" when I was growing up, and I never heard that term used by anyone but my parents.

Wait for the mayflies to swarm... A mid-west tradition! (Don't gasp or you'll get a mouth full)

Just like we think it is weird for southerners to call all fizzy drinks coke, it's weird for you to call all vacuum cleaners hoovers since that is a specific brand of vacuum cleaner here in the USofA.

I live in Missouri. A few days ago my mom wanted me to vacuum the stairs and she said "will you please sweep the stairs?" And I was like "MOM.. IT'S WILL YOU VAUUM THE STAIRS" and then we had a whole conversation about how her and her brother said "sweep" and "sweeper" but nobody else says it lol😂

I've lived in Eastern Iowa my whole life. I love the way you describe the midwest. It's so true. Thanks for the laughs.

We adopted from Bulgaria, about half the people we met that spoke (pretty good) English (probably because of British tourism, all the English menus had the Union Jack on them) and heard we were from America said, “Oh, I’ve been to Wisconsin.” What is it about Wisconsin that attracts Bulgarians? I have no idea, I’m from here (NY) and I’ve never been there.

If the gnats and mosquitos are getting you down, Laurence, move to the Southwest. No flying bugs to speak of there, but the scorpions may prove bothersome.

I now live in Texas, but I lived in Ohio until 2013. I recognize most of the things you talk about. When I don’t give a care, my mom would call it not giving a pididdle. Have you gone to any farm machinery shows yet? There is a nice one in Georgetown, Ohio. The old timers say if it rains while the sun is shining, it will rain the same time the following day.

I lived in Edmonton, Alberta for several years. I was told by natives that Edmonton had the worst bus/train system in the country. I told them they should compare it to the system of a comparably sized city in the States, like KC where I had come from. Edmonton may have a bad system in Canadian terms, but it's so much better than American systems it's not even funny!

What? You haven't experienced blackflies yet!? You want to know about swelling... Right now, across the Lake here in MI, we're having the usual tiny blackfly infestation (we call those gnats) that leave welts, then, in a couple of weeks (or the next warm-up, whichever comes first) the larger version comes out - now we're talking about whole areas of the body swelling!

You mention the term "snowbird" and said that is someone who moves from the colder areas to the sunny south. That is only partially true, being born and raised in South East Florida (Miami/Fort Lauderdale) I should know... The term "snowbird" referrers to people who live down here during the "season" , generally owning a condominium that they live in part-time during the winter months (roughly Thanksgiving through Easter) and return home for the remainder of the year. It is never used to describe someone who has moved down here full time.

Another wonderful video! Thanks Lawrence!

1) It's not explicit government policy, but in the U.S. it is presumed that only poor people do not own a car, and poor people are never at the top of a list of government spending priorities. Only our largest cities have anywhere near a sufficient amount of public transportation. The lack of it is most onerous in rural areas, where commuting distances are greatest and wages the lowest. People find themselves in situations where they cannot afford to change jobs because they either do not own a car or cannot afford the expense of commuting to a far more distant one. 2) At 7:15, when you were describing two people walking towards each other in a narrow hallway, I was expecting you to talk about which side of the hallway they are walking along. In the U.S. most people instinctively walk on the right side, the same as we drive. In the UK, do people walk on the left?

Hey Laurence, I read recently that Chicago is expected to get a larger than normal influx of gnats this year. My fashion culture shock when I went to Britain and Italy is that EVERYBODY wears some sort of scarf, no matter what the weather. Why?

I’m a born and bred Wisconsinite. The cheese thing is definitely a real thing. Also, I grew up in small town on west side, we said “pop”, but when I moved to Eau Claire (bigger city) they said “soda”.

I live about 2 hours north of you up in Wisconsin. The cheese part is highly accurate, as it's basically a sin if you don't have any cheese in your household. Most people have 1-2 sections of the refrigerator dedicated to just cheese. I've also lived here so long, that I don't even realize that I say ope. If you haven't checked him out, I highly recommend checking out Charlie Berens. He's a comedian from Wisconsin who makes fun of all the Wisconsin/Midwestern sayings and actions.

I grew up in St Louis. You need to try gooey butter cake, toasted ravioli and emo's Pizza!

I am born and raised in Ohio, specifically northeast. We live about 500 ft from Lake Erie. Every year we get muffleheads and mayflies from the lake. As you come walk out of the house, keep your mouth closed because as you walk by the house they fly off, then return to the side of the house with in seconds. Then at night you hear a low buzz above your head as they all go up in the sky to mate, all of them. The muffleheads and mayflies don't last long.

Ooh, Laurence, I just heard that you and Shaun are meeting up soon! Have been following both of your channels for a while now and love both. Can't wait!

Lived in Lake County Illinois for 12 years, there was a bus that went to the local city college and that was it. Seemed useless. I lived a block away from a Metra station so I could at least get to Union Station downtown to catch Amtrak and get out of the state.

Aw man, i moved to Texas from Iowa last year and i miss the intense rainstorms so much. My favorite part of summertime was drifting off to sleep as the thunderstorms rattled away

The town I live in has a pretty comprihensive bus system for a yankee city. Some of the routes are even free to ride. However 10-15 minute service only applies to the major routes. the little feeder lines are once every half hour during the school year, and once per hour during summer. Now that I have an Ebike, I don't bother, since if there's any traffic at all, I'll get there fastar then I would have on the bus anyway.

Lawrence...you made me laugh out loud!! Thanks for the great video!

Love your delivery

Hey Laurence, i live at the edge of town next to a cornfield so i get my share of bugs. A fly strip will take care of those annoying gnats. Admit it, you love the freedoms of America such as dressing like a slob and never knowing what the weather will bring - hopefully not tornadoes. That alone deserves a "USA! USA! USA!" ☺

Given the...body morphology of many Americans (guilty), it may be for the best that we don't wear as form-fitting of clothes. 😂

if i recall correctly, sunshowers are when the sun is still shining when it rains, not sudden storms. we've always referred to what you're describing as just a summer thunderstorm. i grew up in the midatlantic in a family of midwesterners. i didn't know "sweeper" was regional until very, very recently.

Liked trip down memory lane. Midwest was a fabulous place to growup....I miss it badly. Keep up the informative vids. Love, 2 Cavies in Sarasota

I grew up in Miami, but when my parents divorced, my mother moved to the small town in Michigan where I spent each school break from 5th grade onward, and where I now live permanently. I had visited before, as we had family up here already, so I already knew about the whole pop vs. soda debate. But some other things surprised me, such as the civil defense siren systems, now mostly used for tornado watches and warnings. We didn't have those in South Florida, at least not by the time I came into this world. There's also the distinct pronunciation of "melk" as opposed to "milk," similar to the wash/warsh pronunciation. One of my mentors in the radio business also quickly noted that I fully pronounce the T in the word "county," whereas most everyone else around here says "cown-dee" or even just "cow-nee." And the mayflies... dear God, the mayflies!

Visited the Midwest from the West Coast and random rain is crazy to me. Felt the same in FL. I am used to a prediction on the news I can count on and generally, at least an hour of rain.

Well, they used to make these things that WERE just... sweepers. My grandparents had one, and I remember my church had one. It was like the bottom part of a vacuum cleaner with the rotating sweepers, and... that's it. You'd move it back and forth, the rotating sweepers would kick up any dirt up into a little compartment up above that you emptied. Good for small cleanups that you didn't want to break out the vacuum for. I don't think they make them anymore. I haven't seen one of those since the late 80s. But I also have really been looking.

Thanks for clearing something up for me, was born in chicago in 1945, never heard "ope" but after this I realized we say oops. Lived in Hermosa and Humboldt Park, now in New Mexico. Very interesting vids,keep up the good work!

Here in Oklahoma, at least in OKC, we tend to use some Midwestern terms and some Southern ones. Funnily enough, many people here call soft drinks "soda pop", kind of a combination of Western and Midwestern slang.

The Hoover thing is one of the examples of trademark genericization, much like kleenex is for tissues. The term sweeper came from one of the ways they were marketed, for making the sweeping easier as a mechanical broom...

I live a few miles from Cheeseville. Ironically there are no cheese factories there. It’s really just an intersection of a couple county roads with a building that used to be a small public school. There are some large dairy farms nearby, and you get plenty “dairy air”, if you know what I mean.

You're actually getting better at this. Even funnier.

I've lived in 7 states and visited many others. Though I had a Southern father (TN), I had a Northern mother (PA/OH). I've lived in both northern and southern states. I don't remember noticing big differences when I was a kid, but we moved to Mississippi from Nebraska when I was a teenager. It was a huge culture shock, because it was the first time I'd lived in a good sized Southern city. Nebraska is (according to some) Midwestern - though others will say it's Western. There is a lot of regional confusion in Nebraska. The bumper sticker slogan would have us believe that it's "Where the West Begins" but that's claimed by other places, too. As I watch your videos, I find it interesting that what you describe as "American" is mostly isolated to IN/IL - which is completely understandable, that's where you live. However, what you may not realize is that these videos also point out differences between the North and South, as well as West (adjacent). I now live on the east coast of Florida. As the crow flies, about a mile from the ocean. We're a mixing pot here - folks from all over the country have come to roost. I think you'd have a great time staying here for a while, exploring and discovering even more new and interesting differences. If you ever get a chance, head down to Florida and spend a month or two - become a snowbird and join us for the winter. Don't come in the summer - mosquitoes are terrible AND here - gnats bite.

when i was a kid, we used to hold one hand up when the gnats were out because we thought they were drawn to the tallest thing in the vicinity. idk if it actually made a difference, though. nasty things, gnats.

Hello, Lawrence! I'm from that grwat, cheese lovin' and producin' state, Wisconsin! Been enjoying your videos for a long time now. Keep up the great work, you're very entertaining.

I live in Indianapolis, IN and I love your videos. I have some very good friends that live in Liverpool that I usually visit every year and your comparisons between England and the Midwest are hilarious and very true.

I remember my 1st summer over here (just west of Boston), it was mid June or July, looked out the office window, sunny, looked out again a few minutes later, black clouds, then it hailed like I'd never seen before, then the sun came out again. Went to get lunch, in shorts / t-shirt, walking through 2" hail on the ground while hot air and sun scorched my English skin. I also remember seeing daily UPS deliveries (big push cart stacked with boxes, going from office to office) and later in the afternoon pick-up, this was such a strange sight.

Having lived in Spain and the island of Guam (as well as all over the USA)culture shock is definitely real! I’ve enjoyed it though, after some unusual experiences. Spain is my favorite place on earth and now that I understand their queuing system( ask who is la ultima de la linea, they may not even be in the building, watch that person and once they are served it’s your turn to go up to the counter) I would love to go back for a visit!

I live here! You make me laugh so hard, and you are so on point. Greetings from Fort Wayne!

Come to Michigan during the mayfly hatch. It’s like stepping into a brown flapping blizzard. The road gets so greasy with dead bugs that it’s like driving on ice.

I lived in Ohio a couple of years in corporate training and it was a different world compared to NM where I grew up and still live. Enjoy your videos.

Ah gnats... Haven't dealt with those personally in a while, but then, I rarely leave the house during their main time of year. Deer and horse flies on the other hand... There are gnats that bite, but they're not usually found in America. *squees* He talked about "ope!"

"Complementary umbrellas" 🤣 You are SO right!!!! You always lift my spirits! 🌻

I've always lived in the Midwest. Born in Indianapolis and my parents moved to Wisconsin in 1981 when I was one and a half. For almost all of my lifetime, I've lived in a suburb in the metro area of Milwaukee and I can't imagine living anywhere else. When I was a kid, I visited a lot of other states with my parents while traveling but I would never want to move there. I'm one of the few who likes the cold and happily wears a t-shirt all year even during the Winter. I'm just glad I live in a part of the Midwest that says soda.