The Midwest

When I first moved here and people asked me where I was from I said, "America." Haha. They usually looked at me and said, "Yeah, I know that much." I didn't realize just how obvious it was. I mean, I know I have an accent, but I didn't really know what else to say. No one here knows where Cincinnati is.

So, now I'm forced to say, "Cincinnati" or "Ohio." Generally I get a blank look back. Some people have a rough idea of where it is (or think they have an idea where it is). I usually just tell them it's on the eastern half of the US and that Chicago is the closest major city that they've probably heard of. Sometimes, just to confuse them, I tell them Cincinnati is considered part of the Midwest.

How can it be considered Midwest if it's on the eastern half? I actually never knew the real answer to this question but made something up about the fact that it used to be considered the West when the modern day West was not yet settled. I honestly though that was probably the answer but kept meaning to look up the real answer. Well, I finally looked it up. I'm glad to know that I was right, at least according to Wikipedia!