Ten on Tuesday

Ten Things I've Learned Living in Kalamazoo, Michigan

1. I can now point out where in Michigan I live using my right palm.
2. I know that the UP is an actual place, not just a direction.
3. I know what a ham bun is, what oliebollen is, and what a Boonzaaijer cake is.
4. I've lived here long enough that I now give directions based on places that no longer exist.  For example, "Brewsters on Portage Road.  You know, where the old Bill Knapp's used to be."
5. You get hot dogs at the Root Beer Stand. 
6. A guy named Bob makes the best tacos in town.
7. There are about a million different ways to capitalize and space any last name starting with "Van".  It can be Vandenberg, VandenBerg, Van Den Berg, Van den Berg, Vanden Berg...the list goes on and on and on.
8. If you are in the UP and see signs for "Pasties", they are referring to food.  Not what you might otherwise think.
9. Dead people are not scary, creepy or yucky.  The family that survives them however...
10. Some of the best people I've ever met live right here.