- They don't use toilet seat covers. We were in three different churches, various restaurants, and even the Mall of America...and no toilet seat covers. Sick. Although I got my squatting in...
- The suburbs of MN are kind of strange. Everything is new and nice...and BIG. It reminded me a lot of the really oversized signs and buildings of South Orange County...except the difference was that everything was really spread out. So instead of clusters of shopping/buildings, there would be one giant Best Buy, then, like 3 acres of green, and then a giant Target, followed by another 3 acres or more. It seemed kind of wasteful. You certainly couldn't have walked anywhere. Parking lots were huge. And, never filled. So, it was built to a scale that the population didn't seem to support. It was just odd.
- Streets/freeways were all really wide with many lanes...and relatively few cars. Again, built to support a lot more people than there are. So, the "bigness" seemed even bigger when it was empty. (I looked out the hotel window every morning at around 7-7:30, and the 8 lane freeways were wide open every morning).
- Their freeways are weird. For example, you find yourself with a map that tells you to take 35W, going North. Huh? How can you go North on a freeway that runs east/west? It's not really north, you know? Confusing. Even the guy at the car rental place couldn't explain it to us. "Just go with it", he tells us. Oh, and there are hardly any exits. Off ramps all take you to another freeway. So, if you saw a restaurant on the side of the freeway that you wanted to go to, you couldn't just take the next exit and back track to it...because you'd find yourself on another freeway for miles before you get to an actual street exit.
- Everyone drives really slow. The fastest I think we ever drove on the freeway was 60 mph. This was good for tourists who didn't know where they were going, but my CA driving would be frustrated quickly.
- There are hardly any trucks/pick ups. Everyone drove cars and minivans...and the occassional SUV. But, Chevy's, Ford's were so rarely seen, they actually stood out in the crowd. I don't think I saw a Toyota Tundra the entire week. I wonder why? Are there no contractors, gardeners? It was just little sedans everywhere.
- There were hardly any semi trucks. Made me realize how much industry California has.
- They have California Burgers and California Chicken Sandwiches on their menus...but we couldn't figure out why they were considered "Californian". No avocado, no bacon. In fact, I started craving avocado just because I couldn't seem to get it anywhere I went!
- There really are a ton of lakes everywhere! Big ones, little ones...everywhere you look there's another lake! Pretty cool.
1 year ago
24 comments:
how weird!
I love Minnesota! The true slow life. :)
Hi Jeannett,
Yes I do check your blog every once in awhile. :) I had to laugh at the funny things you mentioned about Minnesota and quite surprised you noticed them. The toilet seat cover thing never occured to me. Maybe because I don't need them majority of the time. You hit it right on with the "biggness" of everything. Freeways, houses, stores, airport, all seem to be built on anticipation as opposed to CA where everything is built on necessity. I think there just isn't a large population to fill the infrastructure they've built. California has many dense concentrated areas where as the twin cities just kinda sprawled out from downtown with no worry. The freeway naming system really bugged me too with their 35W and 32Z and 1ABC, etc. Their idea is that 35W is on the west side of downtown and 35E is on the east side. Don't know why they did that because it's just confusing. They did get one thing right though. Freeway exits are numbered and represent the mile marker for that freeway. So you always know how many miles you drove every time you pass an exit. A lot of the freeways go through residential areas so in order for them to be approved for construction, it was agreed that many of the maximum speed limits would be set to 55. I often find my self speeding. 55 on huge, wide lanes feels like a Sunday stroll. Yeah, not many pickups in the city area but outside everyone drives one. Lot's of lakes. TOO many. All that water makes LOTS of misquitos. Alright, I've written way too much.
Get Better, Jeannett!
Ben
Great and interesting post! Hmmm. The toilet seat cover thing, that seems weird.
I'd love to see you do one of these posts about Santa Maria!!
Ben-Yea, I notice all sorts of things like that. Being a planner by trade, I can't go anywhere or do anything without taking note of the spacial relationships and how things are layed out and what design is being used. It's kind of depressing actually. I can't just go somewhere and enjoy it without over analyzing it. Actually, one of my professors in college whimsically regrets going on a backpacking trip through Europe after he finished his Masters in Planning...he always wonders what it would be like to just go somewhere and see it how everyone else does. I totally do the same thing now.
Oh, and another thing I noticed. No stucco. All the buildings were either siding or brick. No Spanish anything. (Oh, and hardly any Hispanic people in general! I didn't hear a single word in Spanish the whole time!)
On the toilet seat cover issue...I think CA actually legally requires toilet seat covers to be present, although I can't seem confirm that information in the quick internet search I just did. Now that I've lived here for 5 years and gotten used to this luxury I sure do miss it when in other states!
Loved reading your observations!
What!!! Not a single word in spanish the whole time? Minnesota must be closer to heaven than Kalifornia!
Andrew...
what's wrong with spanish, andy?????
My bad, I turned the post into politics.
Here is what I think is wrong with spanish, as spoken in the United States, which is what I was referring to with the general use of the word "spanish" (so I apologize if offense was taken by my general use, here is what I was thinking):
Spanish is wrong when I am at McDonalds, and the person behind the counter can't take my order because they only speak spanish, and they speak to me in spanish expecting me to cater to them. Yes, this has happened to me.
Or vice versa, being in line at McDonalds (or any other service place, even albertsons) and the person in front of me cannot conduct business with the store because they want somebody to speak to them in spanish. I can't count how many times this has happened to me, especially in Santa Maria.
Spanish is wrong when one or two students hinder the learning and abilities of a ENTIRE classroom because they need somebody to teach them in spanish RATHER THAN SOMEBODY TEACHING THEM ENGLISH!
When people come over from European countries, even only for summers as students, per se, they know english, at least enough to conduct business and not hinder our economy. When an asian person does the same thing, or an asian family moves here, they usually (in my experiences) take the initiative to learn english before they hit our soil.
That is what "I" think is wrong with "spanish".
How on earth did my post on the lack of toilet seat covers in Minnesota turn into a politial debate???
Kristen-I take no responsibility for him. :)
LOL! I can see Jeannett shaking her head. "Andrew Robert Gibson!"
Ben
Andy, I take it you didn't take the day off yesterday to march? :)
sheesh, andy! you've got some things to say! i was just making sure you weren't offending my daughter. :)
i know what you're talking about. i've had similar experiences, but i don't know what the solution is.
jeanette, totally gross about toilet seat covers. but i've noticed that too when i've been out of state. thank goodness california has some sense. although, dr. oz on the oprah show said you actually can't get any diseases from sitting on a public toilet, and that in fact he doesn't use toilet seat covers. i still use toilet seat covers no mater what any doctor says.
Kristen it is true, you can't pick up any diseases (HIV, other STDs) from toilet seats. However I use the covers because the thought of sharing a toilet with strangers is just strange and a bit icky!
Yep, Andy often has things to say, which is why I think he should have a blog, but he refuses. It'd be an entertaining read for sure!
I think I am going to start a blog. We had one a while back, politicalpie, but we let it lapse. I think I'll get it going again, so everybody can read all of my conservative rants.
I do have a lot to say kristen, and I didn't want to offend your daughter, which is why I wanted to clarify myself because I was general in that first post, and then that clarification turned into a rant. It happens in my world.
I'm even getting called out on the carpet on other peoples blogs (Lara!).
you guys are too funny. i'm all for being passionate about something. i can't say politics floats my boat, but i'm glad it's more important to other people because without you political types we'd be nowhere in this world! rant away! (but maybe on your own blog... poor jeannett!)
hola, me llamo es lisa y estoy un poco triste. espanol es un langua bonita. si no entiendes espanol, puedes aprender. no hablo mucho espanol, pero hablo bastante para communicar con otros. donde esta el amor de christ???? si necesitas clses en espanol, hay mucho clases en santa maria para ti! :)
I seriously hope your being sarcastic lisa!!!! :)
i love you, lisa! you are precious! (you can help us brush up on our spanish for the sake of our little one!)
andy, i don't think she's being sarcastic. no offense (please), but has anyone ever told you that you're harsh?! :) way to speak your mind and be real! seriously, get your own blog.
side note, lisa. mike and i used to write entire emails to each other in spanish back in high school (after all, our friends/romance started in spanish class--to clarify, it was "friendship" for me and "romance" for him). i miss being able to do that, but i did understand what you wrote!
I'm frank and straight. No BS or beating around the bush from me.
interesting tidbit for andy...
we went to chilli peppers with the borlands tonight and there were flyers (written in spanish) for english classes. it was sponsored by mercy church, and i remember hearing about this. the classes are free. i think this is so great of mercy church to step up and offer a service like this. here are some christians seeing a need and doing something about it.
Interesting observations. I live in Minnesota and was just googling what the rest of the world knows us Minnesotans for...
True - many establishments lack toilet seat covers. They were a fad for a while and I believe you can still find them at the airport.
We do have bad traffic, unfortunately. I wish your view was more of my reality. I could definitely see how it would seem much slower compared to CA.
Did you know there is some ridiculous percentage that like 84% of native MN's stay in the state or come back for the rest of their lives. We like it here.
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