I will be moving to the midwest soon.

[The Atog Lord]

So, in August, I will be leaving the lofty perches of New England for Purdue University in West Laffayette, Indiana.

I'll be a grad student in the PhD program in Computer Science at Purdue.

So, is anyone nearby there? Please respond and let me know -- I really hope there's a good Magic scene out there, especially for Type One. Except for Pro Tours and Grand Prixes, I haven't played much other non-t1 Magic recently.

Also, beyond that, anyone have any advice for a New England who has never lived anywhere else who is about to move into a  Brave New World? I'm ready for Culture Shock.

Thanks to all of you.

I mean, um, Ya'll.

[Hyperion]

Good luck Rich, I hope things go well for you at Purdue!! It must have been a tough decision between that and your other alternatives.

Go there with low expectations for the Magic scene because it's highly doubtful that it can compare to New England.

With that said, it'll be super-easy for you to get to GenCon now 

[Mixing Mike]

I'm gonna miss you Rich.  Well, at least this'll open up a Top 8 seat in future events.  Still, I'll miss ya.  Just make sure we have an epic battle before you go .

[Machinus]

I didn't live in NE for very long, but I can tell you that living in rural areas can be unbearable at times. My computer and the internet have been my life support here in the mountains of North Carolina.

Good luck in graduate school.

[Gort32]

Also, beyond that, anyone have any advice for a New England who has never lived anywhere else who is about to move into a  Brave New World? I'm ready for Culture Shock.

Just one thing - we call it "pop" here.  Not soda, not sodapop, not coke, just pop.  Even though it doesn't matter at all, we are militant about it.

[Whatever Works]

I think you will be in for a plesant suprise. I dont live in the midwest but it is well known that people from the midwest tend to be more friendly then New Englanders (who will take pictures and laugh at you as they drive past you in cars while your car is wrecked...)

Its a culture shock... and you will probably notice that as a new englander you talk 5x faster then they do, but magic tends to unite people.

The best way that I can express the area is that unlike NE people dont leave for vacation... everybody comes together on vacation.

[jpmeyer]

When I lived in Ohio, the closest thing to culture shock that I got was being surprised at how cheap everything was (Wow, a movie for $6.50 rather than $10.50!) and how there were much fewer assholes.

Now, when I visited the South, OTOH...

[The Atog Lord]

Thank you all for your comments

As for the cheaper prices, I've noticed that the housing in Indiana is much much much cheaper than the amazingly high prices around the Boston area. I mean, less than half the cost of something equivolent here.

As for culture shock, there's that too. I noticed that people -- strangers --  would look me in the eye, often smile as I walked past them. That was a bit unnerving at first, but at the same time something I could certainly get used to.

Still on cultural diffences, I noticed that Purdue had a tribute to its students who died in the Iraq conflict. Well, I'm not going to get political here, but I will say that that's something you'd never see at Brown.

So, anyone know anything about the T1 scene there? Anyone from there on these boards?

[MrZuccinniHead]

I go to Illinois State U. right across the border

EDIT: We're nicer than the east coast?

[Saucemaster]

Actually, the "nice" thing in the midwest scares the crap out of me.  No one is actually that nice.  Anyone who actually *is* that nice has got to have some sort of mental illness.  Given that they're not that nice, the harmless explanation (which is probably true for 90% of the population) is that they're just faking it.  Which is fine and all, even if it does make you an irredeemable hypocrite.  The other, more nefarious option, is that they're storing up social capital for when they want you to do them a favor.  And this isn't even a born-and-raised East-Coaster talking here.  I'm a native Californian and I still think the people in the Midwest are lunatics.

My advice is to remain distant and noncommittal, and every so often, when someone is just really creeping you out with their unsolicited (apparent) interest in your well-being, say something either: a) passive-aggressive and offensive--this is the "asshole New Yorker" routine, even if you're not from New York; or b) completely and totally insane--this is the "crazy New Yorker" routine, again, even if you're not from New York.  Switch it up to match your mood.  This will not win you any friends, but then, how many strangers who want to have long and involved conversations with you while you're in line at the grocery stores are really going to turn out to be lifelong friends anyway?  Let's be realistic.

Keep it short, too.  I like the classic, "Do I know you?" (remember to arch an eyebrow and make it clear by your tone that this is an entirely rhetorical question, otherwise people will start listing their friends and relatives, of which they seem to have many, probably because they're all pretending to be nice to each other, which leads them to overestimate the actual size of their social circle).  If they're really annoying you, and you don't mind a little humiliation, it's usually very effective to use techniques like, "Hi, I'm great!  I've got a question you look like you might be able to answer, actually: will this shampoo help with scabies?"  This is like a combination of BOTH of the tactics above, though you're not being so much insane as simply repulsive.

Be creative, though.  The possibilities are endless.  And good luck at Purdue!

[Whatever Works]

Actually, the "nice" thing in the midwest scares the crap out of me.  No one is actually that nice.  Anyone who actually *is* that nice has got to have some sort of mental illness.  Given that they're not that nice, the harmless explanation (which is probably true for 90% of the population) is that they're just faking it.  Which is fine and all, even if it does make you an irredeemable hypocrite.  The other, more nefarious option, is that they're storing up social capital for when they want you to do them a favor.  And this isn't even a born-and-raised East-Coaster talking here.  I'm a native Californian and I still think the people in the Midwest are lunatics.

This is an example of why Saucemaster is clearly not from the midwest, because people from the midwest arent like NE or west coast people who believe that you have to have a "reason" or an "agenda" to be nice to people. When I visited family in the midwest it was odd to have everyone around you smiling more, and random strangers at malls offer help if you appeared lost etc... It seemed like there were fewer social "clicks" and a larger overall community.

[SpencerForHire]

It is like that in the northern more states too.  Up here in the upper peninsula of Michigan.  Even when your getting a ticket the officer will ask you how your day was and chat with you for a few minutes.  And they are lenient as hell when it comes to how fast you were going.  :lol:

Alot nicer than down near Detroit where I am from.

[Saucemaster]

This is an example of why Saucemaster is clearly not from the midwest, because people from the midwest arent like NE or west coast people who believe that you have to have a "reason" or an "agenda" to be nice to people. When I visited family in the midwest it was odd to have everyone around you smiling more, and random strangers at malls offer help if you appeared lost etc... It seemed like there were fewer social "clicks" and a larger overall community.

I believe that I already covered the "Midwesterners really ARE that nice" phenomenon:

Anyone who actually *is* that nice has got to have some sort of mental illness.

[Meddling Mike]

I have never lived or spent any sizable length of time in the midwest, but I feel myself qualified to jump to some poorly thought out conclusions on the area of the midwest.

1) Might not be best to mention the pride of New  England 3 time in 4 year world champion new england patriots, the patriots are largely responsible for turning the Inianapolis Colts into the bridesmaids of the AFC championship year after year. I'm gonna guess they harbor a little resentment seeing as the pacers are nothing much to write home about either.

2) Due to the close proximity and lower shipping costs, the costs on the staple products of Indiana......Corn or wheat I think.......are remarkably low, buy them low there and sell them here in New England and live like a king.

3) When you go to start the "Yankees Suck" chant, you may find yourself alone in this endeavor as the people of the midwest do not harbor our natural New England hatred of New York and it's New York Yankees, them not having a professional baseball team to speak of. You must find a group of fellow sox fans or work on converting these baseball heathens to Red Sox nation before you can start the yankees suck chant without looking out of place.

4) Apparently there is some large event that involves the racing of motorcars around a circular track approx. 500 times that takes place fairly regularly in Indianapolis. Although this may appear boring and pointless to us civilized people of the Northeast feigning interest may be a good means of endearing yourself to the local population.

5) Although you currently lack one, perhaps faking a Boston accent abroad will appear charming to the natives, chicks dig accents.

[The Atog Lord]

ROFL Mike!

[Whatever Works]

5) Although you currently lack one, perhaps faking a Boston accent abroad will appear charming to the natives, chicks dig accents.

Great Idea, but do you think the midwest chicks will be able to understand the difficult to grasp boston accent??? I find the boston accent to be harsh and ennoying. Also the midwest fans really do hate the yankees, because they have to put up with hearing about them ALL THE TIME on ESPN etc. And people from the area either like St. Louis or the NEW definition of sad and pathetic... the chicago cubs.

[Moxlotus]

We pronounce our "r"s in the Midwest in the proper places in words.  caR, not caW.  Idea, not Idear. 

Pop, not soda.  I know its already been said but I must put emphasis on this.

I don't know about Indiana so much, but in IL and IA dissing the Cubs is a capital offense.

Midwesterners are nice and talk much slower than New Englanders.  Usually you can ask any random person on the street for directions and they will help. 

[Meddling Mike]

\

We pronounce our "r"s in the Midwest in the proper places in words.  caR, not caW.  Idea, not Idear.

I know this has nothing to do with the rest of the thread whatsoever, but I feel the need to address the gross misunderstanding of the boston accent indicated above.

The Boston Accent and YOU: The Official Boston Accent Primer

The Boston accent is complex, yet elegant in it's simplicity. Observe, whenever and vowel is followed by an "R" the r is pronounced as though it were an H and the vowel attains more of a light a quality to it.

e.g. the phrase "Do you properly fear the murlodont" would be pronounced "Do you propahly feah the murlodont" or the ever popular "Park the car in Harvard yard" would be "Pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd"

Thank you for your attention and understanding. Should you ever be in the Fenway South Boston area you may find this information invaluable

[Mixing Mike]

5) Although you currently lack one, perhaps faking a Boston accent abroad will appear charming to the natives, chicks dig accents.

You just made my day.  I also approve of the lesson on the Boston Accent.

[Machinus]

Saucemaster, want to do an analysis of the hillbillies here in the south? Maybe JP can add some input to this too.

[Hi-Val]

Rich-- Welcome to the grain belt! I am in Oxford OH most of the year, which is probably ~1.5 hours from you. I have no idea about geography. Things to know about the Midwest... driving around here is boring as shit. You hit soybean country and it goes on forever. All over the Midwest, there's a fanatical devotion to football. Things are a LOT more old-school conservative as well. You'll experience cute little towns though and the countryside is quite pretty.

And the midwest farmer's daughters really keep you warm at night : )

[Komatteru]

All over the Midwest, there's a fanatical devotion to football.

Well, not in Indiana.  Indiana...ians (after nearly 3 years here, I REFUSE to call anyone a Hoosier, cause that sounds retarded) are only interested in sports that use balls that bounce well.  If it ain't basketball, no one seems to care about it.  And Michigan is all about hockey.  So, really, it's just Ohio that's all wacky about the football.

I'm in Indiana for one more year.  Terre Haute is 100 miles from Lafayette.  The "culture shock" you speak of shouldn't be that bad.  Things are just more relaxed and simple down here.  The biggest city is Indianapolis, and, frankly, you'll laugh at it cause it's so easy to get around, yet everyone speaks of how bad traffic is.  Lafayette is up in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much everywhere in Indiana that's not Indianapolis.  But it's not the worst thing ever, so I'm sure you can handle it.

Well, that's all I've got.

[The Atog Lord]

If it ain't basketball, no one seems to care about it.  And Michigan is all about hockey. 

Basketball? Hockey? Oh, those things are like the boring versions of Football and Baseball

JD, Hi-Val, we'll have to hang out when I'm there.

[TracerBullet]

And the midwest farmer's daughters really keep you warm at night : )

Let's just remember what the point of that song is, and really, I'm amazed more of you East Coast magic players aren't coming out here for grad school and such.

On that note, at least you won't have to take a flight to get to GenCon this year.  Congrats on the Grad School, and hope to see you at GenCon.

[The Atog Lord]

See you there

[Shean]

I'm from Bloomington (about 2 hours south of you) and I've lived here for about 17 years.  The midwest is boring.

In Indiana, there's not a whole lot to do.  Sure, you can watch the corn grow, but it gets old after about 10 minutes.

Most of the time, the most interesting thing to do is sit at home on the internet or play magic.  As for a Type 1 community, I think you might be as SOL as I am.  I'm from IU (which is noticably larger than Purdue) and nobody here plays Type 1.  Everyone wants to play Type 2.  Not that I hate Type 2, but I just don't like spending $20 on a Cranial Extraction that I'm never going to use.

One thing you will like, Type 1 cards are valued MUCH lower since everyone plays Type 2.  I've been through about 4 playsets of Crucible of Worlds just because I'll go through a Type 2 player's binder and trade a Meloku for a playset of Crucibles.  Then I go to a Tye 1 tournament and trade them for like $8 each.  Its retarded.

[M.Solymossy]

I'm in Wisconsin, so most of my oppinion's really don't matter.

As for type 1, if you don't mind driving, Game Universe in Milwaukee should be holding power tournaments about 2 every 3 or so months.  I have to talk to James about that yet.
Chicago has a couple tournaments.  As of late, there really haven't been much (since the PSA is comming to an end) but there are still some tournaments.  I want to talk to Aaron Jarvis about holding more Power tournaments.

The midwest is great.  You can find a LOT of cool things for cheap (magic especially.  I've been told that no mox sell's for less than 350 in ANY condition in the east... but in the midwest, you can find moxes [except sapphire] for less)  I've picked up some moxes at like 250 and 220.

[IndyTerminator]

I've lived in Indiana all my life. I currently reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana where I am getting a BS in Computer Engineering at Indiana Institute of Technology. My hometown is Jamestown, IN which is about a half hour to 45 minutes from Lafayette and Indy. I really don't know to much about the Type 1 scene down in Lafayette but I do know a  guy who comes up to FW every now and then who likes to play the older types of Magic. I don't know if he's into Type 1, but I know I've gotten him hooked on Legacy since Extended rotated. There are two stores in Lafayette that have Magic. There's Game Preserve and Castle Comics. Game Preserve is run by a bunch of d*cks and most people generally don't like them. They run most of the tournaments though and then run FNM in Lafayette. I don't know to much about Castle Comics but I have been there before and it is run by a very nice Chinese lady and her family. Hopefully you can get a Type 1 scene going in Lafayette because I know that some of the guys from Purdue go to Indy to play Type 2 at the Game Preserve there. It's pretty sad in Indy though. I asked a person if they wanted to play a game of Legacy once and they looked at me like I'm crazy.

Thank god I'm at least in FW now. There is actually a store that has Legacy events! And another store that is pretty savvy with Type 1, but I don't think enough people have Power to play. I could always ask.

yes, basketball has a very big following in Indiana. Generally you're either rooting for Purdue or IU in basketball . . sometimes even Butler or Ball State. Football isn't to big in Indiana much to my chagrin. There was a big controversy over the Colts getting a new stadium because it would *gasp* cost the tax payers money. Yet, they'll gladly build the Pacers a new arena whenever they want. I think they finally got the deal squared away though because the people who actually know how much the Colts mean to Indy got the deal through. Luckily, with the building of the new stadium they will be expanding the Indiana Convention Center which means more room for GenCon.

I don't think Indiana will be to much of a culture shock. You might be taken back when you're driving down the road and people wave at you that you don't even know. However, that's just how Indiana is . . especially if you're out in the country. The internet speeds are only bad if you live in the country like I do. I can get 26.4kbps if I'm lucky. In Lafayette you'll have DSL, Cable, or whatever high speed internet you want. I won't ever be able to get DSL or cable  in the area I live in.

Also, the correct terminology for someone from Indiana is a Hoosier. Don't ask me why . . it's just that way.

[Methuselahn]

Clearly, if you want to go to any large Eternal tournies in the midwest, with any regularity, you will come to the Twin Cities.  You'd almost HAVE to fly out, but tix are reasonable.  Just let me know if you need a place to stay.

[meatpipeline]

I can personally vouch that the type 1 scene in West Lafayette / Lafayette is nonexistant.  I'm an undergrad EE (almost a senior) at Purdue.  If you want type 1 you have to go towards Chicago and Wisconsin.  On the plus side Indy is an hour away, chicago is 2 hours away, and U of I is about 1.5 hours away.  Most of Ohio is decently close too (3 hours for Cincinnati, 4 for Columbus). Basically if there is a event in the area, you can get to it in a decent amount of time.

Purdue is an excellent school, although anything to do in this town is run by students.  If you are into sports you'll probably wanna get football or basketball tickets, as both sports are awesome (yes I said awesome... as in entertaining, not as in good).

-Phil