Eric Hawkins/Guest Contributor

Winona State University student Eldar Abdukarimov is not from a town in Minnesota, the country of the United States, the continent of North America, or even the Western Hemisphere. The international student’s hometown is much, much further east—so far away it exists in a different day. This place is the city of Osh in a country called Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is often called the “Switzerland of Central Asia,” with lush green valleys and snow-capped peaks more than four-and-a-half miles high. The natural wonders and scenic escapes would seem right at home as a vacation getaway screensaver or the cover of a travel magazine.

And yet despite his home country’s beauty, Abdukarimov is in love with Winona. The reason? It’s the Minnesota Nice.

Abdukarimov has known niceness his whole life. His mother taught him to be polite and cordial. He was just never allowed to use it.

In his home country of Kyrgyzstan, apologies and reparations are a frowned-upon behavior, according to Abdukarimov. After the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the “nice” people inhabiting the urban areas returned to their home countries such as Russia and Germany.

People from villages and rural areas replaced them, and they simply weren’t accustomed or thought it necessary to acknowledge an occurrence like accidently bumping into someone.

To apologize, as one would typically do in the U.S., could net looks of disgust and confusion.

“People aren’t polite in Kyrgyzstan,” Abdukarimov said. “To be polite means you are weak. If you say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘excuse me’ it means you are scared and afraid.”

It would be a mistake to assume Abdukarimov is only comparing Minnesota to a country that once belonged to the Soviet Union.

The trilingual traveler has visited eight countries and many cities throughout the world, like Rome for example. He has a hard time understanding why Americans would want to live in or even visit places like Europe.

“Europe is not awesome,” Abdukarimov said. “Rome is really old and the subways are like horror movies, the buildings are old and the people are not very polite.”

Abdukarimov’s days of repressing politeness came to an end four years ago, when he got to live in the United States for the first time as a one-year exchange student at Tulare Union High School, located in central California. The sheer quantity of niceness he encountered gave quite a shock, but he thoroughly enjoyed these new interactions.

“When I visited California, people would say ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ all the time,” Abdukarimov said. “I thought it was so awesome.”

After about three months, Abdukarimov started using California pleasantries on a regular basis.

However, upon returning to Kyrgyzstan 12 months later, he felt out of place. He apologized and excused himself regularly, much to the confusion of those around him.

“I go back after one year and say ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ all the time in Russian and people would go ‘Are you okay, dude?’” Abdukarimov said. “I’d push a person a little bit and say I’m sorry, and they’d be like, ‘You don’t have to be sorry for that.’”

It took about six months for Abdukarimov to break his habit of being nice.

Abdukarimov was ecstatic when he got to return stateside three years later, and quickly realized that what he thought was the peak of politeness in California was nothing compared to the king of kind: Minnesota Nice.

“I thought people in California were polite, but people here are even more polite,” Abdukarimov said. “The people in California all think they are the coolest people in the world. I didn’t feel it cause I hadn’t visited other states.”

The economics major has been so impressed by the island city that he hopes to return and complete his master’s degree at Winona State.

First though, he has to return to Kyrgyzstan in May to complete his education at the University of Central Asia.

“Since I like Minnesota so much, I want to transfer my credits back here and I want to graduate here,” Abdukarimov said.  “The only thing I miss is my family right now, because so far this place is perfect. I love everything here.”

Contact Eric at [email protected]