1. That A Vikings-Packers Game Is Not To Be Missed Under Any Circumstances
There is no greater rival for the Minnesota Vikings than those Cheese-slash-lunk-heads out in Green Bay. Everyone knows that wearing horns is superior than a block of foam cheese any day.
Super Bowl stats be damned, Vikings fans love to kowtow to Adrian Peterson and the color purple immeasurably. Just be careful who you mention Brett Favre or Randy Moss to.
2. When The World’s Best State Fair Is
The 12-day, life-changing event that is the Minnesota State Fair will, if nothing else, help you realize the myriad uses for butter there are in the world, from deep-frying it to making likenesses of famous people out of it.
3. How To Make Time For The Outdoors
Not hiking, not biking and not spending half of your life in the beautiful nature of Minnesota is not an option.
Minneapolis was ranked over notable competitors like Portland this past year for the best bicycling, and the hiking up on the North Shore has won it’s fair share of accolades, as well.
Grab some friends and go bouldering up around Superior, Kekakabic, Sioux Hustler, Border Route…
4. How Much Better Fish Dinner Is When It’s Caught Under Two Feet Of Ice
Ice fishing is one of the hardest things a person can do—even if they bring along their Barcalounger.
Something about camping in a bathroom-less fish house for a couple of days, drilling through two feet of packed ice, all for perhaps a solitary foot-long fish is nothing short of harrowing. Tilt your fur-lined cap to them.
5. Regardless Of Where You Live, Lake Living Is The Best Living
Whether you’re biking around one, taking the boat out, fishing in the pristine waters, taking a dip, kicking back on the shore and catching up on that novel, any amount of time spent in proximity to Minnesota’s favorite body of water is well spent.
6. Ten Easy Ways To Get Your Car Out Of A Snow Drift
The whole list might be something for a different article, but rest assured that after your first Minnesota winter, you’ll never break a sweat extricating your car from an icy patch again.
The weirdest one we’ve ever encountered? Cat litter under the front tires creates enough traction to get you back on the road again.
7. What The Strangest, Most Awe-Inspiring Geography Looks Like
The Driftless area, which lies at Southeast Minnesota and bleeds into Wisconsin and Iowa as well, is named not for a lack of snow (c’mon, we’re still in Minnesota), but for the fact that, way, way, wayyy back in the Ice Age, this spot was missed completely by the glaciers that formed the famous lakes of Minnesota.
What results are huge hills (or are they mountains?), a complete transformation into the world’s weirdest mountain range, the Baraboos, all which must be seen to be believed.
8. How To Make Friends With Locals (Who Still Have Their Group From Kindergarten)
It’s no small feat getting into a native Minnesotan’s inner circle. Everyone will always be friendly, make no mistake, but becoming someone’s best friend is another story.
Everyone who grew up in Minnesota, for the most part, has kept their friends from childhood close. Just keep hanging out—you’ll be like family yourself in no time.
9. The Correct Usage Of “Uff Da!”
While we’re airing some Minnesotan grievances, not everyone has that infamous dialect, but even non-Scandinavians know what “uff da” means.
Whether you just finished a marathon, a terrible day at work, or just reached the limit of your ability to deal, a hearty “uff da” will help your neighbors commiserate.
10. An Impressive Distrust For Anything Wisconsin-Related
The Green Bay Packers alone are enough to draw any Minnesotan’s ire, but there’s so much else wrong with Wisconsin that you’ll quickly learn once you’re here: Minnesotans drive better, have hotdish over brats and, generally speaking, and have better ice cream than their eastern counterparts. But the cheese curds come from Wisconsin, which is always a fair point.
11. That Fargo Is Not Actually In Minnesota
Anyone who's seen the flick "Fargo" knows that only the first bit takes place in the eponymous city—which is in North Dakota, for the record—but if an out-of-stater even attempts to insinuate the city is inside Minnesota's state borders, they're going to be corrected, quickly.
12. The Once-In-A-Lifetime Fright Of A Mayfly Storm
Granted, these are few and far between and thank goodness for that. Every so often in the summer, a whole horde of mayflies will pop up out of the water and form immense clouds around the state—sometimes so thick that they cause car accidents! Keep that bug spray handy!
13. What It Feels Like To Be The Best Fan In Baseball
The new Target Field is a worthy pilgrimage for any baseball fan, and it’s well-known that everyone in Minneapolis would die to meet everyone’s favorite hometown All Star, Joe Mauer.
Actually, a recent report fromsports blogger Martin Kelinbard for CBS Minnesota placed Twins fans at the top of the stack.
14. That Anything You Want You’ll Find In The Twin Cities
The Twin Cities have so much going for them, but the long and short of it is that you get the best of both worlds in Minneapolis-St. Paul. An arts scene that is surprisingly huge for the area (second highest number of theaters outside of NYC), wonderful food abounding, great bicycling and public transportation options and a bunch of young professionals helping put Minneapolis on the map great cities to live in.
15. That A Visit To The North Shore Is Worth Every Penny
Minnesota’s outdoors rival all others easily, and the north shore is a mecca for hikers, bikers, climbers, boulderers—if it’s in the REI catalogue, chances are it was shot up here.
16. The Superiority Of Minnesotan Cheese
Minnesota has a penchant for staggering cheese-based innovation—take the Jucy Lucy, for instance, a cheeseburger with the cheese cooked inside of the juicy patty, right where cheese was always destined to be.
17. That In The Land Of 10,000 Lakes, Duluth Has The Best One
It’s hard to compete, on a basic size comparison, with Lake Superior, and northern Duluth has the best view of this Greatest of Lakes. Recently named the Best Town by “Outdoors” magazine, Duluth is a jewel of the North Country. It’s main attraction? The miles and miles of gorgeous trails surrounding the town.
18. That Lefse Beats Out Tortillas and Naan Any Day
Lefse is a Scandinavian flatbread that goes great with pretty much anything, but even alone, with a healthy smattering of butter and syrup, it's a guaranteed day-brightener for any Minnesotan.
19. How To Tell An Awesome Lena And Ole Joke
“Ole is on his deathbed. The doctor has told him he has only a few hours to live. He catches the scent of his favorite bars wafting through the air. With all the strength he can muster, he drags himself into the kitchen and sees a fresh pan cooling on the rack. He cuts one out and bites into the scrumptious cookie. Lena comes in, smacks his hand, and says “Shame on you, Ole! Dese are for after de funeral!”
Those Scandinavian forefathers knew how to yuck it up.
20. That The World’s Coolest Dude Is Also The Tallest
Paul Bunyan is a hero of American folklore, but Minnesotans have a particularly spot in their giant hearts for the gentle giant.
With three statues taller than the tales everyone’s favorite lumberjack sprang from, an entire Paul Bunyan Land operating all summer in Brainerd and the undeniable statewide affection for guys in beards and flannel, Minnesotans definitely rank as the biggest fans of Mr Bunyan and his blue ox.
21. A Newfound Appreciation For Nature’s Finest Bird
The state bird, the loon, has a scarlet red-eyes, striking plumage and, above all, is the cutest, most sociable bird out there. Nothing is more soothing in the morning than hearing their call filtering into your window.
22. What Top Class Medical Treatment Feels Like
In the heart of Rochester lies the Mayo Clinic, voted the best medical foundation in the entire country. What makes the Mayo Clinic so great, besides its inevitable association with delicious condiments? How about it’s top ranking in everything from Gynecology to Geriatrics (that’s right, they’ll keep you healthy, affordably, from the cradle to the grave!)
23. What Good Music Actually Sounds Like
All Prince & Dylan fans know this from way back, but Minnesotans also lay claim to some other excellent music scenes. Minnesota's hip hop scene is especially impressive thanks to DOOMTREE, a collective of underground hip hop artists, that could teach Kanye a thing or two.
24. That Bachmann Could Give Voldemort A Run For His Crazy Money
Without dipping too heartily into any quotation from the factually challenged Minnesotan politician, let’s just say that as much as she scares the rest of the country, she had a long tenure of freaking out Minnesotan voters before she made her debut on the national stage. Moving on…
25. An Appreciation For People Who Can Stomach Lutefisk
Lutefisk is a fishy food that many Minnesotans enjoy, and praise them for it. It’s a gelatinous fish paste that’s made with poison, and anyone who eats it willingly—even enjoys it—is worthy of your utmost respect.
26. What A Real Hipster Looks Like
This term has been done to death—so much so that we’re not even sure what constitutes a hipster anymore. But with Minnesota’s recent Buzzfeed-endorsed ranking as the most hipster state, it seems like as good a place as any to start.
Might we suggest Northeast Minneapolis for starters? Look for the flannel-clad, bearded PBR drinker.
27. The Best Way To Make Independent Films
Between Oscar-nominated heavyweights Diablo Cody and the Coen Brothers, Minnesota has done more than its fair share to entertain and edify filmgoers since the mid-’90s.
28. That Entertainers Make The Best Governmental Leaders
Everyone knows Jesse Ventura, pro-wrestler, and Al Franken, pro-writer and former SNL star, from their respective careers in the spotlight, but their fifteen minutes hardly ended after they moved on to greener, Minnesotan pastures.
Jesse Ventura did much to support Minnesota’s reputation as a progressive Midwestern state, and Al Franken continues that legacy on the national level.
29. How To Be Tough, Be Kind, And Enjoy The Best Beer
Between the buggy summers and super cold winters, Minnesotans have thick skins and big hearts. When everyone has to endure the same polar vortex, everyone grows that much closer (something places with year-round sun don’t really get), and everything gets a silver lining. Three feet of snow? Automatic Hamm’s cooler!
What’s something you learned living in Minnesota? Tell us in the comments below! 
