Something I remember talking with a French born student at my college years ago was that most Americans lack a second language. It’s true, but his thought was that it was basically laziness.
I’d always felt that it goes back to the size issue. You can drive for 3000 miles and encounter english only, with perhaps a smattering of Spanish. I can’t think of anywhere else in the world (save perhaps Russia) where you could do that. I learned German in high school, and have yet to encounter a single German speaker in the United States since.
I remember an Icelandic realitive being shocked that we had more than 3 channels… and that they even broadcast 24 hours a day! That was a few years ago, though.
My wife, from the middle-east, is continually shocked that our houses are built from wood, feeling that it’s a substantually worse building material that brick or concrete. I can’t seem to tell her that wood houses tend to survive better in earthquake country (which we are in here in the Seattle area)
I took German in high school, plus a couple of semesters in college. I’ve forgotten most of it, due to the lack of German speakers here.
But I did get to use it once when I was working on a student film in Malibu. Some German tourists were about to walk into our location, and I was able to explain to them what we were doing and ask them if they wouldn’t mind waiting until we got the shot before they continued.
Coincidentally, an Irish friend and I were having just this conversation in the pub last night. The American pale ales are really so much nicer than the British ones - the taste is more subtle, and I prefer it chilled (rather than cellar temperature) and slightly more gassy. Sierra Nevada IPA is simply fantastic.
Re. the distance - I’ve spent a lot of time in the States, so I’m quite familiar with the enormity of the place, but it still blew my mind to drive across west Texas and see nothing at all as far as the eye can see except a silhouette of a mountain range on the horizon, and to drive towards it all freakin’ day to have the mountain range remain on the horizon by nightfall, only slightly bigger. That shit is big!
My first (and last) taste of Sam Adams was in a bar in Grand Rapids, Michigan that some pals took me to. I believe it was once an old ironworks…anyway…the floor was about 4" deep in peanut shells, the beer as flat as a witches tit and some people were actually drinking it with slices of orange floating in the pitchers and also scoops of vanilla ice cream.
If that doesn’t tell you how bad the stuff is I don’t know what does.
For the remainder of my stay in America I stuck to Heineken which was a bloody sight more expensive than the local brews, about $4 a bottle if memory serves me right…a small bottle at that.
ps. I’m going back to the States next year, Alabama or is it Alabamy? anyway I understand from my rebel friend over there that the South didn’t lose the civil war, they are just waiting on supplies. Let’s hope beer is included with the supplies and mint juleps whatever they are.
Years ago, one of the long stream of English relatives came to visit my family in L.A. They were some cousins–“Snookie and Nina.” They owned a china shop in London. Snookie looked just like your stereotypical middle-aged Englishman with small moustache and hat. Nina just looked…like Nina. Middle-aged, nice lady.
Anyway, Snookie thought he knew what to expect from L.A., but he got so many things wrong. He was disappointed to not see cowboys and indians chasing each other down Hollywood Blvd. He seriously thought he’d see that.
Maybe it’s a Michigan thing. Can anyone explain? I’ve never heard of anything so ghastly.
I never drink Heineken from those nasty green bottles. It is invariably skunked.
spogga the next time you come to the states try to find a LOCAL beer. One that is brewed near to where you are. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
I know exactly what raod you are talking about. That damned ridge never got any closer. I drove from Charleston, SC to El Paso, in the western tip of Texas. First day was Charleston, SC through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most of Louisiana (to Shreveport).
I think the primary misconception about America is that you can say much about “America” or “American culture”, as one entity. Even just with size-related regional differences, there’s so much variety here.
Don’t know anything about ice cream in beer (ugh!) or oranges, but I was at a wedding in Kenosha, Wisconsin a few weeks ago and the beer had marachino cherries in it!
The people from Kenosha though this was normal. I don’t drink beer, but I’ve been around it long enough, and I’d never seen it.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a European express shocked disbelief that “most Americans don’t even have passports,” as if that proves we’re provincial hicks who never leave our own front yards.
What they don’t grasp is, there are only three countries that make up the bulk of North America, and I don’t need a passport to go almost anywhere in any of them! A Dutchman or a Belgian who travels 1000 miles from home may pass through several different countries. I, on the other hand, can drive more than 1000 miles in almost any direction and never pass through anyplace where I’d have to show a passport!
If I fly from, say, St. Louis to New York or Los Angeles (or Montreal or Cancun), I’ve travelled as far as (or farther than) a European going from Berlin to Rome or Madrid to Paris… but I never have to show anyone a passport.
It so happens I DO have a passport! But it very rarely comes in handy!
Well, I think the reason we’re so provincial is it costs quite a bit to go anywhere overseas. International airfare is extremely high, at least for the unwashed masses like myself, and we don’t have much of an alternative, except swimming.
No honestly it was Sam Adams falling down water they were drinking.
I kid you not I have never ever seen a more disgusting mixture in my life.
You are right about the Heineken, it wasn’t the best but it was the best I could find, I’ll take your advice and seek out a local brew next year.
What is a mint julep…??? Alcoholic, soft drink or what?
This is the big misconception that I encounter from foreign visitors. They seem surprised that no, I don’t wear a hoop skirt, lynch black folks, or tell bitter stories about Grandpappy and the War. People seem especially taken aback by the thought of ethnic diversity in the South. I’ve spoken with foreigners (and Northerners, too) who are astonished that Charlotte has a large Thai population, that the Triangle area is home to many Asian/Middle Eastern immigrants, and that Asheville has a large community of Russians and Ukrainians. Not to mention the burgeoning Latino population across the state.
WTF???