# All Non-(US)Americans: What do you like about America/ns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268 "2004-03-30T07:02:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OneYogini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@OneYogini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneYogini)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/21 "2004-04-01T15:31:36Z")
Oops! Damn translation site! lol! **Tusculan** , thanks for the correction and **coldfire** for the “non-literal” greeting info, I’ll keep it in mind for future use! (Dispellers of ignorance indeed - lol!) Yes, I know **coldfire** is spoken for - - but thank you to him for saying “stranger things have happened”…kinda gives me a weird hope! Yogini 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/22 "2004-04-01T19:23:35Z")
Thanks, **OneYogini** for the praise of A’dam. And I’d love to have a ‘big’ day. Seeing as I’m always short on time. 😉 \*Why wouldn’t Heloise be alright? Did I miss something? \* ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/23 "2004-04-01T20:17:07Z")
She was in a rather serious car accident on Tuesday. She’s relatively OK, though. Sore back and neck, as per usual after a big shunt. But all of that is probably temporary. Her car’s probably totalled, though. ---
**Author:** ![OneYogini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@OneYogini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneYogini)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/24 "2004-04-01T20:50:22Z")
> [@gum](#): > > Thanks, **OneYogini** for the praise of A’dam. And I’d love to have a ‘big’ day. Seeing as I’m always short on time. ;)\* Well then, despite the error, you’re welcome! 🙂 Also…I want to tell you that I like your sig!! 😉 True story (highjack, sorry)…the second time I was in A’dam (cute!) there was this guy on a bike who went past the “bar” we were in. He parked it out front, came in, made a purchase, and then took off again. A few minutes after, we went outside and were deciding where we were going next, when I spotted “a little green sac” (heh heh; actually it wasn’t quite green) on the ground. Too bad, so sad, it must have fallen out of his hot little hands or pocket as he biked away. So…was that yours??? lol!!! December, 1997, near the “Seamen’s House”??? (I swear the hostel was called “The Seamen’s House” it was on a canal and near a body of water where some famous boat was that they gave tours). A short walk to the train station, but a good walk from Dam’s Square (is that how you spell Dam’s, I forget!). Wouldn’t that be a trip!! lol! If it was - - thanks!!! 😉 Yogini ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/25 "2004-04-01T21:16:40Z")
Hey, I’m sorry to hear that **Coldfire** I’m glad she’s okay though. A car is just material stuff, right? Did that happen in A’dam? Give her my best, will you? Hehehehe, **OneYogini** Nice story. 🙂 Not my bag [sack] though. My sig is a line from a song by ‘The George Baker Selection’ [a Dutch band. The guy’s name is actually Hans Bouwens] The song is played in ‘Reservoir Dogs’ by Tarantino. Dam square, it is. I can’t think of a Seaman’s house, but I dunno every hotel here. The body of water might have been the ‘IJ’ ? And the famous boats the http://www.hotel-bookings.nl/amsterdam-canal-tours.html canal boats? Come back soon. 🙂 to get this on track again: I love American directors too. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/26 "2004-04-01T23:14:10Z")
Maybe Yogini means the [VOC Ship Amsterdam (a replica, of course)](http://www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl/voc_schip/dutch_east_indiaman_amsterdam.htm), moored at the Maritime Museum? The hotel name doesn’t ring a bell with me either. 🙂 **gum** , Heloise had her crash in Phoenix. She’ll be moving over here in a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/27 "2004-04-02T05:15:08Z")
In response to the OP, I’d have to say, I like Americans because they’re genuinely curious. Yes, they don’t get much non-US news. But when they’re here in Canada, they want to know what’s happening, and often, they want to know from a Canadian context. “Bush said XYZ; how do you feel about that?” They want to know more, it seems, or at least a different point of view, than their news is saying. And they are interested in learning. My wife, American born and raised, but living here in Canada for the past twelve years, is still learning. “How does the government work? How do you manage with more than two major political parties? What role does the Queen play?” And so on. It’s genuine interest, not a statement from someone who knows only one kind of government, and is determined to fit their concept into another country’s reality. That kind of curiosity is something to be respected. And they have a lot of questions. Usually, those questions stem from an ignorance perspective–not because they themselves are ignorant; rather, it’s because they have not been exposed to facts or views other than those that their media give. They want to know more, and so they ask. And ordinary Canadians supply the answers. Yes, some questions seem silly. “Do I need a parka and skis to visit Canada in July?” No, you don’t. We may laugh at your error, but it’s not personal–and we hope that after your July visit, you’ll return, knowing a little more, and telling your friends that we’re not the land of ice and snow all year. But some questions–honestly–make us stop and think. I won’t get into what they are–we could debate that forever and a day–but it is from questions such as these posed by our American friends that that we define ourselves, one way or another, as Canadian. This is why Americans’ curiosity is so important to us, IMHO; and why I’d answer the OP that way. ---
**Author:** ![OneYogini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@OneYogini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneYogini)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/28 "2004-04-02T16:24:59Z")
**Coldfire** , I think that may actually be it! Do you know if that ship is walking distance from Central Station? (I didn’t see any info in English as to its location.) **Gum** I did see those other tour boats in the canals, though I never did the tour. And a bump so others might address the actual OP! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/29 "2004-04-02T17:22:56Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > And then there’s politics. I’m not a radical lefty, at least not over _here_, but the road the US seems to have taken politically is one that fills me with rage and fear. Luckily, a lot of Americans seem to share that point of view, so we’ll see in October. > > Ignorance. I know, you can’t blame a people for its lack of education, or more specifically, lack of outside perspective, but it’s astonishing how limited the scope of a lot of Americans is. In November. Hahahahahahaha! You foreigners are so _funny_! Of course, the best thing about Americans is that we would never stoop to cheap shots. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/30 "2004-04-02T18:04:59Z")
I like the fact that most Americans are able to follow simple instructions, especially when they are contained in the OP of a SDMB thread. But not all. 😉 _“To hear one must be quiet…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268/31 "2004-04-04T18:41:26Z")
**Yogini** : yeah, the _Amsterdam_ and the Maritime Museum are about a 5 minute walk away from Central Station. Exit the station at the front, take a left onto the Prins Hendrikkade, presto, there it is. **Shodan** , surely you don’t expect me to remember the election dates of every banana republic on the planet, do you? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-non-us-americans-what-do-you-like-about-america-ns/237268.md?page=1)