From the Midwest

Here is what I have to look forward to. You know you're a Minnesotan (or Minneapolitan...Minneapolite?) if:

1. If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by
2. If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation
3. If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too spendy"
4. If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March
5. If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there
6. If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time
7. If your town has an equal number of bars and churches
8. If you know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, Cloquet, Edina, and Shakopee
9. If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy
10. If vacation means going "up north" for the weekend
11. If you measure distance in hours
12. If you know several people who have hit deer more than once
13. If you often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day... and back again
14. If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching
15. If you see people wearing hunting clothes at social events
16. If you install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked
17. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit
18. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow
19. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction
20. You know how to prounce the following: Eagan, Mendota Heights, Plymouth, Lake Calhoun, Osseo, Osceola, Chisago, & Vadnais Heights
21. You call the University of Minnesota the "U of M" or simply "the U"
22. Your Saturday afternoon might be spent at the Mall of America
23. You're fascinated by the ice sculptures
24. You know that 694 is the north half of the loop and 494 is the south half
25. You can distinguish between the following area codes: 612, 651, 763, 952, etc…
26. You know who Sven Sundgaard is
27. One word: Dinkytown
28. You've been to the Renaissance Festival
29. You know what the Guthrie Theater is
30. You know what Paul Bunyan's Log Chute is
31. You've shopped at Herberger's or Bloomingdale's before

From the northwest

Here, for your reading pleasure - and mine - is a list of some ways you'll know if you're from Seattle or from the Northwest in general. I gathered these from a bunch of other places. Ah, the northwest. =)

1. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.
2. You use the expression "sun break" and know what it means.
3. You know more than ten ways to order coffee.
4. You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.
5. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
6. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "walk" signal.
7. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it's not a real mountain.
8. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.
9. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon and Willamette.
10. In winter, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark--while only working eight-hour days.
11. You obey all traffic laws except "keep right except to pass."
12. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
13. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain" and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers." Can't wait for a day with "Showers and sun breaks."
14. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
15. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's
16. You say "the mountain is out" when it's a pretty day and you can actually see it.
17. You switch to your sandals when it gets above 60, but keep the socks on.
18. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you can't find the old ones after such a long time.
19. You've scraped your icy car windows with a credit card.
20. You've "shoveled" your driveway with a whisk broom or dust pan.
21. You don't think twice about wearing Teva sandals, blaze yellow Gortex, rip-stop pants to a nice steakhouse.
22. You don't go to work for a whole week if there's 2 inches of snow.
23. You know what "Keep Clam" is from.
24. You recycle everything possible and think people who don't are criminally irresponsible.
25. You'll always like watching the fish throwers at Pike Place.
26. You don't wear high heels/hose or neckties, pretty much ever.
27. You've experienced firsthand the difference between "water-resistant" and "water-proof" clothing.
28. You know Seattle actually gets less annual rainfall than NYC and that summer is amazingly perfect.
29. You don't tell too many people because than it will get even more crowded here than it already is.
30. You personally know someone who owns a boat.
31. You have a giant moss carpet outside your house, not a lawn.
32. Your bathroom has black mold somewhere.
33. You don't iron your clothes.
34. You've tried lutefisk.
35. You don't need to call a computer specialist for home computer problems because you or someone you know can fix it.
36. You've been in subterranean downtown Seattle via "The Underground Tour"
37. You've been on most of the ferry routes and missed ferries by just a few seconds.
38. You expect people to come to complete stops in highway merge lanes.
39. You've bought something really good from Value Village.
40. You've seen bald eagles and orca whales in the wild.
41. You know University of Washington is known as "udub", not "u of w" or "uw".
42. You know where all the free wireless is.
43. You never have a real tan but you do get badly sunburned at least once every year.

Cold

I never want to hear that word again! As people have been finding out that we're moving to Minneapolis, it's all anyone can say. "It's cold there!" "Why would you want to move there, it's cold!" "Did you know it was cold there?"

Yes!! I've heard that! Enough already! It's like everyone telling me it's rainy in Seattle (which it isn't really). In fact, Minneapolis certainly isn't the coldest place in the world.

The top 10 coldest places in the world:

1	Vostok, Antarctica	-128.6
2	Plateau Station, Antarctica	-119.2
3	Oymyakon, Russia	-96.0
4	Verkhoyansk, Russia	-89.8
5	Northice, Greenland	-86.8
6	Eismitte, Greenland	-84.8
7	Snag,Yukon, Canada	-81.4
8	Prospect Creek, Alaska, US	-79.8
9	Fort Selkirk, Yukon, Canada	-74.0
10	Rogers Pass, Montana, US	-69.7

Followed by the top 10 coldest places in the US:

1	Fargo, ND	-2.3°F
2	St. Cloud, MN	-1.2°F
3	Bismarck, ND	-0.6°F
4	Duluth, MN	1.1°F
5	Blaine, MN	1.8°F
5	Coon Rapids, MN	1.8°F
7	Maple Grove, MN	2.8°F
7	Minnetonka, MN	2.8°F
7	Plymouth, MN	2.8°F
10	Sioux Falls, SD	2.9°F

Minneapolis does make it on this list - at #15! So yeah, it's cold - but it's not the coldest place. =)

Patience

I'll be posting here soon enough, so patience! This blog will start out with the differences between the Northwest and Midwest - specifically Seattle and Minneapolis. I'll be moving to Minneapolis in March and I hear it's a bit different from Seattle (and not just the weather!). But more on that later...