One year.....

Well, November marks one year since we officially moved to Tulsa. (Technically, I didn't move until January, but James began his job last November.) A lot of people ask us what its like here. Once you're in a new place, it is sometimes hard to see the differences. I guess people expect 1,000 miles away to be like a foreign land. Don't get me wrong, there are some big differences, but it is not like we went away to South Africa or something. So I have been trying to think of the things that are different here to try to give people a little more idea of what Oklahoma is like compared to South Carolina.


First, there is the landscape. The people that live here call this area "Green Country," which I haven't figured out if that is just for Tulsa, or the whole state. I have to bite my lip when I hear people say this. I want to say, "Listen, are you color blind?" When I first came, they had recently gone through a pretty bad ice storm and all the trees were bare and the grass was dead. So I figured I would give it until Spring. Well, the grass did turn green and the leaves came back, but there was still brown hay surrounding my house and it wasn't quite what I expected. It was also very short lived, we barely got into fall before all the trees were bare again and we're back to "Brown Country." I want to say, "If you want to see 'Green Country' please take a little field trip with me."

Tulsa a.k.a Green Country....

South Carolina road


Get the idea???

Oklahomans also consider this a "southern" area. I disagree. While I was surprised that you can order sweet tea at some restaurants and not get strange looks, I would call it "slightly sweetened tea." In South Carolina, you are lucky to get some tea in your sugar and if you come across any restaurant, fast food place, gas station or vending machine that doesn't sell it, then I think you've just stepped out of SC. It is also not hot enough here (year round) to be considered southern. Yesterday, it was 37 when I left for work and the high was 47. I believe it was 71 in Charleston. If it gets close to 37 in SC, milk, bread and batteries start flying off the grocery store shelves. Also on the "southern" note, no one has an accent in OK. There is never any question if a word is really one syllable or two (did vs. dee-id) and all the words they say can probably be found in a dictionary unlike "Ah-sposo" = "I suppose so."

I may step on many OK toes with this next topic, but I don't think any of the few people I know here read this, so I'm going for it. The road systems make no sense. gasp! They think its genius, and it makes perfect sense to them. The entire city is mapped out on a grid. If you looked at it from above you would see perfect little squares. All roads are parallel and perpendicular. And they are very, very long. So to me, just because I think I know where something on 71st street is, I am most definitely probably going to be wrong, because a road could be in Downtown Tulsa and also Broken Arrow, which is about 25 minutes away. Because they are all in blocks, there is a red light every half second which is good for safety, not so good for people running late. The majority of streets are numbered AND they throw in a directional (sometimes at the beginning and the end) so addresses end up looking like 8642 E. 31st N. and that just makes no sense to me, but they say "OH I know RIGHT where that is!" If you ever come to OK make sure you bring a compass, because no one will tell you to turn left or right, or if they are located on the right or left corner, they will say that you should drive west and they will be located on the northwest corner of 31st and 96th. I really could continue on this topic, but I think that pretty much covers my frustration with it for now. :-)

I get lots of questions about the food in OK. Yes, there is food here. Lots of Mexican and barbeque restaurants and an Arby's on every corner. There is a big variety of restaurants here and a lot of non-chain places. Well, they might be chains, they just haven't made it to the East Coast. There is also a list of restaurants that have not made it to the Mid-West. Zaxby's, Fazoli's, Bojangles are ones that come to mind that are not here. There are very few seafood restaurants (for obvious reasons) and the barbeque restaurants and totally different than SC ones. A barbeque restaurant here has a choice of smoked meats with a few side options (hash & rice not being one of those choices). They also serve pickles, peppers & onions on the side of every plate, which I haven't quite figured that out yet. Pulled pork is one of the options, but that is not the main entree, like at SC restaurants. There is also no "mustard" bbq sauce. I think if they saw what SC considers barbeque, they would be really confused (and just maybe grossed out). But I miss it!

The last thing that I will comment on is the weather. It's basically hurricanes vs. tornadoes. I prefer hurricanes. Lots of pre-disaster warning, not gonna sneak up on you in the middle of the night, can do things to gaurd your home against them for the most part. Tornadoes, however, the only warning you get is an at most five minute pre-strike siren, that you could possibly miss or mistake for a car alarm. The best you can do is get in an interior room (if you have one) or get in the bathtub with a matress over you (note - this is only if you heard the alarms!) Keep in mind, the possibility of a two year old cooperating is pretty slim. Evacuation is not part of the weatherman language around here. Take-shelter, NOW is more their style. There are shelters you can pay big bucks for, but I haven't quite been talked into that yet. I keep picturing a movie scene where I just didn't make it to the shelter in time and the tornado swept me up along the way. I'm sure when spring-time (a.k.a tornado season) comes back around, I will have much more to say on this topic, and I am not looking forward to it.

So, for one year in the Mid-west, this is what I can tell you. A new shade of green, a different style of barbeque, and a road system that requires a degree in statistics. Interesting, to say the least.