OOOOOOOklahoma

Today we are off to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is the state that I was born and raised in. SHH! That's a secret. For some reason Rich doesn't like for me to tell people that I'm from Oklahoma. I think he worries that I will be unfairly discriminated against by others if they learn that I'm from Oklahoma. I think many people take Oklahomans to be ignorant, red neck, hill billy, backwards people. I inform you that not all of us are that way and that there are some people like that just about in every southern state (I exclude the north b/c you don't really think of hill billies and red necks coming from the north). Honestly I enjoy telling people I'm from Oklahoma, b/c in all my time living outside of Oklahoma (9 years now), I've never ran into another Oklahoman. Not many of us make it out of Oklahoma, so I consider myself rare and unique, like a snowflake. Well in honor of my journey north (only 3 hours), I have come up with a list of things about Oklahoma. Actually I couldn't sleep two nights ago, so I created this list.

Oklahoma: One of the many states that white men forcibly took from the Indians.

Oklahoma: The state that houses my entire family.

Oklahoma: No, (I say to the Japanese people) not OKUWA (a famous grocery store in the Kansai area). I'm not from OKUWA, it's OKLAHOMA. Seriously some students and teachers thought that I came from the grocery store or that America had a state honoring the grocery store.

Oklahoma: The state with a Red Earth Festival. Seriously, if you dig deep into the ground you will find earth the same color as the burnt sienna crayon. (Cool, you can go to Crayola and look up colors and read about their history. Little things make me happy). The earth will stain your clothes too.

Oklahoma: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain........... yes, there is a musical about Oklahoma. Funny when I'd meet people in Japan, they would immediately hum for me something called the Oklahoma mixer. I believe it's a diddy from the musical (after googling, it appears that it's a folk dance and it seems that it's taught in PE in Japan).

Oklahoma: The Sooner State. The sooners are also the slogan of the University of Oklahoma. Really sooners were people that crossed the famous "Land Run" lines early and claimed Oklahoma territory (land) before they were suppose to. So we are basically proud of our illegal deeds in claiming land.

Oklahoma: The state that (I swear I remember this as a child) allowed you to drive around in your pick 'em up truck with shotguns in a gun rack in the pick 'em up trucks cab.

Oklahoma: The state that is so flat in some areas, that you can see for miles.

Oklahoma: The state that had (or may still have) the automobile licence plate motto, "Oklahoma is OK". I'm not kidding about this one. So the state government seriously thought Oklahoma was just OK (synonymous with good, fine, average, all right) and not wonderful, beautiful, great, fantastic, etc. I was kind of offended when I was younger that the government didn't value our state more. Then I traveled beyond it's borders and realized that may be right about the motto.

OK, enough with the Oklahoma thoughts. I'm sure the list could go on and on and on (good, bad, and otherwise strange). Regardless, I am proud to be from Oklahoma and one way or another I managed to get a good education and learn to think outside of it's borders. Maybe I owe a bit of thanks to my mom, for overexposing me to things that weren't typically "Oklahoma". (Thanks MOM!) So, I'm off to visit my state and I'm sure to have many things to blog about next week. Until then.......... OOOOOOOklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain. And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet..............