The Midwest on the Actual West

We grad students at Iowa were going round the table for some visiting professor; we were bidden to give our names, research interests, and that vague "something interesting about yourself." Before we were half done, it became clear that we were each jumping in and saying what we thought was interesting about our classmate for them, such that by the time it was my turn, I said simply, "Well, what's interesting about me, guys?" 

One classmate immediately said, "Well, Jacob's lived in Idaho...