A UK guide to American culture?

It's a good sample of what a person would run into as long time visitor to the US. No surprises.

 

It is difficult to summarize North America, where I live now (Mississippi Delta) seems wildly more conservative than where I grew up. (western Washington state) Ontario has little in common with Nevada. I think there are at least 3 Californias that co-exist uncomfortably. I like all of these places, but it is diconcerting to get on a plane in 1960 in Jackson and get off in 2010 in San Francisco. I have not lived anywhere near the East Coast, but I would think it is also very different than all the places I have lived.

 

other than language and local eccentricities, pretty much the same as any european country i've visited.

 

Great read, thanks.

 

I agree w/the above. I've only lived in the West Coast but have visited the East Coast a bunch of times. I grew up in Nor Cal but went to college in So Cal.

I can say that in So Cal, one has to drive MUCH faster more aggressively than in the Nor Cal. Californians seem to mostly practice proper lane discipline whereas Washingtonians don't and drive too slow to boot.

NYC, unfortunately, lives up to the stereotype that the people there aren't too friendly. I had plenty of examples of that the 1st time and had my encounter w/that my 2nd (much more recent) visit.

Hawaii feels very laid back compared to say NYC or California.

The helpfulness of people, ethnic makeup of people and perceptions of personal safety vary A LOT, depending on the city and geographic area.

About the "outstanding parking experience", I've never heard that but I've heard a common trick on customer service calls where the rep starts off by saying "how can I provide you with excellent/outstanding customer service?"

Personally, I haven't seen many uniformed soldiers on domestic flights.

The wording/terminology used in the US vs. the UK or Australia is a bit different. I first got exposed to it in Australia, years ago and just a few weeks ago in the UK. We don't have signs that say "way in" or "way out", it's entrance/enter or exit. There are no "mind the gap" announcements. We don't say "queue up" or "queue". We call it a line. Our signs don't say "give way", they say "yield". We have elevators, not lifts. We have restrooms/bathrooms, not toilets.

Most hotel elevators in Europe for some reason are TINY. I don't get it.

 

Keeps us big people out, we eat too much breakfast.

 

Another comment I've heard from former coworkers from Europe or the former Soviet Union is that US news is very US-centric. I'd imagine that our local news might drive them batty.

Sometimes, the local news is hard for me to watch much of (end up skipping thru much of it). Examples: If there's a storm in the area, they'll show the rain, some of its effects and interview random people on street or in their cars.

I can't speak to our newspapers, as I haven't read many non-US newspapers.

The names of chain stores and banks in the US will be totally unfamiliar to a Brit and vice versa. We don't have Tesco, Boots, WH Smith or anything like that.

As for how religious the US is, it's all over the map. I'm not religious, nor or my parents yet I know some who are very devout Christians. That said, I agree with "It will be a very long time before an atheist or agnostic gets anywhere near the White House."

 

We're just shy. :behindsofa:

 

I've long had this complaint myself. The very few years I had cable TV, a Canadian network station was a good alternate news source. For example, unlike its U.S. counterparts, it had no qualms about noting which of Reagan's actions were violations of U.S. law.

This year, some area sports fans were upset to find that the Canadian Olympic TV coverage contract went to a cable channel not available in the U.S., instead of the traditional broadcast network that leaks over the border. Canadian Olympic coverage is traditionally live and balanced, whereas U.S. coverage is normally tape delayed and gives very short shrift to non-American competitors.

Legally, the local 'news' isn't even news, it is entertainment. This distinction has been crucial to some discrimination lawsuits over the displayed talking heads.

 

Speaking of cultural differences ....

A few years ago I attended a conference in York, England. One evening as we were unwinding in the hotel bar with some of the finest English ales, we noticed a small bachelorette party going across the bar. The bride-to-be was unwrapping gag gifts from her friends. One of the gifts was a ... well, uh ... shall we say, a plastic replica of male genitalia, maybe 6" to 8". I approached the group and, with my best Virginia accent (so they would know I was from across The Pond -- not that it took much work) said, "Pardon my interruption, but I thought you should know that in the U.S., we call that twelve inches." With absolutely no hesitation, one of the ladies responded, "In the U.K. it's sixteen!"

 

Regarding friendliness, no, not really. It just seems that NYC sticks out.

Regarding the lifts/elevators, I'm not sure that's the case either. I just returned from a tour of Europe that went thru 8 countries. There were multiple instances of fairly modern buildings w/tiny elevators. It was a problem when we had 38 of us on our tour bus trying to get to our rooms, at once or all trying to leave at once (since we had to be at the bus w/our luggage by a certain time). Sometimes, the other group which had 49 people stayed at the same hotel. Some of these elevators were so small, barely 2 could fit w/luggage.

 

The US is a big place and the culture is very different depending on where you visit. Your experience visiting Tulsa will be very different from the one you get visiting New York. It's about impossible to say there is one US culture.

It's like visiting Paris and concluding what all of Europe is like.

 

This is actually my philosophy. There are foreign places I'd like to visit, but there's so much of this country I have yet to explore. We really have it all, and i'm not trying to sound elitist by that. but we have mountains, coasts, islands, plains, world class cities, deserts, a variety of climates...the list could go on. I have been in about 40 states and I can say from experience that people are different no matter where you go. NYC folks are a lot different than the Navajo in Arizona, and people in Tennessee are about the nicest I've come across. I've been to places in the US that feel like a different country for sure.

 

My moto is "If you want everything to be like it is at home, stay home."


I don't find currency to be be an issue, ATMs and other ways of changing money are easy. I have never found language to be a serious problem because English is the 2nd language in most countries. Patience, a sense of humor and a phrase book will work wonders where English isn't spoken.

I have been in at least 30 countries and found that in general people are really helpful if you don't act like an arrogant dickhead.

 

It's getting that time of year (spring) for y'all to book your vacation to beautiful North Carolina; from the funshine coasts to the beautiful mountain vistas with lots and lots of Carolina hospitality in between. How sweet it is traveling this countryside in my Prius!

Happy Motoring,

Tom

 

When traveling in foreign countries I generally pay for things with paper money, and get coins for change. One time in Scotland I collected quite a pocketful of change, and gave it to my wife. Her brother noticed what I was doing, and commented "No Scotsman ever gave away his money because it was too heavy in his pocket". Probably true...