This is a nice thread. What are the things you like about the US? No sarcasm, please. ~:cool:
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This is a nice thread. What are the things you like about the US? No sarcasm, please. ~:cool:
Is this one of those "thin books" jokes like Great French Military Victories? ~;)
Hmmm, what I like most about the US...
My mother. ~D
The TV and militant democracy.
how cheap everything is when I go there on holiday ~:cheers:
Is this done to compensate all the American-bashing or do you seek some American friends? ~D
Ok, then. The only thing I like is their ice-hockey and baseball leagues. I don't know whether that counts in you topic ~;)
The way you can easily get into an interesting conversation with a complete stranger - regardless of his/her position in society (it might be the businessman on the plane, the taxi driver, the homeless guy who asks you for spare change, or some guy who sits next to you when you have your breakfast in some small town)
The absolute willingness of most people to put an effort in helping you even if they do not know you (experienced that countless times while traveling in the US).
The vast and beautiful landscape - I just loved it to drive through the country, sometimes sitting in the only car to be seen on the road, able to stop at the side of the road any time I felt like it, just to watch the scenery.
The strange way you can get addicted to an actually horrible beverage like rootbeer
Barbecues
And there are probably more things I might add later on ~:)
24 (tv program) top class!
Coffee. And proper food for prices I can actually afford.
"Now basketball is my favourite sport"
Lil'Bow Wow - Basketball(Soundtrack from the film Like Mike)
~D
Forgot Starbucks!
NFL is pretty good. better than the other sports although Ice Hockey is alright I guess.
[QUOTE=Ldvs]Is this done to compensate all the American-bashing or do you seek some American friends? ~D QUOTE]
No! I really love to discuss about American politics ~:)
But to me it is too much black and white. I just want to see what Americans. Europeans or others love about the US.
P.S.: Why do Canadians call the US Americans?
Having never been there I would need to go with their TV programmes, well some of them, like 24 and CSI, though the original CSI is better then the spin offs.
Tv-shows, movies and ofcourse half my family :bow:
The landscape, the friendly people and the hotties (can't beat a Chicago Hot Dog ~;))
Wow. I've spent my last 24 years trying to remove all forms of American TV from my life (except for Red Sox baseball).
I'll swap any of you Euros all my TVs for any curry recipes you have laying about.
most of the people are really nice. Outside of the U.S.A. people say that American friendliness and helpfulness is all fake. It isn't. I really like home but it's so doom and gloom and F*** everybody but the U.S. seems to have a sense of hope. It's nice
The sense of optimism the place projects. Its misplaced, of course, but its refreshing.
Also people seem to be really polite compared to the UK. Even in Noo Yawk. (OK, they aren't REALLY polite in New York. But they are politer.)
The fact that Americans seem to have 25 hours in the day. Or anyway, however they manage it they seem to get more done than I could.
This is a prejudice I also used to believe in when I was younger - however, I realized that this is only half of the truth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taffy_is_a_Taff
IMHO, you might indeed see more "superficial" friendliness and friendship in the US than e.g. in Europe.
However, you get this "superficial" friendliness and friendship on top of the genuine friendliness, that you also have in ample amounts in the US.
Personally (and especially as a foreign visitor) I definitely prefer some "superficial" friendliness and helpfulness over receiving no help or unfriendly reactions ~:)
Good question. First, I think, because it's the United States of America. Therefore Americans seems a logical contraction or colloquialism if you would.Quote:
Originally Posted by Franconicus
As an extension to this contraction, since they get the America, we get the North. ~:smoking: North is cool.
Canadians, also, have a somewhat deperate desire not to be tied to, or seen as, (US) Americans, to the point where we refused our seat at the OAS (Organization of American States, which encompases all of North, Central, and South America) for years. The reason was that the US would obviously rule over the whole body and Canada did not want to lend credence to that overlordship. In the end, that scumbag PM of ours, Mulroney, exactly in order to appease the US, joined and we lost our sense of dispassionate objectivity.
We like to see ourselves tied to the global community as opposed to tied to the US. By distancing ourselves from the image, and name of, Americans, I think we do just that.
But I still love Americans. They're all squishy and warm and fuzzy. ~:pat:
Its several thousand miles away.
They speak English, albeit a bastardised English, but at least they are sensible and are backing the winning horse. They are helping to spread English throughout the world which makes global communication much easier.
They dislike the French.
They have a positive war aggregate with the United Kingdom. A good ally is always useful and so we can forgive the occasional friendly fire incident.
The South is full of some downright decent country folk, although being white and straight can occasionally help.
Vegas is the best stag night venue in the world as long as the groom doesn't marry someone else by accident first.
I've never been there, but US tourists are always friendly.
They have managed to make entertainment a goal in itself, although the current 'entertainment' we get from there is pretty bad.
They're a great example of the Euro liberals (in the euro sense).
The very, very good science that is done there.
I think America gets the rep for 'manufactured emotional happiness' from our culture of sales persons and whatnot. (Waiters, clerks, make-up counter women, flight attendants, etc) A nasty side effect of consumerism.
Rootbeer is the key to U.S. power. :charge:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
Ice Hockey,movies and Jack Daniels. :bow:
The BoSox.
Cinncinati Bengals...and the people, there always so nice to us englishmen, dunno why, we used to be their tyrants
The scary thing is - after I overcame my initial disgust I really started to like this stuff - no visit to the US without having an obligatory can of rootbeer. ~:cheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by Pindar
Family Guy
The Simpsons
The Internet
Computers
My American family members
Good American food
:)
Have you ever been to an A&W Rootbeer fastfood place? They have some good rootbeer, but they are few and far between and the food isn't so good. I'd recommend Crackerbarrell for a frosted mug of rootbeer and some better food than A&W. They are pretty common too, there's always one at major exits on the highway. Now have you ever tried birchbeer? I think its a New England thing.
The porn industry.
How sensitive to cold they all seem to be ("how cold is -25C?").
How they just don't understand that Bob 'n Doug MacKenzie were not an honest representation of Canadian culture.
Florida Death Metal.
Side note: Is A&W really an American chain? I have an inkling it was started in Canada, for some reason...
I have not tried that one yet - but I will keep it in mind for the next time I visit the US and need my "rootbeer-fix" ~:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Skomatth
Try dumping some icecream into that rootbeer. Oh yeah!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
On topic: outer politics , maybe , because they are good at strengthening their country ...
Ah, the mighty Root Beer Float. A&W serves those too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson
Oh , forget about Manowar - viva power metal.
Let's see what I like:
*The Guns. Hell, there's no place in Europe where you can go to a minigun shoot.
*The violent videogames banned everywhere else.
*The Jack Daniels
* The SIMPSONS!
* The Humor.
* The varieties of food.
* The varieties of culture.
Damn A&W is good. They don't have those in Germany?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
I'm screwed. ~:confused:
At least I have not seen it yet...Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaiser of Arabia
BTW, of course I expect you to eat the local food if you come here :stare:
But you will also find lots of Italian food in all price categories ~D
(shudder)Quote:
Originally Posted by IliaDN
Those are only banned in the States...and Australia.Quote:
Originally Posted by DemonArchangel
lol yeah German foods gooooood....but I don't think I can make it a month without an A&W Rootbeer! :balloon2:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
Hating the Yankees nationwide is also a pretty swell thing we do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Goofball
Except for those idiots from the Bronx who can't even name the last short stop who played before Jeter.
:angryg:
What? The Yankees are the greatest baseball team since the dodgers left Brooklyn! HOW DARE YOU! :duel: :shout: :angry: :rifle: :veryangry2: :hairpin1: :stwmean:Quote:
Originally Posted by Proletariat
From the A&W website:Quote:
Originally Posted by NeonGod
Quote:
One hot day in June of 1919, in Lodi, California, an entrepreneur named Roy Allen mixed up a batch of creamy root beer and sold the first frosty mug of this delightful beverage for one nickel. Now, seventy years later, A&W Root Beer is the world's number one selling root beer and is still made fresh daily and sold at hundreds of A&W Restaurants.
Fair enough, but Canada keeps Harvey's.
A sound policy. :bow:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Clegane
thanks I forgot about:
root beer and guns
Two of my favourite things.
I just spend Sunday shooting lots of guns in the middle of nowhere.
No Rootbeer though :(
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Nasa
-The blue plate lunch special at a good southern grocery store or gas station for $4.00
-Family Guy, South Park, The Venture Brothers
-Sweet tea and lemonade
-Severe late afternoon thunderstorms
-NCAA Basketball
-Fried catfish on Fridays
-Cheap books
-Lots of attractive and smart female international graduate students
All the pointless political parties (the Scorched Earth Party,,, nuff said)
Freedom of Speech. ~:)
Awhile ago two peeps try to introduce/convert me to religion. Guess who left scratching their heads and confused of their faith.
1) Standing for Freedom
I know it is hard to believe, given the way countries attack it's recent actions. It is still a lot better than many countries at giving freedom.
2) The Movies
If I could do nothing else, I would be happing watching movies all day. It's escapism is a real help to ease pressures of everyday life.
3) The Technology
Where would we be without the PC, the Console, the Games, the Internet, etc. etc. Also the occasional trip into space.
4) It's People
For doing all the above. The US is made from up from hundreds of other countries immigrants, from Italians, to Irish and everything in between. It is a microcoism of the wider world.
Baseball.
'Nuff said.
I knew it was somewhere! I knew it! On the Diamond, all along!Quote:
Originally Posted by JAG
Sweet, sweet common ground.
^^^what he said^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by DemonArchangel
and a lot of little things, like Smokey the Bear, County Fairs, the Rocky Mountains, baseball, the Marine Corps, cheap gas, Las Vegas, and pizza delivery.
What country!
I like mostly everything about US, except the foreign policies....... ~;)
Bah, you have nothing on the British.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaiser of Arabia
As to the topic, I really do like America. There are just a few little things about it that I don't like but that goes for anywhere/anyone, but overall, it's a great place.
-The General Outward Friendliness of most people, in most parts of the country (yes, even many people I have met in ghettos are rather nice... just don't stay out to late or get involved with gangs.)
-Guns and Hunting for the masses (Hunting is one of my favorite things to do in the fall... in most places in the world hunting is privatized.)
-Food (I don't care what you think... after eating seafood for 7 months straight, nothing is better than a good steak or hamburger grilled in good ol' Americana.)
-Politics aside, Americans in general are nice people and liberally accepting people... even though we have our radicals, religious feuding between Christians/ Non-Christians is relatively nil, if someone says something bad about the other side, chances are the other side never hears it.) Unless there is some dumbass thing about an athiest wanting "in god we trust" off the national anthem, it's still important to recognize our nation's history and tradition... most of which comes from those uptight werido Pilgrims with buckles on their hats. (Unfortunately my ancestors were one's themselves).
-Fiercely Loyal, being an American by birth, I am still loyal to the cause of our freedom and democracy, although somewhat skeptical about our current policies, if there was ever an attempt to overthrow the government into something outside of being democratic or relatively free society (hey we can still pray to whomever we want, or not at all! and we still have equal opportunity) I think millions upon millions of people from every niche' in American society would find themselves in common ground, liberals... conservatives... hippies... the vast majority of people can still come together in trying times... just look at WWII.
I also like black movies - ones with Bogard or Edward G. Robinson.
Baywatch ~:cool:
I like that they helped Europe after WW2
I like Basketball
I am impressed by their self-confidence and their always promblem solving approach