Minnesota, the land of over 10,000 lakes, home of the famous Juicy Lucy burger and the State of Hockey. Those who are from Minnesota at the University of Iowa have probably all noticed a common trend. They're not many people from the Twin Cities. You get thrown in with a bunch of people from Illinois and Iowa and occasionally you'll find a person or two who is from the Twin Cities. Iowa might be home for now, but each Minnesotan has specific personality traits that teach us, Minnesota will always be your home.
The Mall of America is just a normal shopping mall to you.
The Mall of America is known as the "largest mall in America." People travel from all over the world just to go there. You see people with camera's taking all sorts of photos. But to you, it's just your normal neighborhood shopping mall.
You own some sort of Minnesota State High School League "Rats" shirt or other.
If you've gone to high school in Minnesota then you know that state tournaments are a huge deal. But what would a state tournament be without your obligatory "rats" shirt?
We consider it a blessing to be home to Xcel Energy Center.
It's known as one of the best hockey arenas in the country. Being it's easy to get to, parking isn't a hassle and it's less then 20 year's old; it's always a pleasure to go to the "X."
There's nothing like going to the Science Museum and seeing an Omnitheater movie.
Growing up, we always took field trips to the Science Museum for various exhibits. Some weren't as fun as others but it's always a good day when you get to see a movie at the Omnitheater.
Hockey day is a state holiday.
We don't call Minnesota the "State of Hockey" for nothing. Here no one messes with our hockey. Not only do we have an awesome team who has made it to the playoffs multiple years in a row but, we have a whole day dedicated to playing hockey.
Going to Cane's is a lot better then going to any other fast-food restaurant.
When choosing where to eat with friends it can be a difficult decision. But if someone mentions Cane's, you can almost guarantee everyone will want to go there.
You consider Laura Osnes Minnesotan royalty.
Laura Osnes, 2- time Tony nominee from Eagan, Minnesota. She has starred in numberous Broadway productions such as Grease, Cinderella and Bonnie and Clyde. She is easily a star not only on Broadway but also a star in Minnesota's eyes.
You also don't forget about other famous Minnesotans.
Laura isn't the only star to come out of Minnesota. Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Prince, Lindsey Vonn and Natalie Darwitz are all famous faces to come from the Twin Cities.
You laugh at those who think 40 degrees is cold.
When it's 40 degrees out in Iowa, people are all bundled up and claim it's "freezing out" but if you're from Minnesota, you just laugh because to you 40 is shorts weather.
You're used to road tripping for concerts.
There's no excitement like an artist releasing tour dates. Except when you frantically scroll up and down the list of dates and don't see Minnesota. Especially when it comes to stadium shows, that means it's time to road trip (usually to Chicago since everyone goes there.)
If you had a choice, you wouldn't step foot in Target Center.
We all know how fun it is to step foot in Target Center. No railings, hard to get to, they're always redoing things. It's just a hassle to go to an event there. But, on the bright side they're under renovation so hopefully things will get better and going to Target Center will be more enjoyable,
All of our sports teams suck, but we still love them.
We have never won the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup or we never win much when it comes to sports. But we still love our sports teams indefinitely. No matter how much they let us down, we always forgive them and we still support them no matter what.
We go to 'Black' just to Instagram our food.
Black, the delicious coffee and waffle bar. It's a staple for young adults. But we all know you can't go there without instagramming your waffle.
We could care less about Nickelodeon Universe.
"They have a theme park in the middle of Mall Of America!!!" This might be a huge deal for tourists but to us locals, we could care less.
We all have an opinion over which Juicy Lucy is better.
The famous Juicy Lucy, a burger with cheese oozing out the middle. There has been a fight with locals over years wether the Juicy Lucy at Matt's or the 58 Club have a better Juicy Lucy.
Jingle Ball is like an obscure holiday.
Every December teens and young adults amongst the state look forward to KDWB's annual Jingle Ball. With artists like Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Fifth Harmony showing up, how could we not look forward to hearing the line-up every year?
We love our country music.
Minnesota loves their country music. With multiple Country festivals every day such as We Fest, we can't help but all gather together to celebrate the world of Country Music.
We've all sat at the Mall of America for some celebrity.
With Celebrities like Zac Efron, One Direction, The Hunger Games cast (just to name a few.) If you were a teen, you probably waited for some celebrity at the Mall of America. Wether you slept there over night or went to the mall at 3 in the morning. We're all guilty of sitting at the mall all day to see some star or another.
It's "Duck, duck, grey duck" not "Duck, duck, goose."
No matter what people say, its not "Duck, duck, goose." It's "Duck, duck, grey duck" there's no other way to say it except "duck, duck, grey duck."
People always tease you about your "accent"
It seems that people always notice our "accent." When we say words like "Minnesota" people always point out how we prolong our "O's." Sometimes it's just best to avoid words with "O's."
You always get questioned as to why you didn't go to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Whenever you say "I go to the University of Iowa" or some other school at isn't "the U" people can't help but ask why you don't go there. There's a variety of reasons as to why people don't choose to go to "the U." It can get tiresome explaining why you didn't go there.
You constantly wish Minnesota was as close to Iowa as Chicago is.
Iowa City is a good 4.5 — 5 hours away from the Twin Cities. To go home for the weekend can be a big hardship. If only we were as close as Chicago is to Iowa. Three and a half hours is a lot more tolerable than five hours.
Chicago and Wisconsin Dells are normal vacation spots as well as the Dakota's.
If the family says "road trip" you can bet it will involve somewhere in the Midwest. Chicago, Wisconsin Dells as well as North and South Dakota are vacation staples. They're close but they make for a nice weekend getaway.
You've eaten some sort of hot dish in your life time.
Tater tot hot dish, it might sound gross to some. It makes for a nice warm, home- cooked meal. If you give it a try, it's not as bad as it might seem.
You constantly look forward to the State Fair and Sweet Martha's Cookies.
The State fair is one of the best times of the year. Deep- fried candy bars, footlong hot dogs and what would the state fair be without Sweet Martha's cookies? Of course you have to get them. it wouldn't be the State fair without them.
You say "Pop" instead of "Soda."
One of the constant arguments amongst the United States. Your friends might say "soda" but to you, it will always be "pop."
People ask you what you're doing for the weekend and you say "Going Up North."
Wether it''s a cabin or a fishing/hunting trip, it's no surprise to hear that people are "going up north" for the weekend.
There's only two driving seasons; Winter and Construction.
If it's not winter, there's almost always construction on the roads. But theres one issue, you never see people working on the roads. Which in the summer, this can be a big issue with traffic.
Regardless of temperature, flip flop weather is any time there isn't snow on the ground.
If there's not snow on the ground, get out your flip flops because you know it's sandal weather.
When we hear "First Avenue" we don't think of the street we think of the venue.
It's hard to remember First Avenue is also a street name. First Avenue has events almost nightly that draw people downtown to the famous venue. Not only is it popular, but it is also where Prince had his first show.
Your out of state friends are shocked that you can go to the casino at 18.
"I can't go to the casino until I'm 21." Well that's too bad but here in Minnesota we spend our 18th birthdays out at the casino.
You go to the casino and cosmic bingo for fun.
It's not weird to go out to the casino for fun on the weekends. Plus with cosmic bingo, you can almost guarantee your friends will want to head out to Mystic Lake for an evening of fun.
