Fun Stuff > CHATTER
I'm moving, I think.
thehollow:
--- Quote from: Inlander on 03 Jan 2008, 16:00 --- Whereas in Britain, from what I can tell, this approach to alcohol appears to be the norm. No country that I've ever been to has such an unhealthy drinking culture as Britain.
--- End quote ---
Clearly you've never visited Wisconsin. True, the US as a whole might not be that bad, but the upper midwest, and Wisconsin in particular, has ridiculous rates of binge drinking and drunk driving.
Also, find someone who's been to Russia and ask them what it was like, and the UK will seem like a damn paradise.
calenlass:
Things I wish were more british about the USofA:
More pubs. Less of this coffee house bullshit, at least percentagewise. I am very biased because I do not like coffee and so I see no reason to "meet for coffee", but I do not like beer either and I would still be more likely to "meet up for a pint".
More diversity in accents and slang. Hell, you can tell the difference between what part of London someone is probably from by his accent, and that's just one city! Here no one can really tell the difference between the slow talking twangs of the southern midwest and the southeast, or whether you're from the north or the south end of the west coast or what have you. We are so much huger, this does not make sense.
More ridiculously cool stone architecture. This probably comes with the general age of a lot of the awesome quaintly mismatched buildings in the UK, though, and since the States is so young I don't guess that's really possible. I still don't know why we don't have more narrow twisty staircases, though. Those are cool.
Public transit and trains. It would be nice to be able to walk more places, but things is just so spread out over here that also does not really seem entirely possible. Trains, however, would be most welcome.
Edit: Binge drinking is really bad in the UK because no one ever just says "it's ok, you can stop", I guess? I dunno. I am also unclear on the differences between binge drinking and alcoholism. I know we have lots of alcoholism, but I am unaware of any American binge drinking phenomenae.
mooface:
--- Quote from: Uber Ritter on 03 Jan 2008, 21:49 ---Given how disillusioned many Americans get about life over here I wonder if discontent with the nation of one's birth is something endemic in anglo-saxon culture
--- End quote ---
i think this is true of people from every culture. the grass is always greener on the other side.
i constantly hear americans saying they want to run off to europe, as if it is some sort of paradise. at the same time, many italians i know are mystified that i would want to study in italy when most italian youth would leap at the chance to leave italy and to travel to/live in america.
personally, as someone who's lived in/grown up between the two countries, i will never be content. when i am in italy i miss a million things about america, but when i am in america there are a million things i miss about italy. every country is fucked up in some way - they are all just fucked up in different ways.
going to live in another country is a great experience, but it won't solve anything. you may leave behind a hundred things you hate about the city you came from, but you will just find a hundred new things to hate about the new city you live in.
stella:
--- Quote from: calenlass on 03 Jan 2008, 22:00 ---I know we have lots of alcoholism, but I am unaware of any American binge drinking phenomenae.
--- End quote ---
Visit Cape Cod. It's literally a sand bar, and the view that young kids and teenagers have of the area is that the only thing to do is drink, so binge drinking becomes one of the only things our youth do to occupy their free time. It isn't unusual in the fall/early winter to walk down a beach at night and come across several groups of young kids (14 or 15) with 30 racks or handles drinking for the sake of drinking. Also, it's notable that binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row for men and four for women. If you're an alcoholic, you are most likely also a binge drinker because alcoholics have a difficult time stopping drinking once they start.
fatty:
--- Quote from: mooface on 03 Jan 2008, 22:33 ---
--- Quote from: Uber Ritter on 03 Jan 2008, 21:49 ---Given how disillusioned many Americans get about life over here I wonder if discontent with the nation of one's birth is something endemic in anglo-saxon culture
--- End quote ---
i think this is true of people from every culture. the grass is always greener on the other side.
--- End quote ---
I do not think it is true of every culture. I think there are plenty of people who identify as 'Chinese' even if their family has not been there for generations. I hear of Chinese moving to avoid strife and discrimination, but not out of dissatisfaction. This is somewhat less true of younger generations of Australian and American born Chinese.
Edit: Australia has a binge drinking problem
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version