Ah, a man who knows his Southern culture!! I wholeheartedly agree... Kansas is NOT part of South - never has been, never will be. Missouri is a Southern "border" state as is Oklahoma - in Missouri, everything south of the Mason-Dixon line is definitely part of the South. In Oklahoma, everything east of the Cross-Timbers (roughly, Interstate 35) is very Southern - the western part of the state is not.
I don't know if I'll pack up after medical school and head to California where most of my surviving family live or not. I love the desert. However, Tulsa is a remarkable (and not very well known) Southern city of nearly one million. Until the second world war, more millionaires lived in Tulsa than anywhere else in the world. The arts are great and the Tulsa Ballet is often considered the best west of the Mississippi. It's a wonderful city that still has a lot of oil money and art deco architecture that is second only to Miami. I miss the beach - but there are dozens of lakes within an hour or two drive and having both a boat and a second home at the lake for weekends is extremely common here because the cost of living is very low. It's not flat here - it's actually very hilly and green.
I am appreciating Tulsa more these days since I'm having to do my basic science years in Oklahoma City before I can transfer back home.
(I never thought I would live long enough to hear Panda use the word "metrosexual" in a sentence. That just cracked me up!!!

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