International Ambassadors

Minneapolis - St. Paul (also known as the Twin Cities) area is considered as one of the capitals for the arts. Therefore, I personally think I am in the right place because I enjoy both, performing and visual arts.

1. Downtown St. Paul
In the winter, St. Paul is active with the St. Paul Winter Carnival which showcases ice sculpting, winter food, and an ice palace. St. Paul is also the birthplace of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts). Schulz' Snoopy cartoon inspired decorated giant Peanuts sculptures around the city. The picture that appeared on my introduction of this blog is me with Charlie and Sally Brown (two of many characters from Peanuts). Here is the link to the museum’s collection of Peanuts books if you want to know more about it: http://www.schulzmuseum.org/collection-about.html

If you do not really enjoy arts but love sports, the Landmark Center that is also located in downtown St. Paul usually has an ice rink free to public. I went there during the day but some of my friends who went there on New Year's eve mentioned that it was very beautiful because they put up a lot of lights. If you like more extreme sports, you could definitely try to go skiing or snowboarding. Minnesota is the perfect place to ski or snowboard and there are a couple good resorts for those sports here. Don't forget about ice hockey too!!! I would suggest you to at least come to one ice hockey game while you are here.

Ohh, just for your information, my friends and I were interviewed by a reporter from Kare 11 (a local TV station) when we were skating. It was interesting because they wanted to know how international students like us handled the winter in Minne-snow-ta and we were being very honest in answering that ^o^ http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=493148

2. Downtown Minneapolis
As St. Paul is famous for its Winter Carnival, Minneapolis annually hosts The Holidazzle Parades which includes hundreds of costumed characters, thousands of tiny lights on the costumes, and the animated floats. The parades are held from the day after Thanksgiving until a couple days before Christmas on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

http://tcstreetsforpeople.org/node/573

I am sure there are more interesting places and events that could be visited during the winter break or all year round. Each person usually has their own ways in finding information about where it is and how to get there. I usually keep my eyes open when I walk around campus and ask friends if there is anything fun we could do for that weekend. So come and join us here in the fun to explore and experience Minne-snow-ta!!!

Salam,
-asa-