OC merely observed that Americans have a different way of eating - i did not see an insult there. It's a good thing to point out to someone traveling to the US for the first time.

It's also useful to know that an 'entree' is actually a main course, that serving sizes in most restaurants are very large (so sharing a dish is an acceptable thing to do) and that you should add a sizeable tip to your bill, as service is not included. Tax is added onto purchases in stores, and hotel sometimes add a 'resort fee' and local taxes as well.

On the whole I think Americans are extremely friendly, it's an easy country to travel in.

"Tax is added onto purchases in stores"

Depends on where you shop and what you buy. Oregon has no sales tax, for example, and Pennsylvania doesn't tax clothes (which are deemed "essential") except for bathing suits (but try going to a public pool without one...).

You'd think that dealing with all these yes/no taxes, tips, and surcharges every day, Americans would all be math wizards. But alas, while my basic arithmetic skills are indeed quite good, I quickly get lost once I enter the realm of higher mathematics.

When we visited our friends in Yorkshire, they played videos of Phoenix Nights and most of the time we hadn't a clue what was being sad, but they thought it was uproarious. It was the accent not the humor.

vincenzo32951, Please do not expect me to explain "irony", "word play" and humour on this thread.

Yes, the Atlantic has included some "fiction" possibly inadvertantly.

other: >> Please do not expect me to explain "irony", "word play" and humour on this thread.>Yes, the Atlantic has included some "fiction" possibly inadvertantly.

"You can tell a lot about a country by comparing the number of people trying to enter it, with the number of people trying to leave it"


paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill



What a foreigner should know... are most of the reasons why...

NorthwestMale, close to two million people entered Turkey in the last two and a half years and possibly three or four hundred thousand left it. There are currently another few hundred thousand trying to enter. Those trying to leave are trying to enter Greece, Bulgaria, and then most of them try to leave those countries to enter Hungary and Austria, and so on till they get to other countries.

Some ideas or thoughts do not always apply in different circumstances and different time periods and to all peoples.

Unfortunately none of this has anything to do about providing information to the unprepared foreign tourist about America and what to expect once they arrive.

But a (inaccurate) post about what's running in Atlantic magazine does provide such information?

I will explain since it is apparent that ironic or witty responses come as rather obtuse nonsense to some readers.

The reference to Atlantic magazine was in response to Annhigs's post about humour not being able to cross the Atlantic. She was talking of the ocean and I responded by going a bit deeper and to use the similar name of the American magazine which publishes mostly political, technological and economic articles with absolutely no humour and many of which can be construed as fiction by some people who are critical of the writers.

well, I got it, OC, even though I was not previously familiar with the Atlantic magazine.

The only country left in the world that uses miles, feet, pounds, inches;
1/2 in the U.S. have guns;
If a black teen carrying a knife is shot, the Police Chief has to resign;
If you dont believe Alex Haley's 'Roots' is the truth you are a racist;
If da bossman dont hire minorities with 2.5GPA instead of white with 3.5GPA they are racist;
2million in jail or on parole; more than Russia+China;
more homicides, rapes, robberies than all other nations combined!

Yes, you can say anything in the US because freedom of speech allows you to do so. Unfortunately it doesn't protect us from the ignorance of others. At this stage I'm hoping the editors will close this thread.

>>I will explain since it is apparent that ironic or witty responses come as rather obtuse nonsense to some readers.

Why close it? I think it encapsulates the nature pf public discourse in the US, such as it is, pretty accurately.

Indeed, NewbE, indeed. There are some overly sensitive Americans on this thread who do not realize the privilege they have of being able to discuss perceptions of Americans as seen through other cultures. Dialogue only happens when people listen to the speaker and try to understand the meaning and background behind the words.

Travelgourmet has made blanket statements regarding Switzerland on other threads based on remarks from a Swiss colleague and yet he accuses others of doing the same thing.

It's easier to point fingers at others than admitting to doing much of the same.

Travelgourmet has made blanket statements regarding Switzerland on other threads based on remarks from a Swiss colleague and yet he accuses others of doing the same thing.

To be clear, I make blanket statements about Switzerland from personal experience. Most of them aren't terribly serious, and shouldn't be taken terribly seriously. When I say that Switzerland's economy is predicated on money laundering and tax evasion, for example, I'm only half serious. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care for Switzerland, but others are free to disagree with that.

I have, however, corrected people that miscast Switzerland as something it is not (some sort of European Social Democracy, popularly defined), but that is a question of fact, not an opinion. I will continue to correct people on points of fact.

Otherchelebi,

Your response makes no sense in light of the fact that the original post has nothing to do with tourism, but thanks for playing...


As I stated, "The reasons why..." (would illuminate the country to which you allude as the backward hellhole that it is, and clearly differentiate between that and "the shining city upon the hill"