What are hot topics of discussion for Europeans traveling to the USA?...
May 24th, 2008, 12:31 PM
#1
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What are hot topics of discussion for Europeans traveling to the USA?...
While I realize there are Europeans who post on the Fodor's Fora, I am sure there are sites catering predominantly to them and in their native languages.
Does anyone here frequent any of those sites? If so, it would be interesting to learn some of the most popular topics of discussion, such as likes and dislikes among US cities and tourist attractions, 'discovered' small towns, perceptions of American society, etc.
We Americans will likely be enlightened -- and possibly surprised -- by this knowledge. Thanks!
Does anyone here frequent any of those sites? If so, it would be interesting to learn some of the most popular topics of discussion, such as likes and dislikes among US cities and tourist attractions, 'discovered' small towns, perceptions of American society, etc.
We Americans will likely be enlightened -- and possibly surprised -- by this knowledge. Thanks!
May 24th, 2008, 01:36 PM
#2
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Thanks for the question. To be honest, I am not aware of many, if any, forums catering for Europeans exclusively. That's why I call in here regularly. International travel combined with the internet by their natures break down boundaries so the concept of exclusivity becomes meaningless.
I'm not sure if the remainder of this belongs on the Europe forum, but for what it's worth I think that NYC and San Francisco are two of the most beautiful cities in the world, for different reasons. I am lucky, I have visited many places in the USA in the last 30 years mainly with my work but also on vacation, and coincidentally my father-in-law was a US citizen who spent almost all his life in the UK (long story) so my wife has a tribe of relations in the US. We have visited most of them and for anybody, staying with an American family in their home is a factor of zillions better than staying in hotels.
Dislikes, for balance. Big problem, being treated like a criminal on entry to your country. I cannot believe that your security services do not know exactly who I am, and my background, when my passport gets checked, so after queuing for immigration an hour or more after a 7-hour flight, why do I have to justify my existence and prove I have somewhere to stay? Frankly, that's a major reason why I haven't visited the US for 3 or 4 years on vacation, and why a lot of Europeans haven't either, despite the good exchange rate.
Small problem - sales tax. When I buy something labelled, say, $9.99, why is tax added afterwards so a $10 bill isn't enough? Very irritating.
That's all for now.
I'm not sure if the remainder of this belongs on the Europe forum, but for what it's worth I think that NYC and San Francisco are two of the most beautiful cities in the world, for different reasons. I am lucky, I have visited many places in the USA in the last 30 years mainly with my work but also on vacation, and coincidentally my father-in-law was a US citizen who spent almost all his life in the UK (long story) so my wife has a tribe of relations in the US. We have visited most of them and for anybody, staying with an American family in their home is a factor of zillions better than staying in hotels.
Dislikes, for balance. Big problem, being treated like a criminal on entry to your country. I cannot believe that your security services do not know exactly who I am, and my background, when my passport gets checked, so after queuing for immigration an hour or more after a 7-hour flight, why do I have to justify my existence and prove I have somewhere to stay? Frankly, that's a major reason why I haven't visited the US for 3 or 4 years on vacation, and why a lot of Europeans haven't either, despite the good exchange rate.
Small problem - sales tax. When I buy something labelled, say, $9.99, why is tax added afterwards so a $10 bill isn't enough? Very irritating.
That's all for now.
May 24th, 2008, 02:10 PM
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Underhill, you missed my point. In the UK, VAT is already applied to the posted price. If it says 10 pounds that is what you will pay. In the US if it says 10 dollars, you will pay more at the checkout.
May 24th, 2008, 04:44 PM
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stfc
I could say the same thing about UK immigration. I am a 51 year old well-dressed woman obviously coming either for business or vacation. And I have to stand on long immigration lines and tell them what hotel I will be staying at as well as often being asked when I will be leaving and what my "business" is.
I must admit most countries in europe are less trouble - but i have been stuck at CDG immigration behind a whole planeload of potential illegal immigrants from someplace in Africa - who had no concept of standing in line. Luckily I am used to the NYC subway system so I used my elbows and held my ground, but many of the tourists on my flight from NYC were maneouvred to the back of a big mob scene.
I could say the same thing about UK immigration. I am a 51 year old well-dressed woman obviously coming either for business or vacation. And I have to stand on long immigration lines and tell them what hotel I will be staying at as well as often being asked when I will be leaving and what my "business" is.
I must admit most countries in europe are less trouble - but i have been stuck at CDG immigration behind a whole planeload of potential illegal immigrants from someplace in Africa - who had no concept of standing in line. Luckily I am used to the NYC subway system so I used my elbows and held my ground, but many of the tourists on my flight from NYC were maneouvred to the back of a big mob scene.
May 24th, 2008, 05:01 PM
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stfc:
My whitebread, upstanding citizen nephew (who is editor of two sports magazines) was on the "no-fly, search-his-bags, don't-let-him-check-in-online" list and used to get hassled every time he flew. He filled out forms with two airlines to get off their list, but he continued to be hassled.
Finally the harrassment stopped, and he hasn't been bothered the last two times he flew.
So it's certainly not just foreign visitors who get the business in the U.S.
My whitebread, upstanding citizen nephew (who is editor of two sports magazines) was on the "no-fly, search-his-bags, don't-let-him-check-in-online" list and used to get hassled every time he flew. He filled out forms with two airlines to get off their list, but he continued to be hassled.
Finally the harrassment stopped, and he hasn't been bothered the last two times he flew.
So it's certainly not just foreign visitors who get the business in the U.S.
May 24th, 2008, 05:30 PM
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My concerns about visiting the US are:
- how I should dress in order not to look like a tourist;
- if I can find familiar food and drink like bacon & cabbage washed down with buttermilk, and avoid that strange foreign muck;
- if people will understand me if I speak Gaelic VERY LOUDLY;
- if I can hang out with the cast of ER;
- if I can see the second round game of the Ulster under-21 football championship;
- if I can wear orange on March 17;
- if I can get tickets for the Superbowl;
- if I can get proper coffee;
- if I will be ashamed of my teeth.
- how I should dress in order not to look like a tourist;
- if I can find familiar food and drink like bacon & cabbage washed down with buttermilk, and avoid that strange foreign muck;
- if people will understand me if I speak Gaelic VERY LOUDLY;
- if I can hang out with the cast of ER;
- if I can see the second round game of the Ulster under-21 football championship;
- if I can wear orange on March 17;
- if I can get tickets for the Superbowl;
- if I can get proper coffee;
- if I will be ashamed of my teeth.
May 24th, 2008, 06:36 PM
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My concerns about visiting the US are:
- how I should dress in order not to look like a tourist;
Wear green plaid slacks with white running shoes.
- if I can find familiar food and drink like bacon & cabbage washed down with buttermilk, and avoid that strange foreign muck;
Lots of people eat bacon & cabbage and drink buttermilk so no problemo.
- if people will understand me if I speak Gaelic VERY LOUDLY;
NO!!!
- if I can hang out with the cast of ER;
If you don't watch when crossing the street, you can visit the real thing but bring lots of cash.
- if I can see the second round game of the Ulster under-21 football championship;
NO.
- if I can wear orange on March 17;
OK. You'll look like a road construction worker though.
- if I can get tickets for the Superbowl;
Depends on who's playing.
- if I can get proper coffee;
Sure, at Dunkin Donuts.
- if I will be ashamed of my teeth
No, lots of people here have bad teeth.
So, come on over.
- how I should dress in order not to look like a tourist;
Wear green plaid slacks with white running shoes.
- if I can find familiar food and drink like bacon & cabbage washed down with buttermilk, and avoid that strange foreign muck;
Lots of people eat bacon & cabbage and drink buttermilk so no problemo.
- if people will understand me if I speak Gaelic VERY LOUDLY;
NO!!!
- if I can hang out with the cast of ER;
If you don't watch when crossing the street, you can visit the real thing but bring lots of cash.
- if I can see the second round game of the Ulster under-21 football championship;
NO.
- if I can wear orange on March 17;
OK. You'll look like a road construction worker though.
- if I can get tickets for the Superbowl;
Depends on who's playing.
- if I can get proper coffee;
Sure, at Dunkin Donuts.
- if I will be ashamed of my teeth
No, lots of people here have bad teeth.
So, come on over.
May 25th, 2008, 09:46 AM
#11
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The main problem with the US is the US government who seem to go out of their way to actively discourage Evil Furriners from entering the US.
If you want to start a real whinge, post this question on the Canada forum and ask about land crossings.
You'll rapidly get all the tales about ambulances /fire engines being held up at the border despite agreements existing to let them through quickly
As for furri
If you want to start a real whinge, post this question on the Canada forum and ask about land crossings.
You'll rapidly get all the tales about ambulances /fire engines being held up at the border despite agreements existing to let them through quickly
As for furri
May 25th, 2008, 10:27 AM
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The simple answer to NoleNomad is that, apart from America's policy of deliberately going out of its way to behave more obnoxiously to arriving foreigners than any other country I've ever visited (I think it was around 70 at the last count), there are no "hot topics of discussion for Europeans"
First: no, there aren't "sites catering predominantly to Europeans". For travel, we generally make do with German-owned Fodors, or with the UK government-owned Lonely Planet. The reason, of course, is that there's no such thing as a European. The British and Irish, and most people in the countries which use English as a virtual alternative languasge (Scandinavia and Holland) simply use any English-language website going: you might expect people less fluent in English to use French, Italian or whatever travel sites - but there really aren't any, or at least none with the critical mass of Fodors or Lonely Planet.
Second, foreign travel really isn't the big adventure for Europeans it seems to be for many Americans. If you spit in Europe it lands in a foreign country - and almost certainly one that speaks a foreign language, and that's invaded, or been invaded by, your country in living memory. For most Europeans, going on holiday means crossing a border. So, much of the time, does going to see a client or supplier if you make money for a living, or making policy if you're a tax-guzzling bureaucrat, since few policies in Europe can be made by countries acting alone. America is just another border to cross - and, since English is Europe's standard second language, and most neighbouring countries speak a language different from your own, it's easier to get yourself understood in America than in the country thirty miles away. Were it not for America's determination to win the world's most ungracious welcome award, America would be the least stressful border to cross.
Because it's easier for a German or Italian to look up US opening times on the web, than their French eqwuivalent: to tune into local radio stations and read the online version of local papers.
And since we really don't care whether or not you like our teeth, clothes or naive assumption you pay waiters a living wage, none of us want to know about the dress code or tipping policy for eating in the McDonalds next to the Empire State Building.
So there just isn't a secret site where Europeans ask each other which bars serve beer at a temperature that lets you taste it.
But "perceptions of American society" is a whole Nother Thing. One place to start off - if you're relaxed about the risk of soaring blood pressure - is the comment section on practically any BBC story or op-ed piece. An example is Justin Webb's blog (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/)
A large proportion of comments on his blog come from Americans. But, quite frequently, the authentic voice of semi-literate, grudge-bearing British whinger sounds through.
First: no, there aren't "sites catering predominantly to Europeans". For travel, we generally make do with German-owned Fodors, or with the UK government-owned Lonely Planet. The reason, of course, is that there's no such thing as a European. The British and Irish, and most people in the countries which use English as a virtual alternative languasge (Scandinavia and Holland) simply use any English-language website going: you might expect people less fluent in English to use French, Italian or whatever travel sites - but there really aren't any, or at least none with the critical mass of Fodors or Lonely Planet.
Second, foreign travel really isn't the big adventure for Europeans it seems to be for many Americans. If you spit in Europe it lands in a foreign country - and almost certainly one that speaks a foreign language, and that's invaded, or been invaded by, your country in living memory. For most Europeans, going on holiday means crossing a border. So, much of the time, does going to see a client or supplier if you make money for a living, or making policy if you're a tax-guzzling bureaucrat, since few policies in Europe can be made by countries acting alone. America is just another border to cross - and, since English is Europe's standard second language, and most neighbouring countries speak a language different from your own, it's easier to get yourself understood in America than in the country thirty miles away. Were it not for America's determination to win the world's most ungracious welcome award, America would be the least stressful border to cross.
Because it's easier for a German or Italian to look up US opening times on the web, than their French eqwuivalent: to tune into local radio stations and read the online version of local papers.
And since we really don't care whether or not you like our teeth, clothes or naive assumption you pay waiters a living wage, none of us want to know about the dress code or tipping policy for eating in the McDonalds next to the Empire State Building.
So there just isn't a secret site where Europeans ask each other which bars serve beer at a temperature that lets you taste it.
But "perceptions of American society" is a whole Nother Thing. One place to start off - if you're relaxed about the risk of soaring blood pressure - is the comment section on practically any BBC story or op-ed piece. An example is Justin Webb's blog (www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/justinwebb/)
A large proportion of comments on his blog come from Americans. But, quite frequently, the authentic voice of semi-literate, grudge-bearing British whinger sounds through.
May 25th, 2008, 12:40 PM
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From the subject line of the question, I thought the topic was going to be, "What questions do Europeans visiting the US want to ask US residents? Should be an interesting topic. We've been asked some doozies in France.
When I visit a place I know a little something about, I always have questions--what do you think of your new prime minister? What do you think of M Sarkozy's proposal to change the 35-hour work week? I regret I was not in France during Le divorce to get opinions about that! I love the range of answers we get; everybody has an opinion.
When I visit a place I know a little something about, I always have questions--what do you think of your new prime minister? What do you think of M Sarkozy's proposal to change the 35-hour work week? I regret I was not in France during Le divorce to get opinions about that! I love the range of answers we get; everybody has an opinion.
May 25th, 2008, 01:58 PM
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underhill, in years of European travel and literally hundreds of hotel rentals, I've never seen the VAT not included in the hotel prices. Nor when shopping have I ever noticed the prices listed without the VAT but have it added at the cash register. Have I just missed this somewhere?
May 25th, 2008, 04:21 PM
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STFC, I too also like the system of having the tax added in--for convenience sake. Perhaps one reason the nowhere in the US adds theirs in before the purchase, is that tax rates are different in every city and state...for instance, let's say that a shirt at a Gap costs 25.00---the state tax in New York is a different amount than Florida, Texas, or California--San Francisco's tax is different than Miami; so GAP couldn't put a corporate price tag on the merchandise and have it work in every city or state, because the rates vary...does that make sense? It is more complex than a flat tax like countries in Europe have...
May 26th, 2008, 02:22 AM
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NoleNomad: I just looked and found a lot of forums as http://www.usa-reise.de/forum/index.html or http://www.amerika-forum.de/ in which German travellers are discussing things. Going to the USA is for most people one of the big trips or their life, so they are planning well ahead.
The probably biggest topic is which route to take and what places to see. The next popular subjects are hotels and airlines. Then a lot of questions regarding the most popular tourist sites as SF, NY or Vegas. And then all the stuff you can find on this forum, as "best way to take money on an US trip" or "what am I allowed to pack". Visa is also a big topic but hardly the dominant subject. Two things I havenīt seen so much around Fodors are questions to speed limits and mobiles.
And yep, you can also find discussions about the US society.
The probably biggest topic is which route to take and what places to see. The next popular subjects are hotels and airlines. Then a lot of questions regarding the most popular tourist sites as SF, NY or Vegas. And then all the stuff you can find on this forum, as "best way to take money on an US trip" or "what am I allowed to pack". Visa is also a big topic but hardly the dominant subject. Two things I havenīt seen so much around Fodors are questions to speed limits and mobiles.
And yep, you can also find discussions about the US society.
May 26th, 2008, 03:13 AM
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kenav - the hassles were there long, long before 9/11. That just upped the ante with fingerprinting, tightening of visa requirements etc. What I think vexes everybody is why thousands of Mexicans cross your southern border to work illegally on a regular basis while bona fide tourists get the third degree entering the country at notified points of entry with no intention of taking up residence or taking jobs away from US citizens.
