Today was another beautiful day in central Minnesota. It’s been three weeks since I moved here. In those three weeks I’ve generally got over missing California and do not miss San Francisco in the least. From my kitchen I can watch the sunset; something I often do. It’s also nice having a balcony. The view isn’t overly memorable. A car park, trees, bushes, two roads, etc. Yet the light is beautiful. In the afternoons my flat is bright, so bright that I almost have to draw the curtains.
My life has established itself into a pleasant, predictable order. I have a work schedule, a course schedule, and a study schedule. In between the three I have enough time to do something, be it listen to music, go through the St Cloud city centre, or simply go to grocer’s to buy a few things. The music, as some of you may know, isn’t to everyone’s liking. But, considering that no mob has yet lynched me, it obviously isn’t too atrocious.
The city centre is modest but pleasant. The majority of buildings date to the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Stone and brick constructions, they’ve held up against the elements well. The stores are nothing too impressive, but they’re not helpless, either. The one music store has a fair selection of things, but one that requires eBay or Amazon to complement it. The restaurants are passable. I would not say that any are especially notable, but most are not the stuff of nightmares, either.
The most remarkable things about life in Minnesota are the Mississippi River and the people. The Mississippi is really an unremarkable thing. Despite its profound length, it does not make itself known to be anything other than an average river. Still, there is something to do — there is this draw, this sense that one has seen something worth seeing.
The people have been the most pleasant. The accent is not as pronounced as one might suppose. Central and Metropolitan Minnesota do not have strong accents. The northern woods and the rural west are said to have a more pronounced Nordic inflexion, though.
The people in general have been very pleasant. While notoriously passive-aggressive, they have seemed content to treat me with respect and kindness while leaving me in peace. It’s simply now a matter of getting used to not being at war with those around me, not having to fight for every last inch. Things come together more easily here, life is more humane.
I get on with my boss well and he’s made my life much easier. He is also my main mentor for my graduate thesis — increasingly a work on Neo-Confucianism in Korea and Japan. I’ve been fortunate to have found a second professor who is eager to actively assist me both find resources, review the quality of resources, and tell me if my work is absolute and utter rubbish. Isn’t it better to learn that from a friendly source before going to the university directors for less sympathetic scrutiny?
Boadicea's Chariot 
Nice to see you’re setttling in. No doubt you’re already planning your moves to cope with the infamous winters.
I have good friends here from Minnesota. I will ask them what is within reasonable distance worth seeing from you.
Glad it is working out, it sounds a much more gentle lifestyle after California and none the worse for that!
You sound as though you are settling in nicely. It sounds a less frenetic place than California.
Sunsets are very soothing to the soul. When I lived in Darwin, I could watch the sunrise out of the sea, turn my chair round and watch the sunset into the sea.
Good that you have found academics prepared to help.Enjoy yourself!
Sounds as if your work and life are going well, christopher, and I hope it continues so.
Upon my confirmation more than forty years ago, my vicar gave me a Book of Common Prayer dedicated with the inscription, “May you live all the days of your life.” Good advice which I have tried my best to follow. Looks like you’re doing it too.
OZ
Christopher, welcome to the REAL America, I am sure you will find lots to like about St. Cloud (including the locals). Stay away from the big cities, which means you will be OK anywhere in the state including M-SP.
Janus: lately the winters have not been too severe, and this year the forecast is for another mild year.
Still, I will be in California for a bit before heading off to Germany and the UK. Still warmer than Minnesota!
CO: the best part of living in St Cloud is that it’s far enough away from the cities, Minneapolis-St Paul to not have to deal with the traffic or congestion but still close enough to be able to get there easily. It’s also the main base for sight-seeing in central Minnesota as it’s well-connected.
Boadicea: well, my situation isn’t quite that nice but it’s still acceptable. The cloud formations in Minnesota are really stunning, though. As it’s part of the Great Plains/Prairie, clouds do not get slowed down or altered by mountains or high hills.
Sheona: thank you.
OZ: my life isn’t quite that exciting, it’s generally very quite — even dull. But after the insanity and misery of San Francisco just having a peaceful life and a pleasant place to live is a godsend. I’ll take a pleasant, but jaded, ennui over that any day.
LW: the nearest major city is Chicago which, fortunately, I’ve found ways to avoid. The only time I need to get close to a major city is next summer. I refuse to step foot in San Francisco again, so I will need to go to Los Angeles to get access to the Korean library there for research purposes.
Christopher – Judging by the photograph of yourself you once posted you are far too young for the quiet [sic] life. My next big ‘O’, on the other hand, is a rapidly approaching 60 – I’m almost in LW and OMG territory. 🙂 However, been there, done that and bought the t-shirt, as they say, but these days I rarely want even to go off the hill, much to the chagrin of the NSW. Go for it! It’s a big world out there!
OZ
OZ: my life is interesting enough. I do not need the drama or the headaches. Be it cake in Copenhagen or yakitori in Hiroshima, there is enough in my life to keep me busy.
It does sound as though you are settling in nicely, Christopher.
I dare say that you will eventually miss some aspects of life in SF, but this sounds so different, and rather less frantic.
Minty: truthfully, no, not really. There were some nice stores, there were a few decent museums. I really liked the Japanese language school, too. There were some good restaurants. It wasn’t completely bad, but I do not intend to go back. From the beginning it was misery. I could get no peace, I could get no quiet. The idiot neighbour nearly killed me a few times. I was assaulted, stalked, harangued, pushed, provoked, insulted, and degraded. Really, the only thing that there was to do in San Francisco was eat and shop. In the end I gained 2 stone and spent far too much money. Even at the very end, someone I thought was a friend took off with $300.00.
Ah, not much too miss, I agree. St Cloud sounds decidedly more civilised, Christopher.
Chris I agree with you re cities. I decided I’d had them in my late twenties and never lived in one again. Bunked off to the country from whence I came and avoid them like the plague! They have very little that I can actually be bothered to go see. My idea of hell would be to fly somewhere for a short term city break!
Much rather live in the greenhouse for three days with the dogs!
When I get to Heathrow I can’t wait to get to Wales, get on the bus as fast as possible and sleep to the border! Then sing Land of my Fathers!
CO: I admit to having developed a fondness for some cities. Tokyo, which at first I loathed, I’ve come to appreciate more. Seoul is fun for a few days, Hong Kong is good for a short holiday as well. It’s easier to get around and life is more convenient, but people… So many bloody people! I’ve been told that I have a good chance of getting a decent job in rural southern Taiwan where I could have a comfortable life without much stress and also learn Taiwanese and traditional Chinese characters. Yes, the latter is something I do need to do. I might just go with it as I’ve grown fully sick of the Western world in general.
Well go whilst you are young and have no family responsibilities. Finish up your course in St Cloud and go do it. If you don’t you will always regret not having done so. Just make sure you always keep all your paperwork up to date so that you can move on without hassle! Unless you actually do it you will never know which culture actually suited you better. Grass being greener etc.
Although I am very comfortable living in the USA and have done so for the last 35 years on and off. If I was left widowed I would have to go home to Wales. One of the things I miss most terribly are my friends gossip. The Welsh have a sense of humour never to be understood this side of the Atlantic. Far too many Americans take themselves far too seriously!
I also miss living with people who practice witchcraft/spiritualism! Not that I do, but everyone of my friends are into it big time, conversations can be very interesting when some of the participants are not there and have been dead a few centuries!!!
I never ‘see’ anyone here in the USA, but at home I ‘see’ them regularly, I cannot communicate with them as my friends do but I do see them. I miss that. Weird but true. I’d even gnash my teeth and pay up UK taxes God rot them!
CO: my life in the US has not generally been a happy one. I do not care for most of the people and their attitudes grate. It’s a bit depressing, really, that what I enjoy most about St Cloud is that people simply leave me in peace. Polite, but distant. In East Asia I know what to expect. I will never be accepted and I will never be an equal, but I will have a position of respect and be paid well for my troubles. I’ve spoken to other people who’ve done it and they said much the same thing. The only reason they returned was because they were “homesick”. Considering my lack of affection for the US and the realisation that it would be difficult to return to socially, I’d not have as much impetus to leave other than visit friends in the UK or Europe.
Furthermore, I have a number of friends in Korea, in Japan, friends with contacts/families in China they visit regularly. It’s not that expensive to fly within East Asia and no more expensive to fly to Europe than North America. Considering how sodding impossible flying back to the USA is, I might not be bothered to return if possible.
Nothing wrong with settling out of your culture as long as you have the qualifications to always command respect and a good salary wherever you choose to stay awhile! Seems like you are lining yourself up to do just that. The boy was doing the same thing, busy becoming an expert on underwater corrosion. He added to his basic metallurgical degree a welding course, a welding inspection and grading course. He held a deep seas diving certificate for some years and intended to basically ‘fuck about’ the world from oil rig to oil rig just for laughs for a few years, (All whilst he was collecting his PhD). He had a lot of contacts in that business he had been at school with. He too was a great traveller, once managed to get to 13 countries in one year whilst an undergraduate, quite ridiculous. I just left him to it! He would have had a grand life had circumstances been different but I am so glad he did what he did young as there was no old for him. He did more in 31 years than most would do in half a dozen lifetimes. So you go out and do it, no ifs and buts, just go when the time is right!
But get your paper qualifications first, makes it so much easier, no bastard can ever argue with the correct bits of paper for wjhat they are worth! I sense you are about to take off right now without the bits of paper?
Hang in there.
CO: no, I’m well-settled in and prepared to do what I need to do. I have two professors assisting me in my research and writing. I have research trips lined up to London, Montreal, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo,Los Angeles, and Minneapolis. I will get my paperwork together first and then go. In any event, I’m bound by contract to rent my current flat until next August anyway. Why not suck it up another 6 months and get the papers done? One of the professors, Kim is her surname, told me in essence that she will arrange for me to go to Korea on scholarship to study the language and culture. All I have to do is finish my coursework and get my thesis largely in order and she will make the required phone-calls. I will, in the mean-time, get a certification to teach English overseas. While I technically have the qualfications as it is, an MA seems more suitable for finding long-term employment prospects OS.
Good.
Hello Christopher,
Thanks for posting details of your wonderful life. I don’t comment often but I have read of your many sojourns. You have been around. Good luck with your course and studies.