The City of River Falls

After spending almost 7 months in River Falls I realized that I never really talked about the city itself. So, it´s definitely time to share some of my impressions and time for a little review of what is going on in the city and what you can do here in your free time.

River Falls is home for about 15,000 people and is located at the scenic Kinnickinnic River. The city is part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Although River Falls´ city center is rather small you will still find everything you need on a daily basis. You will find several grocery stores like Family Fresh, two thrift shops, numerous barber shops (my favorite is Gentz´s Barbershop), a movie theatre and a lot of bars and restaurants along main street. Compared to German small cities River Falls´ offer of shops is quite attractive. Its good fun to go out to the bars for Thirsty Thursday and the bars are quite packed during the weekends as well.

And in case there is something you can´t find in River Falls, Hudson is just 15 minutes away from here and the Twin Cities are only 45 minutes away. I personally love shopping in the Twin Cities and all its malls. You will find everything you could ever imagine in the Mall of America for sure and there are several other shopping and outlet malls around in this area. I just went to the Twin Cities Premium Outlet last weekend for the first time and it was great. As a matter of fact, it was open on Easter Sunday (unimaginable in Germany) but no one apart from me was there and so I could do some great shopping. Great deals and good fun!!!

And in case even the Twin Cities are not enough for you the international airport of Minneapolis/Saint Paul is only 45 minutes away as well. Places like New York can be reached within three hours of flight and Chicago in less than two hours and so there is always a way to escape if needed.

Another point that is quite important to me and definitely makes me feel a little bit more like being at home is the kindness and openness of the people living here. No matter where you meet people, in the cafeteria, while shopping, or just on the streets everyone is super friendly and especially interested in international students. It just seems like everyone in this area has some kind of connection to Germany and so there is always something to talk about. I just like the American way of making small talk and I like that people do have this friendliness no matter where you are from. A lot of international students additionally get involved in church and therefore get to know host families that take care of them during special holidays like Easter or Christmas for example. I have never made use of this offer, but it seems like some good connections to me. Everyone who got involved in church or the community in general benefitted from those connections I guess. Furthermore, there is the All Nations House, a place where young people gather off-campus to have a good time. It is definitely another good place to get connected in River Falls.

My personal summary: I really like the city of River Falls and I definitely found a second home here away from my actual home in Germany. I knew in advance that it was not going to be the super big city experience and so I came prepared for that. Even though it is a small city it still offers a lot and in case you want to get out of here for a while to see something new it is quite easy to reach other places if you have a car or know someone who has one. Even if you don´t have direct access to a car you can still get one of the car sharing cars on campus for just a small fee. As already pointed out good places are nearby and even the National Parks around here are quite attractive for some hiking all year round or swimming in spring, summer, and fall. I personally liked the first couple of weeks when it was still warm best just because outdoor activities apart from skiing were still possible.

To be continued!