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Many Brits of the baby boomer generation had a fascination with America. To them the sun always shined there, everyone lived in nice big houses with lawns and gardens, drove nice fancy cars, had lots of leisure time, the girls were beautiful, the guys handsome and romantic...of course these were very romanticised views of America, but nonetheless, compared to the dreariness of postwar Britain it was a breath of fresh air.
I agree Miami (well South Beach) is everything it's portrayed to be. Sexy people, night life, beaches, neon lights, art deco, expensive cars etc.
LA it really depends where you go because it is so huge and spread out. However, there are also a ton of movies that show the dark side of LA too, so one shouldn't expect it is 100% glamorous.
I found Orange County such as Laguna Beach to be the same as it is portrayed in shows. It's very upscale, laid-back and beautiful.
OC represent!! lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac15
No offence but the UK is more intertwinned with the United States than Australia will ever be. The thousands and thousands of miles will make that impossible.
Australia is nothing like USA outside its buildings.
I've only been to Heathrow so I haven't been to the UK personally to make a call, but I spent a month at the end of high school in Queensland. Gold Coast, Australia is so much like coastal Orange County, California it's not even funny. The biggest differences we noted were they drove on the other side of the road, and everyone had an accent. The people were basically the same, life was the same, they had Burger King (Fat Jacks?) and McDonalds, television and radio were indistinguishable again except for the accents, so I don't know how you can say that Australia is nothing like the US, because to me an American, I'd say it's almost exactly like here.
Ohh and on the topic, LA and California are great, we love visitors! Yeah it does suck that you need a car to get anywhere here, but we have the greatest freeway system ever conceived, even if it slows down to snail pace during most of the day. I'm glad you had a good time in California, come back soon!!
I've only been to Heathrow so I haven't been to the UK personally to make a call, but I spent a month at the end of high school in Queensland. Gold Coast, Australia is so much like coastal Orange County, California it's not even funny. The biggest differences we noted were they drove on the other side of the road, and everyone had an accent. The people were basically the same, life was the same, they had Burger King (Fat Jacks?) and McDonalds, television and radio were indistinguishable again except for the accents, so I don't know how you can say that Australia is nothing like the US, because to me an American, I'd say it's almost exactly like here.
Ohh and on the topic, LA and California are great, we love visitors! Yeah it does suck that you need a car to get anywhere here, but we have the greatest freeway system ever conceived, even if it slows down to snail pace during most of the day. I'm glad you had a good time in California, come back soon!!
California is the most Australian-like part of the US. San Diego and Perth are eerily alike. I'd say CA is more like Perth in climate than the East coast. Still, I noticed a ton of differences, it's still a very different place, although similar on paper. The people in America seemed surprisingly different, especially since you have a lot of blacks and Hispanics.
California is the most Australian-like part of the US. San Diego and Perth are eerily alike. I'd say CA is more like Perth in climate than the East coast. Still, I noticed a ton of differences, it's still a very different place, although similar on paper. The people in America seemed surprisingly different, especially since you have a lot of blacks and Hispanics.
It's possible, the US is quite diverse, so it might be that I just don't notice it because I'm used to it. Although I'm from the whitest of white areas of Orange County, Yorba Linda, so not much diversity here at all, haha. I only got to see Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney, while we were there. I'd love to go back and visit Perth, and Melbourne. Sydney was not as much like the US that I noticed, it had a very different vibe and feeling about it, the people were still incredibly nice all over, and familiar. Like, we got used to being surrounded by Australian accents, but when we'd talk sometimes people would all the sudden smile or be like what? you're American? And that's how we made some cool friends that showed us around and hung out for quite a while with us.
But then California isn't really what people envisage of real america is it and its basically on the other end of america thousands of miles from anywhere else so its pretty disconnected.
It's possible, the US is quite diverse, so it might be that I just don't notice it because I'm used to it. Although I'm from the whitest of white areas of Orange County, Yorba Linda, so not much diversity here at all, haha. I only got to see Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney, while we were there. I'd love to go back and visit Perth, and Melbourne. Sydney was not as much like the US that I noticed, it had a very different vibe and feeling about it, the people were still incredibly nice all over, and familiar. Like, we got used to being surrounded by Australian accents, but when we'd talk sometimes people would all the sudden smile or be like what? you're American? And that's how we made some cool friends that showed us around and hung out for quite a while with us.
Yes, being surrounded by American accents was actually a bit weird at first. Of course we hear them a lot on TV, but to hear them on radio, in real life, only hearing them on TV, it was sort of weird, since we're used to hearing all different accents on a daily basis.
The East coast of the US seems pretty different to Australia, a lot moreso than the West coast or South.
Many Brits of the baby boomer generation had a fascination with America. To them the sun always shined there, everyone lived in nice big houses with lawns and gardens, drove nice fancy cars, had lots of leisure time, the girls were beautiful, the guys handsome and romantic...of course these were very romanticised views of America, but nonetheless, compared to the dreariness of postwar Britain it was a breath of fresh air.
Did you make it to LA that trip? Why Zanesville, of all places? haha. Yes it's cool to see places most tourists do not, like I went to Lubbock, Texas, went to a drive in cinema and there were pick-up trucks everywhere, haha. It was so Texan. Arriving in LA and taking the taxi from the airport to my hotel - everything seemed large, but also both familiar yet different to Australia, again the parallel universe thing.
You're right, for me as a kid, we were living in black and white, and everything in America was in colour!
I remember clearly watching 'The Beverley Hillbillies', and the image of Miss Hathaway driving her car up to the Clampett's mansion. It was a beautiful open topped car, with a sloping windshield. I haven't seen that show in over 40 years, but that car is clear in my memory. Then there were the movies of course. I loved the empty land in the cowboy movies. Miles of nothing.
The first time I flew to Las Vegas, I watched out of the plane window. We seemed to fly for ages, and there was nothing down below but desert, then all of a sudden, there it was, in the middle of nowhere, a city! It is such a vast country, and quite overwhelming to someone from a small island like Britain.
I never got to LA. I am a massive old movie fan, and would like to go, and see Hollywood. It's very doable from Las Vegas. I don't want to be disappointed, because it's not the place it was, so I'd rather just leave it in my imagination.
I got to see Zanesville by accident. The bus I caught from New York went from city to city, not town to town as I hoped. I didn't understand I needed a specific destination, for the small town life I wanted to see. I had been on the bus for about 15 hours, and at last, the bus stopped in a place that looked more my speed! So I got off the bus, late at night, in a town I had never heard of!
Funnily enough, I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I had the telly on while my wife and I were getting ready to go out. The news was on, and all of a sudden, I heard 'Zanesville.' My eyes darted to the screen. It was a news item about some wild animals escaping in Zanesville. I couldn't believe it!
All that's left on my bucket list for America is Iowa. I want to see miles of nothing but crops. Corn will do....... I haven't managed to talk my wife into going yet. She doesn't get it...... the beauty of crops as far as the eye can see. I want to go into a diner in a small town in Iowa, and have a good meal. You can keep Florida, no interest to me. Iowa is the state I want to see. I will get there one day.
You're right, for me as a kid, we were living in black and white, and everything in America was in colour!
I remember clearly watching 'The Beverley Hillbillies', and the image of Miss Hathaway driving her car up to the Clampett's mansion. It was a beautiful open topped car, with a sloping windshield. I haven't seen that show in over 40 years, but that car is clear in my memory. Then there were the movies of course. I loved the empty land in the cowboy movies. Miles of nothing.
The first time I flew to Las Vegas, I watched out of the plane window. We seemed to fly for ages, and there was nothing down below but desert, then all of a sudden, there it was, in the middle of nowhere, a city! It is such a vast country, and quite overwhelming to someone from a small island like Britain.
I never got to LA. I am a massive old movie fan, and would like to go, and see Hollywood. It's very doable from Las Vegas. I don't want to be disappointed, because it's not the place it was, so I'd rather just leave it in my imagination.
I got to see Zanesville by accident. The bus I caught from New York went from city to city, not town to town as I hoped. I didn't understand I needed a specific destination, for the small town life I wanted to see. I had been on the bus for about 15 hours, and at last, the bus stopped in a place that looked more my speed! So I got off the bus, late at night, in a town I had never heard of!
Funnily enough, I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I had the telly on while my wife and I were getting ready to go out. The news was on, and all of a sudden, I heard 'Zanesville.' My eyes darted to the screen. It was a news item about some wild animals escaping in Zanesville. I couldn't believe it!
All that's left on my bucket list for America is Iowa. I want to see miles of nothing but crops. Corn will do....... I haven't managed to talk my wife into going yet. She doesn't get it...... the beauty of crops as far as the eye can see. I want to go into a diner in a small town in Iowa, and have a good meal. You can keep Florida, no interest to me. Iowa is the state I want to see. I will get there one day.
Yes, I can imagine. We approached Las Vegas by road. The scenery was actually quite amazing, past the Mojave desert from LA, there are all these mountains everywhere and then all of a suddenly there's Las Vegas! I imagine the impact would have been heightened if we arrived at night. Either way, it sure does make a statement! I walked the entire length of the strip, in 41C weather, and went inside most of the casinos haha. Aside from one slot machine didn't gamble though. I enjoyed the international buffet haha.
No, I wouldnt recommend you definitely go. I think it's better than it was in 1988, if anything, much safer, more tourist friendly, and the expanding metro actually makes it easy to get around to most places even without a car. We were based in Hollywood saw a lot of LA by metro and bus and just even walking. For trips further out like the mountains there's cars and there's taxis too. Trust me, LA is a fascinating place, especially if you're a movie buff or into pop culture in general.
Haha, interesting...lol Iowa, of all places? I actually sort of had a fascination for Kansas and Oklahoma for awhile, because of the Wizard of Oz and Oklahoma the musical, but we get the same scenery here in Australia. Miles and miles of cropland as far as the eye can see, so it's pretty boring. I saw a lot of that scenery driving across the country.
Yes I remember that. Inland America is soo soo boring.
Don't even talk about North Dakota - boring and flat.
There are boring bits, and amazing bits, like every country of that size.
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