Over Thanksgiving break, my sister made her annual visit home from the University of Chicago. Once again, she brought home a friend who didn't want to pay for the flight back home, and therefore, I had a new roommate.

Her friend was a 19-year-old young man from the Bronx in New York. This means that when he visited central Illinois for the first time, it was the first time he had seen many things in person, including cows, corn, and yards that had to be raked.

So, in an effort to give him a view of our culture, and to get some good donuts, we took a trip to Curtis Orchard in Champaign.

Our journey began with a sprint into the child-sized hay pit that was nowhere near as big as I remembered. My sister's friend had never seen hay in his life and was overjoyed to jump in.

After that, we went and fed goats, which never fails to be a good time. After spending a quarter on goat feed, we both stuck our hands into the goat corral. Almost instantly goats licked the feed off my hands. I looked over and watched him hesitantly stick his hand in and then enjoy the goats. After that, he enjoyed the goats a little too much and grabbed one by the horns.

Another mainstay of Curtis Orchard is the maze. We both sprinted in with much enthusiasim, but as most people know, enthusiasm gets you nowhere in large-scale mazes. After half an hour of frustration we made our way out and went home.

My sister's friend's unfamiliarity should not come as surprise to me. His coming from a large metropolis and moving to another never gave him the chance to see the rural life. I'm sure there are many things in a big city for me to get shocked about as well.