2019年12月20日金曜日

2019年12月20日金曜日 -

Danny-Minnesota, USA


Hello everyone! I want to write to you about my home state of Minnesota, which is in the Midwest region of the United States. It borders Canada to the north and shares a border with Lake Superior, one of the five Great Lakes. There are no mountains for many miles so the land is really flat, and since there's no ocean nearby, the temperature can easily change. In one day, the temperature can change over 20 degrees Celsius.

      Minnesota has a similar climate to Hokkaido. It has long cold winters and the snow can last up to six months! The average temperature during winter is around -5 to -10 degrees Celsius but can get lower. In spring and autumn, the temperature is around 15 to 25 degrees Celsius so it's very comfortable to walk outside with a light sweater. In summer, the temperature is around 28 to 33 degrees Celsius and it can be humid at times. Because of the long periods of cold weather in Minnesota, we like to do many outdoor activities during the warmer times of the year.

      Minnesota's capital city is St. Paul. However, there's a larger city right next to St. Paul named Minneapolis. These two cities border each other and together they're known as the “Twin Cities”. It's similar to how Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto are near each other and when grouped together are considered a metropolis. (I should add that the size of the Twin Cities is much smaller than the Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area!)

      The Twin Cities is the most populated area in Minnesota and it's known as a very progressive city in politics.  There's no sales tax on clothes so buying clothes is really cheap! The Twin Cities has many Fortune 500 company headquarters in the area such as Target, General Mills, and 3M, which brings a lot of young professionals to the city from all over the US. There are many cafés, breweries, museums, and parks for Minnesotans to spend their free time. Also, the largest mall in the United States is located in the Twin Cities. It's called the Mall of America and has many popular shops and restaurants inside. There's an amusement park inside as well. The mall is currently under construction so there'll be more activities to do there in the near future. It's a great place to spend time with your family any time of the year and especially during the winter when it gets really cold. Overall, Minnesota is a great place to visit if you love both nature and city life.

      I hope that you can visit Minnesota someday when you travel to the United States. It's a very unique and special place in the country and is very different than California, New York, or Hawaii.

Midwest：中西部 region：地域
border：～に面する
climate：気候
last：続く
up to：～まで
comfortable：快適な
capital city：首都
considered：～と考えられる
metropolis：主要都市
populated：人口の多い
progressive：革新的な
headquarter：本社/本部
breweries：(ビール)醸造所
Overall：総合的に