Iowa is a weird place. You can’t look outside the window and gauge how warm it is here—and apparently it’s a weird thing that that’s how I told the temperature in Washington? It’s really flat here as well. . . I mean there’s small hills and the states rises and sink, but, overall, this place is flatter than your 7th grade girlfriend. Just kidding. . . well. . . for the most part.

I’ve also learned the corn thing isn’t a joke here. There’s a guy on my floor who brought a petrified corn cob from forever ago and has it on his desk. There’s a corn monument in Iowa City. There are pictures of corn everywhere. And, finally, the student entrance to our football stadium is lined with corn. They’re very serious about their corn here or, at least, that’s what it seems like. I have yet to do further research on if it is just a front for their secret mission to overtake the United States and become the supreme state.

Another odd thing- the lack of traffic. Like ever. I think I’ve been in mild traffic like twice here due to construction, but that’s about it. There’s something eerie about driving down the freeway during rush hour and going faster than 5mph. I don’t trust it. I’m just adding it to the evidence folder for the Iowa as the supreme state plan. I think the lack of traffic may be due to teleportation devices, but I can’t be sure yet.

This city is an odd mix between people who came here because we are the number six party school in the nation, and book nerds who came here for the international city of literature. It’s an odd balance but we all seem to get along. At least from what I’ve seen. That being said I mostly stay in my room with my roommates making jokes and listening to music. It’s a 24/7 nerd party #collegelife.

Several odd things have happened to me since I got here- I’ve broken my finger, been on the floor at 2am talking about life, got my phone run over by a semi-truck, gone on adventures with virtual strangers, and learned how to make everything in a bowl in the microwave because I don’t have a plate. I’ve learned one of my roommates inhales tortillas at an inhuman pace and the other has a constant stream of commentary about life coming out of her mouth. Overall, they’re great people.

Buster Brown is out here enjoying life- he’s got a girlfriend, a field of grass, and, since I don’t get out 6 days a week anymore, more time to laze about. It’s a great life for a lazy old man.

I don’t understand this state, and I’m not sure I ever will, but I’m surviving, learning, and missing the mountains.