As I was stuck in my room for 2 days straight as there was nothing to do in Mankato but eat, sleep and study in mr room, I decided not to make Labor Day another day in my room. I was not as lucky to be invited to anyones house like Zully nor was my plan of travelling to Milwaukee to see Chin Chin Che Che came to past as because of the stupid bus schedule. Can u believe that there is only 1 bus that leaves from campus at 7.30pm daily!!! then the landtoair express only leaves from campus at 3&6pm. WTH!!! people wants to leave in the morning has to go all the way downtown which is a 20 minutes walk(as u will find out later) at 4.30am as the bus leaves at 5am. STUPID!!!!
Anyway I decided to do some exploration. Low and behold, the bus does not operate on Labor Day. Great!!!! Determined not to spend another day of Fall confind in my room, I decided to WALK to downtown of North Mankato. Armed with my map, my water bottle and my camera, i set foot and WALKED!!!!
I went down the hill(MSU is built on a hill) and saw a park. I went and explored the park for a while and then found a Vietnam War Memorial. It was so cool!!! and opposite it are houses. I left and continued my journey of trees and fields and about 20 minutes later, I reach town. It was a different feel there. There were Cherry trees along the road on Cherry Street. People having family barbeques, family outing, neighbours sharing life stories. Then I stumbled upon the Mankato riverfront trail which saw the Minnesota River=) Next to it was the train station and learnt that that was where Mankato was founded, along the rivier. Opposite it was the North Mankato Memorial Library. It had a plaque outside stating that it was in Mankato that 33 Dakota Indians were executed while 303 were pardoned by the then President Abraham Lincoln here. It was apperently a dark chapter of the Native American History. So cool to be in such a hsitoric city=)
When I reached MSU, It was only 1.30pm. I heard that there was a sale at River Hills Mall so I decided to check it out. Man was it a mistake! It looked so near on the map but in reality, it was actually a 7KM walk!!! Determined not to give up half way, i soldiered on with my map, almost getting lost, and reached the mall within 2 hours. I enjoyed my accomplishment for an hour and started my journey back so not to miss dinner at 6pm. The journey was long and I was praying all along the way that someone would see me and offer me a ride but too bad I'm not attractive enough nor lucky to enjoy the Northern Hospitality. Everybody just zoom by, pointing, laughing and drovw off. SUcky!!!
Throughtout my journey today, I saw another side of America that I did not see when I'm on the bus. For one, the ecomony has really hit hard on Americans. Many shops are closed and rented out because of it. People use bicycles more too to save on gas and at the Salvation Army, there were a number of people lining up for free lunch. Everybody is trying to safe a buck and make their lives a little better. People shop more on the clearance section, Parents refusing to give in to their children's whims and fancies and only buying things that needed. It was an eye opening sight compared to what was shown on TV.
Another thing is that Minnesotans really appreaciate the sun a lot. They would air their garage, play catch in the sun, biking along the trails and have barbeque just outside the lawn with the family. Anything just to be in the sun. This is so much different then back home where everybody runs away because its too hot. We take sunshine for granted as its always there, 24/7 whole year round. Here, they are doing all they can when the sun is around especially when winter is arriving soon. They are planning and doing things that require the sun soonest before winter arrives. The sight of this makes me nervous sometimes as I do not know the extend of what winter has to hold in Minnesota.
It was so tiring after the long walking of 22KM!!! I wish I have a car here or I was in Minneapolis where everything is within reach. where even though stupid bus would stop on holidays, there is still the LRT or walking to a great new place. Even to catch a bus is easier there as all buses stop at the University of Minneapolis. Mankato just sucks wei when I wanna go out of this place to see more of US. Everything is so inconvinient.
The International Student Office also same. They should make la a trip out of Mankato for exchange students. NNNNNOOOOO!!!!! Instead we are all stuck in Campus and seeing each other everyday.
and that was how I spent my Labor Day...Caio
