Hysterical Differences

I grew up in Iowa. Therefore, one would assume that moving back would not be a huge change, culturally speaking. With this assumption, one would be wrong. I think that most of the reason is that Alaska is just so far removed from the rest of the United States, so things are vastly different there. The terrain makes life rougher and makes people less concerned about certain things. The differences so far have just been...funny. They make me realize that while I may have left Alaska, Alaska has not, and probably will not, completely leave me.

::I received a bunch of Mary Kay makeup as a gift. The gift is extremely kind and I am truly grateful. However, since moving to Alaska I have worn makeup twice. Once at Brady's wedding and once at Trent's. I let my mother and Joa go at the makeup pile and they had lots of fun. In other words, I do not plan on wearing makeup. Makeup is not bad, it just is not 'me'. Women in Alaska wear much, much less makeup and perfume than women in Iowa. Fascinating.

::A large, normal pizza in Alaska is 18". A large pizza in Iowa is about 14". You do the math. This is both a good and a bad fact.

::My mom asked me if I was going to paint my toenails. I said I do not paint my toenails anymore. We both looked at each other like the other person was crazy. It was funny. In Alaska, most women do not paint their toenails for the sole reason that their toes are never, ever showing. It is cold there, people. Boots are the name of the game. So, my toes are quite bland in Iowa. Kennan likes them, though.

::As we were walking through our rental home I found myself amazed because it is an older house. I   have not spent time in an older home in a long time because most older Alaskan homes are cabins  with outhouses, as a general rule. I find this funny.

::There are now portapots throughout the fields in Iowa. I find myself thinking, "what is the big problem with going to the bathroom outside?" This would not have been my view on the situation 3 years ago.

::We just registered for utilities. For Internet that is 12 times faster than our Internet in Homer it is $40 CHEAPER. Is that not shocking? We were seriously floored. We knew things would be cheaper in some arenas of life, but our entire utility bill (including water, sewer, Internet, electric) is going to be the same price that just our electric bill was, and sometimes even less. That, my friends, is a big number.

::We keep staring at each other in restaurants and laughing. Typically, this is because the food is so cheap. Sometimes, though, it is because of the claims of 'fresh' seafood. I typically say something to Kennan like "fresh?, how can their salmon be 'fresh'? Oh seafood, I miss you. But I have to admit that pink looking sockeye salmon is pretty funny when you have seen the real beauties out of the river.

Ah Iowa, how different you are.

Thanks, Alaska, for making me the person I am today. The person who has learned to be myself, no matter what anyone else says or does. A person who is much, much simpler than 3 years ago.

Here's to accepting our differences and laughing at them and recognizing that people and places are different than one another. And that it is okay that we are not the same. In fact, it is very, very good.