With Walz officially the VP now, what things do we need to explain to those who only see MN as a flyover state? The DFL party? Duck, Duck, Grey Duck? Our pride in our confederate flag? Lutheran sushi? Hotdish? Talking about the ‘91 Halloween blizzard? Ice fishing?
The DFL party - In the 40’s, our state Democratic Party merged with our Farmer-Laborer Party.
Duck, Duck, Grey Duck - it may be closer to the original game imported from Sweden also, we like that you can have fun with fakeouts like “Green Duck”
Our pride in our confederate flag - MN was the first state to commit an infantry to the US Civil War. During Gettysburg we captured the 28th Virginia battle flag. We refuse to return it.
Lutheran sushi - it’s a delicious and ubiquitous snack here.
Hotdish - usually, the casserole is the dish, hotdish is the meal item itself. Tator Tot hotdish is a classic of the art.
Talking about the ‘91 Halloween blizzard - if they are Gen X or Elder Millennial it was a foundational moment growing up.
Ice fishing - drill a hole in the ice on a lake and bullshit with friends while waiting for fish to bite. Often alcohol is involved.
Minnesotans tend to be polite, which results in continually leaving half of whatever bit of food is left, since we don’t want to eat the last of it. Since Prince has passed away, we’ve taken to calling this “leaving some for Prince”.
Also, at the potluck you put your plate in the garbage with the food side down so Aunt Margaret doesn’t see that you didn’t touch the Ramen salad she made again this year.
Also, even if you did eat everything, you help others out by maintaining the practice.
Minnesota is my newishly adopted home.
I’ve been here for a little less than a year now.
Everybody’s real chatty. And I thought I came from a pretty chatty place.
Like I’ll have a five minute convo with the cashier at the grocery store. This is a lot for me lol.
If you’re polite you can easily get the skinny on the best restaurants and/or where to get coats, etc.
Edit: adding more things as I think of them…
This blew my mind driving out to Rochester one day: https://religionsmn.carleton.edu/exhibits/show/wattmunisotaram/introduction
You’re just driving out in the sticks and then BAM! BUDDHIST TEMPLE!
Also we have Mayo, which I don’t think enough people know about.
There’s also Wat Promwachirayan up in the cities, which has a lovely Sunday market
I’ve only been to the airport on a layover, but my two favorite things about Minnesota are Atmosphere, and Information Society.
Rhyme Sayers peak underground hip hop for ages. Miss me some SoundSet, so many good acts every year.
Well, now I’m interested in all of the above
Duck duck grey duck is like duck duck goose, but better. You can call out a multitude of colors/adjectives, but only the grey duck starts the chase. This flexibility makes it better.