What I miss

Being at home for part of this summer, the thing I miss most about Bloomington isn't friends, campus or my apartment. Hands down, I miss the food and drinks.\nOur beloved college town is an oasis of wondrous treats from around the world and the nation. Granger, Ind., where I live, is outside of South Bend. I love my hometown, but it's mostly a cultural wasteland of chain restaurants like TGI Friday's that have the same menu, same overwhelmed servers and the same stupid flair hanging on the walls. \nMy town is great for the middle-aged family members taking their children out for a little after-game celebration, with hot wings and expensive frou-frou drinks. \nBut, for the well-meaning college student who just wants a decent plate of Pad Thai, this area becomes a grave disappointment.\nSure, you could say that not all areas can support a diverse array of restaurants. I agree; not enough suburbanites are so sufficiently daring as to try a foreign restaurant. \nBut even the standard fare isn't the same around here. Getting a slice of pizza in the north just isn't the same as going to Mother Bear's and getting my classic Spinoccoli. I miss the graffiti--filled walls and hearing Weezer's Blue Album playing in the background. \nDon't even get me started on the bar scene. \nNow, understand, I think that the Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend is a great place to hang out with a great atmosphere. But it pretty much ends there. If you like crowded, fratty areas you can always go to Corby's in South Bend. \nBut we have not one, but two Kilroy's in Bloomington -- with cheaper drinks, more women and no smoke stench. \nI haven't even gotten to the bars that I miss the most. The Bluebird is electric whenever Hairbanger's Ball is in town. And I have never, ever felt out of place at Nick's -- our dear tri-level bar with the best Stromboli in town hasn't once failed to produce a good time. I don't have anything like that in my hometown. Nothing comes close.\nEspecially not South Bend's self-proclaimed "Hottest Nightclub," Club Fever. After waiting outside in a huge line, you pay the cover, pay to have your coat checked -- then realize that the huge, and mostly undecorated, place is half-empty. Thus negating any real justification for the line outside. Events in this club are sponsored by the old Top 40 radio station that was popular when I was in high school. Basically, this club is just an extension of my high school -- with patrons so enthusiastic to be there that you realize how small this pond really is.\nI don't know if I'll make it through a month here. I feel like I'm in some cultural equivalent of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Having seen the light of a real nightlife I come back into this darkened cave, trying to describe the outside world to a mob of townies. \nI miss my B-town.