Iowa isn't really known for a whole lot. Even the Backyardigans episode about things that make the news in Iowa was about a fake crop circle in some corn.
Culture Shock is sort of expected when you're coming from another country, but it's not something we talk about enough when it comes to traveling between states in the USA.
It's a huge country with vastly different geographic regions, cultures, and ideas of "normal.
Those differences can be problematic from a political perspective, but they make for a fun story!
TikTok user Katie Bishop has people cracking up thanks to her video highlighting how "crazy different" life in Iowa is from life in California.
Having lived her whole life in the fast paced, crowded, and expensive California - Iowa felt like a whole other world.
Not everything about that culture shock was a bad thing, though.
In fact, Katie had some positive things to say about moving to the (relative) middle of nowhere!
Her TikTok video on it has been gaining some traction.
The perks she describes are little things that impacted her life in mundane, but marvelous, ways.
For example, now that she lives in Iowa she can go to Trader Joe's on a Friday night and not have lines out the door. It's not that Iowans dont love a good $3 Trader Joes wine, its that there just aren't that many Iowans.
Actually, most of the perks she can come up with relate back to the fact that there just aren't that many Iowans.
Like the stereotype that Midwesterners are nice, for example. Bishop believes it's the lack of people and abundance of space.
California has about five times as many people per square mile as Iowa does, and much more of it is built out for dense populations.
Katie says the stores in Iowa are the same size or bigger than the ones in California, but with so few people to serve and a slower public pace in general, the employees aren't overworked.
They've got time to chat, they can probably take to that thing you couldn't find even though you walked past it 8 times, and the lighter work load just makes their days easier.
In California … not so much.
People were pretty interested. but not everybody was thrilled about Iowa getting a moment in the spotlight, though.
Some folks were quite happy flying under the radar and worried about what might happen if more folks knew how great Iowa was.
The comments got a little "Iowa for Iowans."
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People weren't sure her love for her new state would stick, but we guess there's no way to know except to keep up to date with her.
Culture shock is about more than new languages, new foods, and new ways of dancing (though it could be argued that moving from Cali to Iowa involves all of those) it's about a different day to day experience - which Katie Bishop absolutely now has.
Do you think she's onto something with her analysis? Or is there something else behind the differences, in your opinion?
Tell us about your culture shock experiences I'm the comments!
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