Time for Some Myth Busters
Now that you know where we're going, it's time for some myth busters. For some reason, Fargo seems to have some sort of--well stereotype. This post is actually written 90% by Steve, so enjoy the first ever Steve post!
Fargo: True or False
1 – It is a small town.
False. This was one of our big worries about applying to North Dakota State. Both Sarah and I would prefer to be in a middle sized town, and small towns are just not our thing. Fortunately, the twin city of Fargo-Moorhead has a population of about 177,000, which will actually be around the size of our past homes (Provo-Orem = 190,000; Champaign-Urbana = 120,000; Lawrence = 80,000). When we visited, this was the first thing we were most impressed with – it was a much bigger city then we thought.
2 – We will be moving to North Dakota.
Don’t know. Although this may be true, Moorhead is actually in Minnesota, and so one of the things we must decide is what state to live in. The cost of living is low on either side, so it will probably depend on what school system we prefer.
3 – It is cold.
I wish this were false. It will definitely be about 10 degrees colder than in Kansas. Unfortunately for myself, Sarah, Joshua, and Whitney all prefer the cold and snow, so really this will only be a test for me. But I think I can enjoy the 70-80 degree August days.
4 – There is no reason to visit Fargo.
False. As I mentioned, we are on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, which means that everyone in Fargo owns a second house or boat and enjoys the lakes in Minnesota. We’ve made it a tradition to head to Canada in August, and if you want to enjoy cooler temperatures over the summer, the lake scene, Mount Rushmore, the Roger Maris museum, Canada, the Red River (one of the few rivers in that runs north) or the South Dakota Badlands, come on up.
5 – The city is named after the movie.
False. The city is named after William George Fargo of Wells Fargo Bank fame. By the way, there is a movie called “Fargo” that won two academy awards and that everyone in Fargo hates. They made us promise to never watch it because of its portrayal of the city. Apparently it makes the city look pretty rural.
1 – It is a small town.
False. This was one of our big worries about applying to North Dakota State. Both Sarah and I would prefer to be in a middle sized town, and small towns are just not our thing. Fortunately, the twin city of Fargo-Moorhead has a population of about 177,000, which will actually be around the size of our past homes (Provo-Orem = 190,000; Champaign-Urbana = 120,000; Lawrence = 80,000). When we visited, this was the first thing we were most impressed with – it was a much bigger city then we thought.
2 – We will be moving to North Dakota.
Don’t know. Although this may be true, Moorhead is actually in Minnesota, and so one of the things we must decide is what state to live in. The cost of living is low on either side, so it will probably depend on what school system we prefer.
3 – It is cold.
I wish this were false. It will definitely be about 10 degrees colder than in Kansas. Unfortunately for myself, Sarah, Joshua, and Whitney all prefer the cold and snow, so really this will only be a test for me. But I think I can enjoy the 70-80 degree August days.
4 – There is no reason to visit Fargo.
False. As I mentioned, we are on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, which means that everyone in Fargo owns a second house or boat and enjoys the lakes in Minnesota. We’ve made it a tradition to head to Canada in August, and if you want to enjoy cooler temperatures over the summer, the lake scene, Mount Rushmore, the Roger Maris museum, Canada, the Red River (one of the few rivers in that runs north) or the South Dakota Badlands, come on up.
5 – The city is named after the movie.
False. The city is named after William George Fargo of Wells Fargo Bank fame. By the way, there is a movie called “Fargo” that won two academy awards and that everyone in Fargo hates. They made us promise to never watch it because of its portrayal of the city. Apparently it makes the city look pretty rural.
6 – We are pretty happy to be going to Fargo-Moorhead.
False. Pretty happy doesn’t say half of it. We are ecstatic to leave graduate school behind for this job. Don’t get me wrong, we have really enjoyed our student life. But I’m sure we will find a way to love post-student life even more :)
posted by Sarah Beck @ 11:39 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I'll come and visit :) My dad grew up in North Dakota (but he went to University of North Dakota not NDSU). Steve, you're in for a shock when it comes to winter weather- it's pretty similar to Winnipeg and today we were -25 celcius WITHOUT the nasty windchill. Yuck- and I'm a northern child! At least you can tell yourself that it will build character:) I'm so amused that they hate the movie Fargo- my dad loved it (but he's from horribly small town North Dakota so maybe that affects things). I'm so excited to have a reason for a road trip to ND that isn't shopping- yay!
nice post steve! and i just googled evanston to fargo... it's only 10 hours! we love minnesota and all of the beautiful lakes/scenery, so it would be fun to meet up with you guys sometime. in the summer. we get our share of cold weather in chicago so i don't want to experience anything colder... :)
that would be fun, maybe we can go camping or stay in a cabin on one of the lakes. we can come visit you in chicago too right?
Sounds like a nice sized city. And that is so nice for you to be closer to family. You definitely should be ecstatic to be done with the graduate student life. It feels really nice to get settled down.
Steve,
I hope you remember me but I am Natalie Kilgore Giddens' sister Paula (and old roommate of Heidi's). This past summer we went to a family reunion for my husband's side of the family to Grand Forks, ND and we stayed in Fargo as well. I too was impressed by the size because I thought it would be much smaller/hillbilly sort of town but instead thought it was a nice town with a lot of stuff (and this is coming from a big city type of girl). So congrats on your new move/chapter.
Steve,
It's Trish here from BYU. Remember me? (Think NewsNet.) I stumbled across your family blog tonight and it was so fun to see pictures of you and your adorable family! Congrats on your new job. Very exciting.
I think the last time I saw you and Sarah was in Provo about six years ago. Time really flies! We've got two kids now and are living in Ohio (after short stints in Phoenix and Switzerland). I'm doing the stay-at-home-mom thing and am doing a tiny bit of editing on the side.
Anyway, congrats again on your new job! It was fun running into you guys online.
Post a Comment
<< Home