Cultural Differences

With each passing week I'm noticing the cultural differences between life in Las Vegas and life in Indiana. It takes awhile to really see it. I am amazed at how differently people understand life, all within the same country. It's pretty drastic, really. Not that one is good, and one is bad. I believe all cultures are a mixed bag of good and bad. It's just different. And it takes some real "paying attention" to really see it.

Here's someone else's similar impressions (though a bit biased towards this culture over the other) from a recent blog entry:
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Back from West Coast to Indiana’s simpler life
By Kelly Corbray, Indianapolis

I lived in Indiana the first 18 years of my life and couldn’t wait to move to California, where I lived for six years. My naive 18-year-old brain assumed that every state was like Indiana. I returned to Indianapolis in 1990. I have raised two children here and recently adopted two of my foster children and am working on adopting a third.

I’m 42 now and the picture is a whole lot clearer. I can greet people I pass on the street with a smile and a “good morning” without being looked at like I am crazy.

I can afford my own home even with the rising taxes. In California, my meager five-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot house would sell for $750,000. Here, I bought a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development home for $79,000, and with little fixes it is now worth $114,000.

Indy’s crime is not nearly as bad as California’s; our gangs and project areas look like preschoolers and playgrounds compared to what I have seen.

People complain that there isn’t a lot to do here other than sports. That just gives us more time to spend with our families and our kids and in our homes.