1. Public Transit is both wonderful and extremely frustrating. Waiting in the cold at bus stops sucks. So do busses that come really late or really early. But the fact that you can actually get around without a car is super awesome, and you can’t help but think of how useful it would have been if your town actually had a city bus in those days before you could drive. And on that note…
2. Some city people actually don’t have their driver licenses. In towns like mine, most kids get their license as soon as they possibly can because that’s the only way to get around unless you want to rely on your parents to drop you off and pick you up all the time. City kids, however, have other options and aren’t necessarily all that concerned with learning to drive.
3. Starbucks is really great. It’s hard to understand the appeal of Starbucks when your town is too small to support one and the closest one is at a truck stop a few towns away. That changes pretty fast when you go to university and suddenly there are three Starbucks stores within easy walking distance, and a ton more that are just short bus rides away.
4. Everyone will assume you’re a farmer. As soon as you say you’re from a small town, you automatically become a farmer in the eyes of whoever you’re talking to. And no matter how many times you insist you’ve never lived on a farm – and you honestly don’t even like visiting farms – your friends will continue to joke about you being a farmer, probably for the rest of your university career.
5. Guys of other races can actually be really attractive. No, it’s not that you were a racist in high school for only being attracted to white guys. It’s just that white guys accounted for about 95% of the guys you knew. In university, that’s no longer true… and you can totally appreciate that!
6. There are surprisingly few people from other small towns. As someone who never expects anyone to have heard of your town, you totally expected to learn of some new towns that you’d never heard of. But you’ve actually heard of the majority of places that people say they’re from. AND WHY DOES IT SEEM LIKE EVERY PERSON YOU TALK TO IS FROM THE GTA?
7. There is so much more to “ethnic food” than Chinese food. Sure, you always knew there were plenty of different foods from different cultures, but when the only “ethnic” options in town were a Chinese restaurant or two, you never gave much thought to other kinds. Once you leave home, you realize what you’ve been missing for the last 18 years. @Indian food, where have you been all my life??
8.There’s no place like home. Although you love your new city and all it has to offer, you won’t forget where you came from, and your little town will always be home.