Is It Really That Hard to Make Friends in Minnesota? (Minneapolis: job transfer, shops)
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I already experience some of that now. I tend to make comments that many people don't agree with, and then some people do not call me for a while. I have made friends that either agree with me or at least accept me for the views that I have. The PC relationships and people not calling, well, I experience that in Georgia, so it isn't that much different. As for snow, well, if it is snowing, you can bet that I will be outside doing something.I don't want to be indoors when it is cold and snowing. I want to be outdoors where the snow is.
If MN is big on the environment, a big plus for me. I get angry when I see litter on the side of the road. In GA there are rules against this and fines if you litter, but it is either rarely enforced, or some people just don't care and will litter anyway. I think the social programs are a good thing. My father has been laid off in GA and unemployment compensation is pitiful. I think of it this way: If you work hard and then get laid off, there should be a safety net for you when you fall and a way to get back on your feet. This reigns true especially now.
I think of it this way: I am single, 23 years old, love snow and cold weather, intellectual, kind of a "weirdo" at heart, I can be shy at times but I can work it out somehow. I like order and cleanliness. I will shovel someone's driveway if necessary. What might be good for me may not be good for someone else.
I don't think the quote that Minnesotans don't go outside during the winter is even remotely true (you replied to that one). When it snows or is cold, we spend just as much time outside (which is why MN consistently ranks as one of the healthiest states in the country-we stay active in the winter). Whether it is skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowshoeing, sledding, hockey(outdoor hockey instead of playing the the arena is making a huge comeback in this state), most of us get outdoors, or we would never leave the house. We may not like it all the time, but it is something we kind of grow to enjoy.
True, Minnesota tends to be lean more in the liberal/moderate dem/ or independent area in politics. We have some amazing political figures that have come out of MN. We may be one of the highest ranked when it comes to taxes, but it goes to our schools and roads, the environment and health care. We tend to be willing to pay more to get better services. It is a very clean state, at least compared to the rest of the country that I have seen (mostly the west). About the time it doesn't look particularly great is right away in the spring, because no one is going to pick trash up in the middle of the winter.
It sounds like you might really fit in here. I wouldn't worry about making friends. If you have family in the TC, that's a really good starting point. It's not a small hick town like the town of 200 I live in.
Minneapolis is among my top cities to move to when I finish school. I also have family in Mpls, so it helps. I like the hockey part. I hear the state fair has reuben sandwich on a stick. I am also familiar with Garrison Keillor, because I get his show on NPR.
As for the making friends part, I don't know how I will do because I have only been to the TC area and that was to visit family.
The Minnesota Fair is great. Think of pretty much any type of food, and you can find it on a stick at the fair. Every year, there is more and more. It's a lot of fun. Oh, and if you know who Garrison Keillor is and like hockey, you will fit in just fine.
I don't think the quote that Minnesotans don't go outside during the winter is even remotely true (you replied to that one). When it snows or is cold, we spend just as much time outside (which is why MN consistently ranks as one of the healthiest states in the country-we stay active in the winter). Whether it is skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowshoeing, sledding, hockey(outdoor hockey instead of playing the the arena is making a huge comeback in this state), most of us get outdoors, or we would never leave the house. We may not like it all the time, but it is something we kind of grow to enjoy.
True, Minnesota tends to be lean more in the liberal/moderate dem/ or independent area in politics. We have some amazing political figures that have come out of MN. We may be one of the highest ranked when it comes to taxes, but it goes to our schools and roads, the environment and health care. We tend to be willing to pay more to get better services. It is a very clean state, at least compared to the rest of the country that I have seen (mostly the west). About the time it doesn't look particularly great is right away in the spring, because no one is going to pick trash up in the middle of the winter.
It sounds like you might really fit in here. I wouldn't worry about making friends. If you have family in the TC, that's a really good starting point. It's not a small hick town like the town of 200 I live in.
I figured the "Minnesotans don't go outside in winter" thing had to be at least mythical. Where I live I can't get anything but indoor ice rinks. As for the clean factor, I like clean. I try to wrap my mind around why a person would want to litter.
I do know some of your politicians, such as Hubert H. Humphrey, Harold Stassen, Sharon Belton, Fritz Mondale. I know Minnesota has ranked high in education. Sounds like a good place to raise children. In some ways liberal politics can be a good thing.
As for fitting in, if I decide to leave for the Twin Cities, my first priority would be to find a job after college.
The Minnesota Fair is great. Think of pretty much any type of food, and you can find it on a stick at the fair. Every year, there is more and more. It's a lot of fun. Oh, and if you know who Garrison Keillor is and like hockey, you will fit in just fine.
I do know Garrison Keillor and I have been to hockey games.
One thing I want to try at the MN state fair is the reuben on a stick. I heard about lefse being served there. I can't say for sure.
I lived for many years outside of Minnesota and met Minnesotans everywhere I went. They're definitely out there - I even worked with someone in California who had lived a block away from me when we both were in MN (didn't know him then). Some of my fellow high school classmates (many of them who do live elsewhere, not just in the United States but around the world) are starting to move back to MN for practical reasons; it's much more affordable than many of the other bigger cities, yet offers a good quality of life. I've met my share of provincial Minnesotans - but then again I also met plenty of people like that in other states, too.
You're going to find people from everywhere anywhere you go, but I felt there's more transplants out there from other states than MN. An example would be here in Chicago. Of all the people I meet in my peer group, I'd say at least 30-40% are from Michigan and Ohio. That's because college graduated are having a hard time finding job opportunities in those state due to the high unemployment rates compared to the rest of the nation. Also, Michigan and Ohio have some large colleges that many Chicago companies will recruit from directly on campus.
I'd say I run into just as many Minnesotans as people from any other state here, but Michigan and Ohio, as well as New York and Boston, are by far the most common.
Minneapolis has good social structures, so it's hard to see why a lot of people would leave.
You're going to find people from everywhere anywhere you go, but I felt there's more transplants out there from other states than MN. An example would be here in Chicago. Of all the people I meet in my peer group, I'd say at least 30-40% are from Michigan and Ohio. That's because college graduated are having a hard time finding job opportunities in those state due to the high unemployment rates compared to the rest of the nation. Also, Michigan and Ohio have some large colleges that many Chicago companies will recruit from directly on campus.
I'd say I run into just as many Minnesotans as people from any other state here, but Michigan and Ohio, as well as New York and Boston, are by far the most common.
Minneapolis has good social structures, so it's hard to see why a lot of people would leave.
Alot of people are having a hard time getting a job anywhere. Hopefully, the social structures can make survival a bit less harrowing.
"Minnesota Nice" is the locals way of sugarcoating their passive-aggresive temperament. I loved my time there and made good friends, but they can be very standoffish and hate being cornered to give a yes or a no to anything. As a born and bred kid from LA, the BS drove me crazy and I moved to where the weather and people are warmer...IOWA!
As with anywhere, making friends depends on the kind of friend you are I suppose. Southeast MN is my homeland, and although I left four years ago and have lived all over ever since, I still have a very solid family of friends back home. I return every year because we're still so close. There is a stereotypical image of "Minnesota nice," but Minnesotans are as diverse as anyone. It's a huge state. I think you could find any type of person there, though I think there is an overwhelming kindness that permeates throughout. If you make good friends there, you keep them. I really love Minnesota and could easily raise my family there if I weren't so curious about the rest of the world.
I have lived in minnesota all my life, and I love it.... I have been all over the country and I can't compare it to any other place. The people will always give you a hand with whatever you need, whether it is snow blowing or a tow out of the ditch. Yeah, some minnesota people are somewhat hard to "crack" but it they are for the most part kind hearted people.
You can't beat the outdoor sports either... the pristine forests in the north great for hunting, 15000 lakes for fishing, flyfishing in the south, and 1/5 people own a boat. Not to mention highly athletic, modest people. I can't remember the last time I spent less that 4hrs a day playing hockey during the winter
I love this place and will never move anywhere else.
I have lived in Minnesota almost all my life, so I'll offer an inside perspective. The key to having a social life in Minnesota seems to be finding your way into a clique at an early age - middle or high school, or perhaps even the dorms in college, or marrying into one. I never really found my way into a clique in high school (although some people from my lunch table invited me to do stuff, etc.) and was a commuter student at a small college, so you could say I'm socially "screwed" (for lack of a better word). I try to chat people up on Facebook, and am sometimes successful, but almost never receive text messages or calls from anybody else other than my mother.
"Minnesota Nice" exists in reality, but it's not so much friendliness as politeness: offering help to stranded motorists, smiling, having good manners, etc. Minnesotans are often very polite on the surface, but once you get deeper than that, they're actually NOT friendlier than any other group in the country and certainly NOT more open. Travel almost anywhere aside from some parts of Europe and people are "warmer" and more "open" than Minnesotans. A disadvantage for the unconnected stranger or the disenfranchised local, certainly. But if you look at it from a normal local's perspective, it's actually a great advantage, since friendships, where they exist, have a great depth to them, enhanced by going back a long way.
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