This is where having some granola bars in your pocket would be a good idea, for you and them. (For you when you’re waiting at the bus stop to go to Fairlane for an hour and for the homeless person in place of the egg sandwich.)
I’m glad that you’re being so proactive and making the most of your time here. It’s impressive!
Maybe he really did need an egg sandwich. That’s what I always assume, anyway. Lately I don’t have enough cash to be handing out, but back when I did, I also happened to hang out near Ocean Beach a lot, where many of the beach bums are actually homeless. I had no qualms giving someone a couple of bucks. If they were going to buy booze with it, so what? It was gonna make them happy. And back when I was poor enough to know the feeling of wishing you had $4 so you could go get a sandwich, I really started to understand them.
I don’t know Detroit, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the buses just didn’t show up when they were supposed to. American public transit is generally less reliable than what you’re used to, with some exceptions (New York, DC and San Francisco, AFAIK).
Yeah, if you only want a slice, definitely mention the word “slice”. Otherwise they’ll just assume you’re buying a whole pizza to share with friends.
Egg sandwich or pint of cheap drink? :dubious:
I hope it was you and not that the bus just didn’t show (this has rarely been a problem for me in Chicago, but I don’t know about Detroit).
God, I hope you asked for a take away bag (more commonly known as a “doggie bag”–a distasteful phrase, IMO). That’s a lot of pizza!
Nothing simpler. Just ask your co-workers if any of them have any teen age girls that wouldn’t mind possible lighting their hair on fire. A great way to share customs! 
Question re LCD: do they do this for family or friends or both?
And here you’ve learned about another American custom: stereotyping.
Me too. I really do want to take the bus, you know. Some days I feel like I’m going to be stuck at the campus area till the end of time.
That didn’t cross my mind. I just wanted to eat as much as I could fill myself with and then get out here - the pan made me feel pretty embarassed.
It’s usually a collective action, like you might have a Lucia at your school or working place, or you might go to a Lucia chant concert early in the morning at church. It’s not really a family oriented holiday like the American Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
Nawth Chucka: I am not actually accomplishing as much as I have hoped to, though I suppose I have only been here less than a week so far.
Funny…I was in Fairlane today.
Honestly. :rolleyes: It was a speculation, not a sentencing. Get a grip.
Cactus waltz–could I ask you something?
What is your favorite thing (so far) about being here and what is your least liked thing?
I just spent some time on the SMART website and boy, they sure don’t make it easy for you to get from WSU downtown out to Fairlane. You’d have to change buses at least once, it appears, and that can be hampered by the different route being on a different schedule.
You need a friend with a car. Or, call a cab.
This transit system is horrible by design, sadly. Detroit used to have trolleys that went all over creation. Then the big 3 automakers bought them all up and put them out of commission, forcing people to buy cars if they wanted to get around.
Can you rent a motorcycle or car for your stay?
Well, it wasn’t offensive enough to take to the Pit, so I’ll just drop it with this: Keep up the good fight against ignorance.
What I like most is the friendly reception I get from people here. People are nice overall, but even more so if you share a common ground, such as with the people I cooperate with at the campus.
What I dislike most is the needlessly complex structure I see from time to time. There is usually a lot of information to have, but the way that it’s presented is usually not as good. I see it in the Medicaid system, in the bus stop information, how the roads are built, etc. Sometimes I just don’t why see who Americans aren’t more straight to the point, information-wise.
I could have predicted the first one, but the second one surprises me. I guess it’s something I’ve never thought about. The health care is hopelessly complex, at times redundant and at others woefully inadequate. The bus stop stuff–no idea why it’s so hard. I’ve navigated the Metro and the Tube with no problem. Here in Chicago, the Metra still needs minute time tables and differing schedules depending on the day of the week and the time of year etc. Aggravating.
The roads–no clue there. Unless you’re referring to the very odd custom around Detroit of having those damned access roads to get anywhere off a major state highway. I remember visiting up there and getting annoyed at having no direct turn to anywhere. I don’t know what the purpose of those roads are–to drive more? They don’t really change the traffic flow, that I know of. Someone who lives there and deals with them daily might be able to shed more light.
A comparison might be made with a more socialized form of medicine.
I’m looking forward to hearing what your findings are, by the way.
I happen to be reading a book by Steven Pinker called The Language Instinct that covers that very point (among many others). His hypothesis is that when you talk with someone who’s cooperating with you (friend, coworker, classmate, and most people in general in casual contexts) they take some of the load of communication off of you by working harder as a listener to piece together the little details you leave out; but in an adversary relationship, the speaker (or writer) has to be as explicit as possible to leave no room for interpreting it in a way that would be beneficial to the listener/reader and harm the speaker/writer. The practice of civil law has made most communication between government agencies and product manufacturers adversary, because if some tiny little detail isn’t spelled out explicitly, the agency or company could be sued based on a creative interpretation. A fair number of American linguists pay their bills by analyzing the sentence structure and semantics of laws, consumer warnings, etc. to make sure they mean exactly what they’re supposed to.
It’s not as big a deal in criminal law, where (according to Pinker) appeals judges and the Supreme Court will often pay a little more attention to the spirit of the law than the minute details if those details impede justice. But in civil law, a business or gov. agency has to convince 9-12 people that they warned the plaintiff adequately of whatever danger is claimed, in order to get off the hook.
That’s one perspective on that, anyway.
You’ve just described the Pit and one of the reasons I avoid it. Parsing sentences to squeeze supposed meanings out of them when it is clear that no harm is intended is very Pittish.
Pinker’s Stuff of Thought is also very good.
Well, I don’t think any day is better or worse than the other, apart from the fact that weekends would be optimal. 
In this moment, I haven’t yet planned too many days in advance, so I’m open for suggestions.
I’m totally down. I had to miss the last one because of a stupid bachelor party I had to go to.
Maybe Ann Arbor is a little far for cactus? But either way, I’ll try and make it!
Well, I would need help with transport in any case. If it would be possible for somebody here to help me get to and from Ann Arbor - well, then I don’t see why not!
Attention Ann Arborites!
I don’t live there, you do. Care to plan something showing how very cool and non-Detroitish A2 is for us, or shall we do something completely different instead?
So last night was my first time in an American home.
First reactions:
The dinner went very well. I got to try creamed corn, sweet potatoes, swee potato casserole, steamed brussel sprouts and steamed carrots, tranberry sauce and sea bass (I don’t eat meat, so I didn’t try the turkey). For dessert, there were four kinds of pies.
It seemed that the company enjoyed my presence. I gave my gifts and they were appreciated. I also offered to help after the dinner and got to help out with clearing the turkey. All in all I had a good time.
Good to hear. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where there is very much a family focus. Now, that can be compared with the spirit of Christmas, but in practice, the consumerism of Christmas might end up to be overwhelming. You may or may not have noticed that some houses already have their Christmas decorations up. From a commercial standpoint, we’re in a huge rush to get to Christmas.
That should be interesting for you to see.