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Just a few of the items I find strange in the US are:
- ice in drinks.
- the obsession with cranking the AC up.
- Bakery items generally suck, way over surgared and buttered.
- freezing cold beer; suppose to be just for the cheap beer due to low quality, but many places do not understand this and have all of their beer freezing cold.
Most Europeans consider drinks that are extremely cold (as in chilled by ice)
to be unhealthy. They commonly serve cold drinks chilled, but with no ice. I
am not sure why, but that is the prevailing perception.
I don't like ice in my drinks. I always have to ask for restaurants to omit it. They do tend to fill up your glass with ice because it's cheaper.
I've lived in the US my whole life, but I don't let anyone wear shoes in my house. The reason, new beige carpet! It's amazing what a difference it makes. But people here do look at you like a freak if you ask them to take their shoes off. I guess it just feels intimate, like you are partly undressing or something..
They sure do! Guess it is considered intimate, but all I can think of us the dirty carpet that results. So good for you...and your carpet!
Because they're old white people who probably vote republican and should be happy they're even allowed to live in Glorious New America.
But seriously Americans used to take care of their aged parents, but then came Social Security and birth control, which eliminated both kids and the need to have kids to care for you in old age. It's a lovely system.
Because young people are the future, and thus possess a unique sacred, innate wisdom that old, fat stupid people often fail to appreciate, and thus need it beaten into them.
Because if you don't pay people not to work they start burning their neighborhoods or voting Republican.
These go together. Everything seems too expensive because after taxes to pay for people not working you don't really make much at your crappy job.
I will assume your post was meant to be satire.
Thai people are very independent. They are also extremely thrifty. They negotiate the price for everything. LOL
The youth. In Thai culture as in many asian cultures kids are taught to revere their elders. In the United States kids talk back to their parents, can be openly rude and the parents seem to accept it. The one thing you will almost never see in Thailand is kids running around in stores unattended.
The Dentist. It is cheaper for me to have dental work done in Thailand and pay out of pocket than my deductibles are here in the USA. The Work is very good and very reasonably priced.
Most Farmers are Republican. I doubt that you will find a harder working people than farmers.
My Job. LOL I make right at $30 an hour as an industrial mechanic. No complaints with pay.
My wife makes $18.00 an hour and I would need a lot of words to describe her work. lack of money after taxes isn't the problem. The problem is the idea of making some people work and pay taxes so that others can be paid to stay home. That is how she sees it. It is not a flawed observation.
The tax system. She doesn't understand why it needs to be so complicated. I don't disagree with her. It is overly complex and wasteful.
Just a few of the items I find strange in the US are:
- ice in drinks.
- the obsession with cranking the AC up.
- Bakery items generally suck, way over surgared and buttered.
- freezing cold beer; suppose to be just for the cheap beer due to low quality, but many places do not understand this and have all of their beer freezing cold.
its funny because I found it utterly odd that nowhere else I have been (all over SA and a half dozen European countries, and a couple ME countries) offer ice in drinks. HATE me some hot coke.
Now on the bakery thing, i gotta say the thing I LOVED about France was, I could walk into a bakery get a nice not too sweet piece of bread, walk out. walk down the street and by the time I finished my treat, there was another bakery! IT WAS AWSOME!
in America, we have donut shops. we dont have very many actual bakeries.
It is generally agreed throughout Europe that Italian drivers are the worst.
And they are right. I never felt it necessary to buy a vehicle in Europe. With towns spaced only 10 to 20 miles apart in Europe, jumping on a train to visit another town is like jumping on a bus in Los Angeles to go from Venice to Beverly Hills, no big deal.
Except for perhaps Chicago and other cities where there is a strong Democrat presence and massive amounts of gun control (e.g., D.C., New Orleans, etc.).
True. I stopped cow tipping by the end of the 1960s.
My 4x4 pickup gets 7 miles per gallon highway, 0 miles per gallon city.
We also understand the purpose of the P-trap, which cannot be said for most of Europe.
Most Europeans consider drinks that are extremely cold (as in chilled by ice) to be unhealthy. They commonly serve cold drinks chilled, but with no ice. I am not sure why, but that is the prevailing perception.
I have never paid for ketchup. Personally, I prefer sea salt on my fries and nothing else, but many Americans prefer ketchup. There are many Americans in the south who also prefer their fries with mayonnaise. There are also some Americans who use malt vinegar on their fries, but I believe that tradition originated in the UK.
The drinking age for beer is 14, if in the company of a parent or legal guardian. So why not have a nice cold German pilsner with your burger and fries?
True, because many of their towns predate automobiles by about 2,500 years.
Which is the biggest problem with a VAT, and why I will never support one in the US.
Say what you will about the Germans, but they know how to party.
I miss the Imbiss. They always had the best wurst and pomme frites.
Exactly, well said.
Well, I really didn't need explanations on those strange things. I lived there for three years and discovered the answer to most of them. Doesn't mean I don't think they aren't weird, still. Sorry, no ice in drinks is bizarre no matter what explanation you give.
No, if you wanted ketchup, you had to pay for it. 5 fennings I think it was.
Half Henchen mit pommes frites (spelling is probably horrible) We used to get that about once a month from a vendor outside of base. And then there was my favorite little bakery in Mainz....I used to go there when I had a morning shift, get their version of ham, egg, cheese sandwich, (bread so good), and then I would go to the little zoo and stare at the wild boars while I ate. And ramschnitzle mit kartoffle........drool....that cheese sauce.......gah, I have to stop. Why the hell does the Imbiss sound so familiar? It's been awhile...but that name sounds........is that the little cart outside base?
I know that name....I just can't remember it.
Edit: Oh, forgot to add about the vehicle thing....I got one just because I wanted to explore. I mean, when I was going to get another chance to live in Germany? But, you are right. They have buses, trains, and Mercedes/BMW taxis that don't cost a lot. You really don't need a car in many areas.
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 11-14-2013 at 02:17 PM..
No, we don't give booze to our kids (who aren't even teenagers yet).
As I said, it's no big deal and it's not something that happens that often.
But it does seem that some locals in some places find it unusual.
Just as an example, we've had waiters in both Watertown, NY and EPCOT at Walt Disney World tell us it's "nice" that we're having wine, because the vast majority of the people they serve don't.
Something like three quarters of American households or more don't even own a corkscrew, so while it might be perfectly acceptable (never said it wasn't), it's not a stretch to say it is not as common as it is in many other countries.
Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I was not even saying it was bad to order your teenage kids wine. I know that's done in other countries and even in this country at home. But we tried to get my stepdaughter wine at a restaurant when she was 20 years old, and they wouldn't do it even with a parent's permission. I thought that was pretty silly, though I do know that bartenders are responsible and the TABC can arrest them if they serve alcohol to underage people.
One thing I have found very odd is the ordering of epidural before birth (yes, I am aware this is for insurance reasons), it's just the idea of planning an epidural before birth is odd to many women around the world, because it's a last resort in most birth culture, not first.
I don't know what the procedure is, but I don't remember ordering the epidural ahead of time. Probably did, but it was a long time ago. I do know that you can't just decide at the last minute that it's too painful and you need an epidural. It has to be at a certain dilation. Once you get past that point it's not even effective.
ETA: I also liked the one about the prescription commercials. I still am always like WTF! Why do we have to have all these depression commercials. I honestly feel that those commercials are the reasons why so many people think they are depressed or have RA or need some sort of pill to get through the day.
.
Don't you just love it when the ad speaker lowers his voice and in rapid speech mode summarizes possible side effects and how 50% of the time it includes possible spontaneous diarrhea.
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