Where are you from?

Hands down, the number one question I get stopped and asked is,

"Alright, I've been listening to how you talk for awhile now, but I just can't place it. Where are you from?"

Wisconsin, baby!! (And proud of it!) I guess Ohio is already too far south, so it brings out my difference in dialect? (People usually pick up on it and I get busted when I say the words 'out' or 'about.')

After I answer by saying, "I'm from Wisconsin....and yes, that is actually still a good 6 hours south of Canada," the question-asker then gets a little wide-eyed and says, "What part of Wisconsin are you from?" I grin from ear to ear and tell them Green Bay, of course. North of that, even. The north woods of 'Sconnie! I even whip out my right hand and use it to demonstrate the shape of my home-state, and point out that GB is in the crook between the thumb and index finger. :-) Yes, I'm that corny.

Be proud, fellow Green Bay/Howard-Suamicans! I think we've got a little golden nugget corner of the world to grow up in. Very down-to-earth, charming folks are bred there. :-) At least, folks here in Ohio seem to be very curious about the WI lifestyle - what it's like to grow up in a football town, how cold does it truly get there in the winter, did I grow up on a farm, and, have I ever been to the Wisconsin Dells? (Answer: yes, almost annually!)

Nevertheless, they seem to ultimately sit back and continue to watch me. I think they respect the type of person Wisconsin raises, because at least for me, I'm a no-frills kind of girl and I put everything before myself. Plus, I came into each of their lives because I chose to move all the way here, just to show up in a factory and work.

Work my little yooper-girl northwoods tail off.

:-)