Country Line Dancing

Country Line Dancing

I guess in some ways Nebraska really lives up to its stereotype of being a Yee Haw country area. Not all of Nebraska is,  I'm honestly not judging Nebraska or anything. I love the country, always have and always will. 

This last weekend, me and couple of other girls went to a ballroom called Pla Mor. On Sunday nights Pla Mor has country swing and line dancing. I honestly went into it not knowing what to expect. Back in MN Famous Daves in uptown on Tuesday nights did salsa nights, and I believe they still do. I went to a couple of those and it was a blast. Minus when the creepy older guys ask you to salsa with them and you have no idea what you doing. So I expected it to be a lot like that. Well man was I proven wrong. It was very similar though, tons of people lots of dancing and having a good time. Even if you didn't know what you were doing you still could try and have a good time. Personally I was able to pickup on most of the dances pretty quickly. My dance background really helped me out there. If I were to detail everything that happened this would be pages long. So keeping it short and sweet if your ever in the Lincoln area on a Sunday night and have nothing to do, just head West on O street and keep going for quite a bit and till there is almost nothing. you will go over the giant bridge then under a smaller one and it should be on the right! 

Thanks guys!
See ya later once I have something exciting to write about. Let me know if you want to hear anything specifically :D

1st Impressions

1st Impressions

So when you meet new people you always have this first impression. Either its their looks, their personality, things they say, or how they carry themselves. In my case, it isn't the things I say, it's how I say them.



I'm almost positive that if I were to ask you; "What a stereotypical Minnesotan would sound like?" you would be able to tell me right off the bat with a "Don't cha know" or any other silly slang people are convinced us Minnesotans use. For those of you who don't know what a stereotypical Minnesotan accent sounds like, look it up on Youtube. Actually I will post a video right here:

Ok. So now that we understand this view of a stereotypical Minnesotan accent. Im going to explain quite a few things.
1- I don't necessarily enjoy my Minnesotan accent that much. It isn't as strong as the lady's in the video's. If it was I would even be annoyed with myself!
2- I do find my accent to be a nice perk however. Especially living in Nebraska. It is a really fun ice breaker, and provides entertainment to other people.
3- I can't help the way I say some things like, bag, Minnesota, boat, and other things i cant even think of right now.
4- THERE IS NOT SNOW IN MINNESOTA IN THE SUMMER!! Summer in Minnesota is just like any normal summer. I had one person ask me this, and I had to try so hard not to laugh out loud or be a complete bitch about it. I politely corrected them and went on my way
5- Yes I have a Minnesotan accent. No it's not that strong.

So I thought I would look up some stereotypes online and give you a few proper answers to some the lingering questions you might have:

~ Minnesotans say "Up the Wazoo" a lot.

             Personally yes I do say it a lot. Actually almost more than a lot

~ Many sentences consist of words like "sure..." and "real..." and ending with prepositions like "then" or "there." 

             Yes. That is very true. I do it all the time. You might even notice it in the way I type most of the time.

~ Soft drinks are called pop

             It is pop not soda or coke. It is Pop!

~ Refers to the newspaper comics page as "the funnies."

             I never have personally, but I have heard other Minnesotans do it. So it doesn't confuse me. I know what they are talking about when they say that

~ Its a Hot Dish not a casserole

            YES. It is a hot dish. I know what a casserole is. They are the same thing. I had friends who said casserole rather than hot dish. But it is Hot Dish

~ The Cities = Twin Cities

             Yup Pretty much!

~ We say the word "so" in front of most every sentence.

              Yah, pretty much!

~  We do say "oh yeah" a lot

              Yup!

~ We leave our cars running in the parking lot in the winter

              I do...

~ You can go to the local grocery store and see 5-7 people you know just shopping there, let alone working there 

             Very True. I used to go to Cub Foods and almost every time I was there I saw my friend Chris or one of his family members. I also would see multiple of my neighbors and dance teachers.

~  When faced with weirdness, we're know to say, "That's different," in a flat voice. 

             I would say yes. For me specifically absolutely. I'm bitterly sarcastic. I am very worried I might offend someone some day. But from what I know, that bitter sarcasm is a Minnesotan thing

~ There are 2 seasons; Winter and Road Construction

            There is no doubt in my mind about this one. It is winter for about 8 months of the year so as soon as the snow is gone the road work begins. It is obscene how much there is there.

~ "parking ramp" rather than the "parking garage"

             This parking garage thing is super new to me. I'm definitely used to parking ramp

~ "rubber bands" for "rubber binders".

             I have never even heard of rubber binders. When I read this I thought that they were talking about the binders you use for school!   

I don't want to overwhelm you guys with all this! But if you wanna know more just ask.
Have a great night! Stay classy! :D 

Changes

Changes

Changes. Everything after High School changes. You begin the long arduous journey of packing up your stuff and realizing you are moving. In my case moving out of state. I have never moved anywhere my whole life. I went to the same school for 13 years lived in the same house for 18. For me this change was huge. Moving down to Nebraska has so far been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I made many friends instantly, some whom I had met through Facebook and Twitter. Others I just happen to meet, either in class or we lived on the same floor. Although the shock of moving didn't set in the day I moved in, I knew someday it would. 

Surprisingly, even after my first week of classes being finished it still hasn't hit me that I am actually in college. I am still convinced I will just be packing up and leaving soon, but I know that's not true. College seems to be way to familiar, I seem to be totally accustomed to the college life, living on your own. I haven't felt much like the clueless Freshmen I'm supposed to be. It feels all to natural to be here. But either way I love it here. 

Thanks for reading. I promise they will get less dry and uninteresting soon I promise. The next post is going to be about 1st impressions. If you know how people out of state react to Minnesotans then you know what it will be about. I Promise that one will be much more interesting! 

                                   GO BIG RED!!

1st Blog Post Ever...

My First Blog Post Ever

So I'm really new at this blog posting business, so don't judge me if I'm totally terrible at this! 

Today while sitting in my Intro to Theater course, our professor kept saying things to the extent of; "Try to think more about yourself", "What's your story?", "How would you tell someone your story?"

During this I felt my story might be significant to some people, but not to others, but why not share it to those who want to hear it. Its not much of an interesting story but more of the biggest change I have ever had to deal with in life, more of a reflection on my experiences. Isn't that what a blog does? Has people tell their story in their words? So I thought why not do a day by day blog and tell my story as it goes. Not just as a rewritten history but as a current up to date story of my experiences. So here goes nothing:

Lets Start with some basic information before I go any further. My name is Shannon Hanson and I'm originally from Excelsior, Minnesota. Currently, however, I am living in Lincoln, Nebraska, and attending The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I am Majoring in Computer Science, which is a very male heavy major (I will get to that topic another time). That's the basics. I'm sure you will learn more if you choose to continue reading my blog.

My story starts way back, at last fall, fall of 2011, when I was still a Senior in High School. As many of you know the summer going into your Senior year is a tough one and along with the whole school year that follows. It starts with college applications, then keeping your grades up while slacking and waiting for your college responses, but compared to the rest, that was the easy part. Just a quick summary of my Senior year; applied to college, had fun, made the best of the year I could, got rejected by 6 out of the 8 schools I applied to, only waiting on one last acceptance. The last acceptance I was waiting for was the one for UNL (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I will use this abbreviation a lot). I would constantly check the mail, call my mom to see if a letter came, look online to see if they put up my application status. I tried almost everything to see if I had gotten into my top choice college. The day I figured out my acceptance, I was sitting in the High School common area during an open hour with my friend Alyssa. Out of sheer curiosity I wanted to look on the UNL website on my phone to see if I had been accepted. That was the moment of truth. I had finally been accepted to my top choice school, and boy did I feel relieved! I jumped up and down and confused Alyssa, then once I calmed down I told her the news. As the rest of my grade came out of class (I graduated with only 37 people, me included) they were all curious why I was so happy. I told one of my other friends who then screamed the news down the hallway. It was the greatest feeling of relief and the feeling of gratitude I had ever gotten. Having my whole graduating class by my side whooping and hollering with me made me feel even better. But after that day, that's when things began to change that's where the whole point of this blog comes into play. Everything was different now. 

Sorry this post was so long. The next ones will be shorter I swear. 

Thanks for reading! :D