Despite the fact that 78 percent of CSU students are in-state, everyone knows at least one out-of-towner. Often making the adjustment to living in Colorado can be overwhelming between the unpredictable weather, avid sports fans and lack of turn signals. With the Holiday Season upon us, we created a Colorado Christmas Gift Guide- or survival guide perhaps- for all of your out of state friends.
Survival Kit for new to Coloradoans:
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- Snow Scraper– You’ll be able to use this baby until May! Haven’t you heard the saying, “April showers bring May blizzards”? If you wanna get fancy, you could decorate it or buy a custom Denver Broncos one to kill two birds with one stone (see below).
- Broncos Stuff. It only takes a couple weeks of living in Colorado to realize that every Sunday during football season, towns across Colorado turn orange. Don’t let your out-of-state friends feel left out. Deck them out in Broncos swag.
- Music from Colorado Natives such as Flobots, 3OH!3, Breathe Carolina or Pretty Lights.
- If you’re short on money this Holiday Season, consider making your friends a Book of Coloradoisms to help them learn the culture. For example we consider freezing to be 10 and below. You could also define fourteeners and rocky mountain oysters because understanding why the balls of bulls are edible may be hard for out-of-towners to understand. Try explaining the real South Park- a grassland Colorado basin where small towns such as Alma and Fairplay are located.
- Lotion and Chap-stick. Colorado’s dry arid climate is notorious for creating leather hands and cracked lips.
- Help your not-from-Colorado friends warm up with some Celestial Seasonings Tea– Made locally in Boulder.
- And while we’re on the topic of liquids, might as well load them up with some Colorado beer. There are more than 140 craft breweries to choose from!
- Warm Clothes. As we Coloradoans know, it’s only gonna get colder from here on out. Hats, gloves and scarves are always a good start. If you wanna spoil your friends, fleece, long underwear and a real jacket (not polyester and nylon) wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Where ever your holiday travels may take you, we know you’ll be returning to our wonderful state come January. Hopefully when your Southern California friends return from Winter Break that hat and snow scraper will help them make it through the remaining months of a Colorado winter. Best Wishes and Happy Holidays Rams!
