Where's my welcome basket with complimentary muffins?!

[Deleted]

Hello everyone! The last trucks carrying the entire nation of Onett and Twoson and Threed Commonwealth are just now pulling in and unloading museums and bowling alleys. (Remember the episode of The Simpsons where they pick up and move Springfield due to the old location having been overwhelmed by garbage? I imagine that's how moving to a new region works, just on a much bigger scale.)

I'm Drew, President of our small but growing country. I've been playing NS for a few weeks now and, with as much fun as I've been having, decided to get more involved. For now I only have my original nation and I'm running it as I would my dream of an ideal country in which to live. The SLU is a great fit with my political beliefs.

I live in the USA, in Indiana, the northern most Southern state (I welcome your sympathy), and consider myself a democratic socialist. I was raised in a union home and am big on labor, but consider civil rights and social issues just as important. Although they can be incredibly frustrating at times, I'm a supporter of the Democratic Party, but only because they're currently the best hope for enacting the best policies for as many people as possible. Outside of politics I play tons of video games, especially strategy and RPGs (No credit for guessing that!) but I also love Dungeons & Dragons though its the only pencil and paper RPG I've tried. I'm also an avid reader, mostly of non-fiction of most any sort, but also of fantasy, sci-fi, and of older stuff like Sherlock Holmes.

Hopefully I won't fray anyone's nerves too much but I make no guarantees!  ;) 

ETA- Quick question I forgot to ask. Is there a preferred format to my displayed name? My country's name is too long to completely fit, but I'd also like to add 'Drew' so people can address me by name. I haven't used ProBoards before so I don't really know what's what.

[Eggy216]

Welcome to the SLU, glad to have you here! :D

As far as the way nations move, I always imagined helicopters landing on my nation, attaching strong rope-things, and lifting it off into the air (granted, my nation IS an island, so that always made sense to me haha).

As far as a preferred name, normally it would be your nation name, but as you said that's a little too long haha. Immigration could probably better answer that for you. Personally I'd say the name Onett (Drew) would probably work, but again Immigration could tell me I'm an idiot if they wanted to :P

[Kingdom of Grolsch]

Welcome to the SLU! Please feel free to join our role-plays, propose and discuss legislation and join our regional government! As far preferred naming policies, the only real policy we have is that your forum name should be the same (or a short version of) your nation's name. So it seems your name is okay.

Indiana...I've never been there. What is it like?

On a side note, some time ago, someone proposed we should create a map with the approximate location of our members (if known). I know many were quite happy to work on it, but somehow it got stuck. We should really get started with it :D

[Deleted]

Indiana is like... Indiana is like every other part of northern America :P

[Deleted]

I forgot about that magical abbreviation "etcetera!" I feel dumb for not thinking of it earlier, but in combination with what you've suggested I think "Onett etc. (Drew)" works. If anyone from Immigration wants to correct me please feel free.

Indiana...I've never been there. What is it like?

 Well, imagine a bleak hell-scape...

But seriously, the place is mostly flat, both geographically and culturally, in the sense that many of the people (outside urban areas and college towns) are a bland, somewhat conservative, mostly white group. I say the northern-most Southern state (I love the description but I don't know who coined it) because instead of behaving like neighboring Midwestern states like Illinois or Ohio its more like the South and places like Arkansas or Tennessee (but not the Deep South, for example Mississippi and Alabama).*

Indiana is pretty firmly Republican at the national level; President Obama amazingly carrying the state in 2008 was the first time a Democrat had done so since the huge wave election of 1964 and President Lyndon Johnson. Even at the state level Republicans are usually in control, although Democrats do win major posts from time to time. My state usually follows mainstream American conservatism with all the attendant harm to the poor, women, and minorities. The main exception is the northwest corner of the state which is right next to Chicago and has more in common with them. The college areas of Lafayette, Bloomington, and Terre Haute are also a lot more diverse from the major universities there. Outside of that, Wikipedia shows how white and bland the state is.  We also have tons of corn everywhere. Endless fields of corn. Indeed, if one didn't like corn, one might say those endless fields are a hell-scape... ;)

Really, though, the place isn't too bad aside from the conservative politics, just somewhat dull and unexciting if you don't live in one of the aforementioned areas.

*-If anyone reading this is not from the USA and wants to know more about the culture of various states, I wouldn't mind teaming up with some other Americans to discuss that.

[Kingdom of Grolsch]

Personally, I wouldn´t support the Republicans. I feel the poor should be given a fair chance to succeed in life, and most Republicans do not seem to introduce legislation supporting that cause. Women should be equal, and minorities should be accepted in society (although I do feel minorities should at least learn the main language of the country they live in). Indiana indeed is a white and conservative state, according to the Wikipedia article. 

Flat and cornfields? Hmm, sounds familiar. I like talking to people from other countries ;) I'm not from the USA, but I am from a country  so flat that its name is derived from that fact. To be more specific, I was born in a region known for agriculture and for being 15 years behind in everything. That is the primary reason why my family moved to the The Hague area.

Personally, I'm always interested in talking to people from other places. Feel free to create a thread about Indiana in the General section of the forum. Like a Factbook, maybe...and then we can ask questions :D If you'd like me to do so, I'll do the same for the Netherlands (which is a pretty small country, honestly).

[Deleted]

Grolsch- The idea of an 'Ask me about my home' type thread is pretty interesting. I'll go post it right after this. I'll have to think of some good questions for the Netherlands. It has always seemed like a nice place but the last thing you said, "Which is a pretty small country, honestly" inspired me to do a bit of research. At ~41,500 square km, the Netherlands is smaller than all but 9 US states. It feels a little weird that your entire country could fit into my state 2x over, but Americans have always been spoiled by how much space we have. I like that your birthplace's name means 'rear-corner' and that tells the truth on numerous levels. Unfortunately we don't have a Backwards County, Alabama or Retrograde Town, Georgia. :P

One question does come to mind about place names- The Hague sounds like such a weird name for a city, since in English putting a 'The' in there sounds weird. Is it equally odd in Dutch or is that just a quirk of translation?

I agree with everything you say about the poor, women, etc. I think most Americans would agree as well, but the percentage of people who actual vote is dismal. (Be sure to ask me about Republican voter suppression in the new thread!) It's frustrating and depressing to fight and re-fight battles to keep those vulnerable folks from being thrown to the wolves, much less enact policies that will improve things rather than keep them from getting worse. I know a great deal about American politics, so I'll be happy to answer those type of questions in the new thread as well.