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An Armenian in Minnesota

Many Armenians of the diaspora ended up in California. Another group settled on the east coast. My destiny was in Minnesota.

In 2009, at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, I won an academic exchange fellowship to study in the U.S for a year. I didn’t have a choice of host university or state; just a month before my departure, I learned that I would be going to Minnesota to attend Minnesota State University-Mankato.

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Emma Ohanyan

Emma Ohanyan-Tri was born and raised in Yerevan. She moved to the US in 2013 and graduated from Northern Illinois University with a master’s in Communication Studies. She currently lives in Saint Paul, MN and works as a Marketing Automation Analyst at Minnesota Public Radio. Emma enjoys traveling, meeting new people, exploring natural parks and writing for her personal blog Diasporina.com.

7 Comments

  1. The Viking trader “Humongous Rolf” frequently visited Ani between 965 and 970 AD, and this is where he learned to say “oof” from the locals, who uttered the word around the clock. He visited Ani not only to trade, but also to eat good food, never having experienced vegetables, chicken, fruit, pepper, salt, olive oil, butter, water, rice, beef, garlic or lamb.

    He taught the expression “oof” to all the Viking traders up and down the Volga, but it was changed to “oof da” for reasons lost to history. Rolf the Humongous (“RTH” to his friends)reportedly wanted in Ani to open “Rolf’s Viking Shack” [specializing in boiled fish] for homesick Volga traders but was tragically killed while trying to steal a pilaf recipe from an Ani medzmayr armed with a lethal bag of walnuts.

  2. Armenians face a lot of bigotry and discrimination in Minnesota. People here are very racist and mean.

  3. I recently found out I am 47% Armenian and most of my biological family is in California. I currently live in MN as well and would love to get to know the culture and the people. Any advice

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