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That's funny! I've been to Europe 15-18 times, and I actually always love that no matter what country I'm in when visiting - the bathroom stalls are almost always separate little rooms, and if not, it's a floor to ceiling wall/door.
In the USA there's almost ALWAYS a gap at the bottom and the top. These days i've seen more and more where you can actually look over the top of the stall when you walk by! It's not even 6 feet tall.
Is that a public toilet or one shared by 5 apartments?
As someone else said - the nudity thing is also major here. I mean some people almost PANIC and get physically upset because of a naked human being. Like if a woman exposed her breasts on accident in a supermarket it would be the WORST thing that happened to her all year. What's the big deal? People get so morbidly embarassed. I have to admit I'm right there with them - but I don't know why. It's just breasts and penises. We all have them!
I always look forward to the Dyke March that is part of the Gay Pride Parade...it's so liberating to see all of the women going shirtless!
5 apartments sharing a toilet?? Maybe in Bulgaria!
No, in most places around Europe. Try finding an apartment with it's own private bathroom. It took me a while to find one in London...most places I looked at had a shared bathroom with other flats. It's very common.
Traveling from England I am always surprised by just how different the US is, and in what ways. Things that struck me;
Crazy politics- there are some things that aren't issues in the UK, like say abortion- the vast majority of people just think women should choose, but in the US people get very angry about it. Same with taxes...even though you are taxed so much less than us! Welfare and wealth distribution also seems to be a thorny issue.
Religion- a lot of places seem reasonably secular but a few places I visited (such as rural Pennsylvania) the pure ostentatiousness of it made me very uncomfortable. As did the fact that politicians and public figures felt the need to constantly re-state their faith. The difference in England is that politicians lose credibility by declaring that they're religious, for example Blair played down his Christianity.
Patriotism- this is not to say that people in England aren't patriotic, but I was really shocked by firstly all the flags and national iconography you saw just driving around. Secondly, all that pledge of allegiance stuff at schools, and people standing up for the national anthem. Thirdly, the genuine pride that people took in their country, and their willingness to tell you at any given opportunity. I think it's just for someone coming from a country where cynicism and pessimism are national trait, it was so weird to not hear people constantly criticising the government or the country.
Friendlyness- Americans are SO friendly. It was difficult for me because often I found myself being talked to by people I had never met or never been introduced to, and although I appreciated it, it was really disarming. You'd walk into a shop and people would be there talking to you and you don't really know what to say because you're not used to the situation. Same thing happened on the street. But still, I'm sure it's easier to make friends if you moved to the country. I think it's just that Americans are less insular than us.
Cars/streets- although I loved my time in America, this really was the thing that put me off ever moving there permanently. Apart from the city centres, I found walking places difficult, 'unusual' and in some cases impossible. For example I would often set off to walk from one side of the road to the other only to find that there was no crossing and I had to literally drive 20m. For the first week I was extremely restless and I think that this played a part. Public transport was really lacking too in the areas I visited.
Fashion- I always thought that the US seemed slightly behind us in terms of music and fashion, but it could just be different tastes. For example I found that people in the US seemed to buy a lot of clothes, rather than a small amount of expensive ones. The only place I went that really came close was New York, and a few clubs I went to were equal to London's.
Reading through this, I do realise that it seems a bit negative. This was not my intention, and I will just state now that I really like the US so there aren't any misunderstandings!
Oh and and one more thing! A major shock to me was the sheer lack of a drinking culture. Obviously there aren't pubs in America but I still expected to find people ordering beers with meals and generally enjoying alcohol. It seemed like where I was, alcohol was frowned upon in a way. For instance, I went to a party where there were 16/17/18/19/20 year olds not drinking! Would never happen in England. I got into a conversation with a kid there and when I told him I'd been drinking since I was 13/14 he was shocked and told me that my parents must have done something wrong.
Oh and and one more thing! A major shock to me was the sheer lack of a drinking culture. Obviously there aren't pubs in America but I still expected to find people ordering beers with meals and generally enjoying alcohol. It seemed like where I was, alcohol was frowned upon in a way. For instance, I went to a party where there were 16/17/18/19/20 year olds not drinking! Would never happen in England. I got into a conversation with a kid there and when I told him I'd been drinking since I was 13/14 he was shocked and told me that my parents must have done something wrong.
You are making very general assumptions based on single experiences...your conversation with one teenager and experiences in one place certainly don't translate to the "sheer lack of a drinking culture".
If you had stayed in the French Quarter in New Orleans, you might have concluded that there is rampant alcoholism and public drunkeness in the U.S. You really can't make assumptions like that. It's okay to make statements like "It shocked me when...", but to assume that all of America is like one single spot is absurd.
You are making very general assumptions based on single experiences...your conversation with one teenager and experiences in one place certainly don't translate to the "sheer lack of a drinking culture".
If you had stayed in the French Quarter in New Orleans, you might have concluded that there is rampant alcoholism and public drunkeness in the U.S. You really can't make assumptions like that. It's okay to make statements like "It shocked me when...", but to assume that all of America is like one single spot is absurd.
Exactly. For example, someone who has been to only New York and Boston could say that American public transportation is excellent.
I always look forward to the Dyke March that is part of the Gay Pride Parade...it's so liberating to see all of the women going shirtless!
Not to be nasty or anything, but those aren't usually the kind of woman you want to see shirtless.
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