Oh, please - you said “no mountains” which is not the same as saying “not the Alps”. Some people think Michigan is flat (it’s not) & that skiing the same as “sliding down Mt. Holly” (also not). You can not make the designation of Mt. Holly (or Mt. Morris) as a mountain, but you do need to be clear that Michigan does have geographical configurations which are known as mountains.
Cactus Waltz, you may not need to go through the hassle of getting a driver’s license at all–your host family, if you ask them, may be delighted to find you a Designated Driver (or even a roster of several people) for the duration of your stay, especially since it’s only going to be three months. It’s usually no problem for us car-happy Americans to find someone with wheels and some time on his hands to chauffeur the exotic Foreign Student around for a single semester. 
I’ve never been to Detroit (in that region of the country I’ve been to Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Cleveland), but my brother attended a Metallica concert near there (I think in Pontiac) on New Year’s Eve several years ago.
On the way back to the airport (he lives out west) at 2 or 3am, he got lost and was driving somewhere in Detroit when he was pulled over by the police. The officer approached his car and my brother asked why he’d been pulled over. “Because you are white, driving a nice (rental) car and appear to be lost… and it is not really safe for you to be in this part of town.” The officer then had my brother follow him back to the highway towards the airport.
I think you’ll be fine in the US, but you need to be much more alert and on guard than in Stockholm.
I lived in Ann Arbor (about 45 minutes from Detroit) for a year, and I remember my coworkers once comparing all the bad stuff that had happened to them in Detroit. Things like getting held up at gunpoint…multiple times… I expressed shock at these stories, and they shrugged and said “that’s what happens in the big cities”.
Uh…no. I’ve lived in big cities. That is *not * common.
Apparently unless you live in Detroit. My coworkers successful scared me into avoiding the place completely the year I lived in MI.
cactus waltz, I lived in Chicago for three years without a car. Pubtrans is fine there. But it really is shit in Michigan. I heard that Ann Arbor has the best pubtrans in the state (because the ginormous University of Michigan is there), but that isn’t saying too much.
Are you going to have any time to do any visiting other cities at all while you’re over here? If you’re only going to be here for one academic term and you’re going to be doing research on social policies in Detroit, you may not have time to visit anywhere else in any case. If you will have time, let us know. We can probably arrange a Dopefest in any city you want to visit. Of the cities I live near, I know that there’s a lot of stuff to see in Washington, D.C. which you can get to just by walking and taking the Metro. There’s some good stuff in downtown Baltimore too. We may be able to arrange for you to stay at a Doper’s house.
The first thing you need to find out is which university you’re going to be studying at. I think that many Europeans don’t realize that most big American cities have half a dozen universities in them which have no connection between them. (University of Detroit and Wayne State University are quite different places.) If you ask a student or faculty member at one university about the other place, even if it’s only a few miles away, they probably can’t tell you much about the other university. The next thing you need to find out is just what this faculty member whose house you’ll be staying at is offering you. Is it just a room to stay in? Food? Transportation? Call this person and find out what the deal is. You need to find out what plans are being made for you for transportation before we can tell you more. You also need to tell us the university and the location of the house where you’ll be staying.
cool it-I was joking around. I’ve been skiing in Michigan. But for this OP to come from Sweden, surely you can see that what are considered mountains in MI may not register as such.
Who thinks MI is flat? Not me.
John King Books is a really awesome used book store and one of my favorite places on earth.
Do you know if your prof. lives in the city, or will you be staying in a suburb?
Great, I’ll certainly look that up!
I honestly don’t know where in Detroit I will be. I think they are still mixing and matching the logistic details.
eleanorigby: Minnesota would be great. A lot of American places would be great and while Detroit would not rank too highly if I got to go anywhere I wanted, though this is the opportunity that was given to me. I still think the crime rate and poor public transport are quite big draw-backs, but I’m beginning to see the potential of this trip. I’ll make sure the essay is good!
Listen. Detroit isn’t a super great, happy place. It’s not the worst place in the world, either.
I live about three or four streets over from the border to the city. I’m 26. I’m not dead yet.
I think you’ll have a fantastic time. It’s a bit like one of us coming to Sweden though, and spending our time in the industrial section of the country. Not that there aren’t nice places in Detroit, but it’s not the place we would show off to visitors, that’s all.
We want to hear all about it, though-the good and the bad. Start a thread once you’re here and keep us posted.
Here. This should help acquaint you with some of the city.
The city can help you write a very good paper.
I suppose you could steal a car and drive it without a licence.
You know, most of us seem to be getting hung up on the Detroit issue, when you asked about US customs and things you might need to know, too.
Huge portions, and tipping. I’m sure you’ve seen some of the tipping debates here, maybe even heard talk about obese Americans and ginormous portions…yes the portions are oversized and yes tipping is basically mandatory for all but the worse service, food drink haircut taxi etc.
However the transportation situation gets resolved, remember that walking as a way to get from A to B (as opposed to jogging/walking solely to exercise, for instance) will make people ask you if you’re alright, if your vehicle has broken down, etc. See obesity comment above, plus the lack of pedestrian friendly features, walking is considered unusual.
I visited Sweden briefly a decade ago, and one of the things that sticks out in my memory was how clean everything seemed. Public places, parks and even the streets seemed much more well-maintained than I was used to at home, so I guess you should anticipate more grime, as well as more crime.
When I first read this my reaction was “Why should be a citizen or not matter?”. You would almost certainly need your passport for ID when applying for the license but as far as I know there is no requirement to be a citizen of either a state or the US in order to get a valid driver’s license. Being here legally is important.
Driving visitors around is considered pretty standard in the US - many would be offended at the suggestion you take public transportation when a volunteer driver is available. Americans are driving around everywhere anyway. If you feel you must, an offer to pay for the gas in return for a ride is completely acceptable (and since US gas prices are still lower than in Europe maybe not such a bad deal).
Another option is to call a cab/taxi… but that can be pricey at times.
I lived in Chicago for 15 years, 8 or 9 of which I didn’t have a car and I can’t say I missed driving much, if at all. Not only can you get around Chicago on public transit, you can also get to Indiana and out to Southern Wisconsin as well as suburbs such as Joliet although service to points outside the city proper is less frequent and more expensive, and tends to be oriented to commuters going to and from work. The downtown/Loop area is reasonably friendly to pedestrians with wide sidewalks everywhere.
Travel between cities tends to be either by car or by plane (busses and a few train lines exist, but nothing at all like in Europe.) On the Detroit side you will need a car or taxi to get to a commercial airport, but in Chicago mass transit serves both major airports.
Yes.
True, she may not realize how easy this is, once she gets comfortable with her (his?) new gun.
Yeah, the mountains here aren’t great. Especially since one of the ranges - the Hurons - are pretty much all private property and unaccessible to us plebians.
But the skiing is awesome. Cross-country skiing, that is. Truly beautiful.
The UP has a large Scandinavian influence. It’s more Finn than Swede, but it does exist. If the OP gets homesick, he can come on up. It’s probably the closest he’s going to get to a homeish atmosphere than anywhere else in the US, excepting maybe some parts of Minnesota.
As soon as you know, post and I’ll unload a ton of restaurant suggestions on you I like to eat.
Apparently, they’ve got coffee up there too. Who knew?