By\u00a0Lauren Kassien<\/strong><\/p>\n

One month\u00a0ago, I moved from Iowa to New York City.\u00a0I\u2019ll admit: It\u2019s\u00a0taken me a while to adjust to life in the Big Apple. Fortunately, I\u00a0arrived\u00a0armed with 22 years\u2019 worth of tools, tips and\u00a0teachings\u00a0that can only come from\u00a0living in the\u00a0heartland. These life lessons have served me well\u00a0so far, and \u00a0I know they will for any Midwesterner who plans on relocating, too.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Play up your Midwest kindness.<\/h4>\n

I\u2019m not talking pushover\u00a0niceness, like letting\u00a0passengers\u00a0shove\u00a0past you to get on the subway first. Or\u00a0the\u00a0creepy\u00a0kind, where you smile and nod at everyone\u00a0on the street.\u00a0(That\u2019ll earn you dirty looks and a\u00a0nasty\u00a0case of whiplash here — trust me.) I mean\u00a0real\u00a0kindness, like saying hello to\u00a0workers when you enter a store\u00a0or offering a polite smile when you awkwardly make eye contact with\u00a0a stranger\u00a0at the bus stop. \u201cPlease,\u201d \u201cthank you,\u201d and \u201cexcuse me,\u201d are rare here. And they\u2019re appreciated. So when you\u2019re on the\u00a0super-crowded\u00a0L train\u00a0one evening,\u00a0and you\u00a0accidentally whack a stern-looking businessman with your overstuffed Trader Joe\u2019s\u00a0tote, say\u00a0a genuine,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d He\u2019ll remember that\u00a0when your bag rips two stops later and\u00a0will\u00a0offer to help you pick up your groceries off the\u00a0car\u2019s\u00a0floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Dress like you would back home — ready for every weather situation.<\/h4>\n

They say East Coast weather changes around the corner — and\u00a0they\u00a0couldn\u2019t be more accurate.\u00a0It may be raining on one avenue, but the skies are clear on\u00a0the next street.\u00a0And don\u2019t get New York commuters started on\u00a0different boroughs. It\u2019ll be\u00a065\u00a0degrees when I board the train in Brooklyn and 40 degrees with wind when I get off\u00a0half an hour\u00a0later in Manhattan.\u00a0My family\u00a0in Kansas City\u00a0will tell you this forecast\u00a0closely mirrors the\u00a0weather on a Kansas spring day. They aren’t too far off. Fortunately,\u00a0all\u00a0those\u00a0years of rocking boots, vests, scarves, sweaters and t-shirts — at the same time, of course — should have taught you to create a variety of stylish-and-comfy looks with layers that can be donned or shed at a corner\u2019s turn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Know when you\u2019re scoring a good deal.<\/h4>\n

Last week at a lunch meeting, I watched one of my co-workers fork over $11 for an \u201cartisanal\u201d salad (read: plain iceberg lettuce in an\u00a0eco-friendly takeout container).\u00a0She\u2019s not alone. East Coasters are notorious for dropping serious dough on anything remotely trendy. I, on the other hand, am from the land of Thursday night specials at the local dive bar, where my roommate and I could score a couple pints of craft beer and order Des Moines\u2019 best nachos for $18 — the same price as one martini in Midtown. While it\u2019s impossible to avoid hiked-up East Coast\u00a0price tags, when in doubt, think of how much you paid for Midwest happy hours and two-for-one dinner deals. For example: $4 for a single scoop of ice cream in SoHo? Pass. $4 for a\u00a0heaping\u00a0bowl of strawberry-hazelnut gelato from Little Italy? Sign me up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t buy produce at grocery stores.<\/h4>\n

Weekend farmers\u2019 markets were, hands-down, my favorite part of Midwest summers. Two weeks into my first June spent in Des Moines, I was on a first-name basis with most of the Downtown Farmers\u2019 Market vendors. I could tell newbies where to find the cheapest zucchini and on which street they could snag a generous sample of fresh-baked focaccia. I\u2019m proud to say that after a month in NYC, I can do the same thing. Skipping the Saturday morning Whole Foods rush to\u00a0peruse your local farmers\u2019 market will save you time, energy and a whole lot of\u00a0cash. Plus, it\u2019s hard to miss the difference between the taste of a fresh-picked New England apple and one that\u2019s been boxed and then shipped\u00a0from\u00a0halfway around the world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Know that hard work and a little GRIT will get you far.<\/h4>\n

In one of the best interviews I’ve ever had, a college admissions counselor in Kansas explained to me the concept of GRIT or Growth, Resilience, Integrity and Tenacity. Very simply,\u00a0GRIT is a measure of people\u2019s\u00a0perseverance. The counselor told me that of all the students who arrived at his school, he found Midwesterners adapted the best and the fastest to college life. I’ve had corporate execs here tell me they can spot a Midwest employee right away because of their impressive work ethic. Maybe this perception comes from the idea of us toiling in the cornfields all day. Maybe it stems from some truth. Or maybe I agree because I\u2019m biased toward my people. After all, I’ve only been gone seven weeks, but I still believe — and always will — that Midwest is indeed best.\u00a0And I promise that once you make the move, you will, too.<\/span><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five Tips for Midwesterners Moving to the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[4],"tags":[408,407,365,405,404,403,406,409],"yoast_head":"\n