It’s been quite a first week.

In the past five days, fresh off driving 2,000 miles from California to Minnesota, I have managed to get myself lost a couple of times, sample a half dozen or so local restaurants, witness a random hail storm, meet with roughly a dozen business owners and city and county officials, get to know the rest of the Herald staff, write a story or two, edit copy, get myself lost a couple of more times and find out that one of my best friends from college, who I haven’t seen in more than 10 years, works right here in Austin.

It’s been a nice experience so far, complete with challenges, and I thought for this first column I would share with you an unscientific Top 10 list of things I learned in week one:

1) Mower County is one of only four counties in Minnesota that isn’t home to a natural lake.

2) It doesn’t matter because Austin has a ton of facilities that other small towns would envy, the ball fields, the swimming pool, the bike trails, the disc golf courses and the ice arenas.

3) The Gear Daddies, who I have been a fan of since first listening to their cover of “Little Red Corvette” in the 1990s, will perform in Austin this month for the first time since 1992.

4) I plan to be there.

5) There are at least two very hot issues in Austin right now: immigration and the Austin Main Street Project.

6) I will attend the immigration forum Monday to find out more.

7) My knowledge of Spam before this month was limited to one of my friends singing the, “Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam …” song in my ear the week after he watched a “Spamalot” show in Las Vegas.

8) I will learn more, attend the museum and even whip up some Spam and eggs for breakfast sometime before winter kicks in.

9) Overall, Austin is a nice community, with warm people and tons of news.

10) I’ll be back on Monday.