Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes known for the Great Minnesota Get Together, Caribou Coffee, cold weather, and “Minnesota Nice.” If you’re a true Minnesotan you will know the following things to be true.

1. Snow days

In the winter it is common to sit by the TV and watch school cancelations scroll at the bottom of the screen. You wait impatiently for your school to be announced, hoping for a snow day.

2. A rivalry with Wisconsin

It’s just natural to hate those cheeseheads.

3. Shoveling the snow off your car

Having to wake up 15 minutes earlier just to brush the snow and scrape the ice off your car is a hassle. Although true, it’s necessary so you can actually see when you’re driving.

4. It’s “duck, duck, grey duck”

Not duck, duck, goose. Come on people, get it right.

5. “Can I order a pop?

It’s pop, not soda.

6. Long goodbyes

Might as well add on another 45 minutes to every gathering because that’s how long it will take to say goodbye. Minnesotans are pros at long goodbyes.

7. The wrath of mosquitos

Those evil little bugs leave itchy bumps all over your body. It’s almost impossible to escape mosquitos in the summer months.

8. The Mall of America

MOA is the place to avoid during the holiday season, or maybe at all times. But, if you have a love for shopping (and a love for large crowds of people) Mall of America is the place for you. Often, when meeting people for the first time from out of state they’ll ask you “Oh wow have you been to the Mall of America before???”

9. 10,000 lakes

In Minnesota, we are incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so many lakes. These bodies of water bring endless amounts of fun with wakeboarding, tubing, wake surfing and water skiing. "Going out on the lake” is a common household phrase.

10. Wearing shorts in 50-degree weather

After six months of the freezing cold, every Minnesotan is eager to break out the shorts when the snow melts and the sun appears in the spring.

11. “Ope”

That noise all Minnesotans make when they have to get past someone or accidentally bump into someone.

12. Sweet Martha’s Cookies

The best part about going to the Minnesota State Fair is the heavenly Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Did you really go to the Great Minnesota Get Together if you didn’t get a bucket of them?

13. You get criticized for how you say “bag.”

This is a hot debate, but is it seriously that important?

14. Cabins

Are you really from Minnesota if you or a family member doesn’t have a cabin up north? Going to the cabin is always a fun weekend getaway in the summer.

15. You can handle the ever-changing weather

One day it will be 45 degrees and sunny and the next day it's 25 and snowing. It’s important to know how to appropriately dress for the weather because you never know what to expect.

There is something so special about being a Minnesotan. Yes, we may complain about the cold weather and constant construction but when asked, we are proud to say we grew up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes while being raised the “Minnesota Nice” way.