Wonders of the new World

[mox 298]

Interesting.. I live in Moscow at the moment. It's more than 'urban'. During my visits to the US and in my everyday life I met people from Texas, MA (Boston), New York and New Jersey. None of them were neither stupid, nor bad.

They were friendly, intelligent, joking. Most of those with whom I was communicating - were people who achieved certain goals in life, people who look into the future and know how to get there changing 'Today'.

May be I was lucky. But I am going to stay that way.

The reason that most of the Americans you meet overseas are likable and open-minded is because Americans who travel beyond Mexico and Canada tend to be curious and intelligent by nature. (note: there are stupid and annoying Americans who travel beyond Mexico and Canada, but you can usually identify them by their loud shirts, loud voices, and they'll be the idiots whining about how they can't get ice in their Coke.) Stupid Americans, on the other hand, stay in their own home towns all their life, and think going overseas means going to a Western style resort in Acapulco. They think they are worldly travelers because they once went to the Canadian side of Niagara for their cousin's wedding. They are afraid of anybody with brown skin, and they think Jesus wants us to destroy any countries with brown skinned people. They hate Europe because...well nobody's really sure why they hate Europeans, but they hate them SO much! If you want to meet stupid Americans, Kansas is a great place to do it. Or Walmart. (I hear tell there's a Walmart in Kansas where the stupidity is so concentrated that it's actually formed a singularity of stupid where, if you go past the event horizon, all you can see is Carrie Underwood singing "Jesus take the wheel." It's science.

[visaveteran 1]

Mox, you're not saying Americans are stupid...you're saying WHITE Americans are stupid. If that is true you're in luck because in a few years white people will be in the minority and "brown skin" people will have the majority say.

So...if I follow you're Huffington Post style of analysis of Americans, we should be a very smart and wonderful country very soon.

[mox 298]

Mox, you're not saying Americans are stupid...you're saying WHITE Americans are stupid. If that is true you're in luck because in a few years white people will be in the minority and "brown skin" people will have the majority say.

So...if I follow you're Huffington Post style of analysis of Americans, we should be a very smart and wonderful country very soon.

Meh, I'm just being satirical. Don't read too much into it. Stupid comes in many flavors. White people made stupid fashionable, but we don't have the corner on it.

[Kailey 3]

I met Americans overseas and in the US, Mox. Actually most of them - inside the US (Russians travel too, even women, even brides).

And Americans i met live in the cities or in the countryside. It doesn't matter.

They are good people.

I'm not going to defend your country in your eyes for you, guys .

Just an Idea - each time Mr.Complainer thinks that America is bad - he should do something good.

And enjoy the difference he brought to the world.

Happy Christmas !

[mox 298]

Don't take what I say too seriously Kailey. You're right...your average American will give you the shirt of his back if you need it. We are charitable, always ready with a smile, and have a powerful spirit of independence. We are not without our faults, but we do occasionally learn from our mistakes. I am at times highly critical of my country, but there's nowhere else I'd rather call home. Your experiences with Americans doesn't surprise me, and I'm glad you made some friends from here.

But seriously, what's the f*cking deal with Carrie Underwood?

[Scott and Iryna 2]

I feel strange posting an on-topic reply, after this thread has gone so horribly awry.

Nevertheless, here goes...

As discussed earlier in the thread (when it was actually on topic), my wife has also discovered many new things, wonderful and amazing. However, there were a couple of things I really thought she WOULD find amazing, yet she DOES NOT.

For instance, peanut butter. I really thought she would love it, but she could care less.

More astonishing, she hates pancakes and maple syrup! What?? How is this possible? She not only dislikes it, but seems offended by the taste and smell of the syrup. Has this happened to anyone else, or is it just my crazy wife??

Edited December 23, 2009 by Scott and Iryna

[mox 298]

As discussed earlier in the thread (when it was actually on topic), my wife has also discovered many new things, wonderful and amazing. However, there were a couple of things I really thought she WOULD find amazing, yet she DOES NOT.

For instance, peanut butter. I really thought she would love it, but she could care less.

More astonishing, she hates pancakes and maple syrup! What?? How is this possible? She not only dislikes it, but seems offended by the taste and smell of the syrup. Has this happened to anyone else, or is it just my crazy wife??

My wife is somewhat indifferent to peanut butter, but will on occasion eat it on toast. However, she loves pancakes and maple syrup, and insists I make pancakes for breakfast at least one day of the weekend.

[AKguy 1]

I have to actually bring 2 jars of peanut butter with me to Russia, so that should tell you how my SO feels about it. And she loves pancakes and syrup.

[LvivLovers 39]

One of the things my wife was most amazed with was....the roads! She couldn't believe how flat and smooth they were.

She was also very impressed with how clean everything is, the lack of trash, etc....I've told her that sort of depends on where you are.

Let's see what else....

Movie theatres (especially the IMAX we saw Batman in)

Khol's, TJ Maxx, Wal-Mart, Frys, etc.

Friendlyness of most people and how much they smile, greet one another, and are polite.

Nature. She'd only seen squirrels a few times in her life...here they are all over the place. She really freaks out when she sees deer or the occasional racoon or opposum.

Grocery stores...how many we have and how large they are, size of aisles, etc. Fruits and vegetables year round.

Internet speeds...we've got about 25Mbps atm...she was getting around 1-5Kbps before. (probably why she DLs anything and everything)

Cheap Christmas trees and other Christmas decorations. Apparently they were hard to come by.

Those are a few off the top of my head...I'm sure I'm leaving out some big ones though.

[mox 298]

This seems a relevant link to the discussion:

Hard-to-Find Foods in Russia

http://www.sras.org/rare_foods_in_russia

[visaveteran 1]

Meh, I'm just being satirical. Don't read too much into it. Stupid comes in many flavors. White people made stupid fashionable, but we don't have the corner on it.

Ah...satire. I was too stupid to get it. Please cut me some slack...I'm a white American.

[Scott and Iryna 2]

Darn... I was afraid it was just my crazy wife that doesn't like pancakes and syrup...

Another thing she finds new and amazing... skunks. Unsurprisingly, she is not impressed.

[visaveteran 1]

My wife has not demonstrated a lot of "shock" and "wow" comments about very much here. She likes some foods better here, others see likes Russian better. She does like that our local area is clean and well taken care of.

She has commented drivers are better here than Russia with less crazy traffic jams..which tells me just how bad it must be on the Russian roads.

Overall, not much has garnered special comments one way or the other. Only thing I can offer is she was surprised how ugly and poorly dressed Americans are. Both men and women. And I'm sure Mox would agree.

[mox 298]

My wife has not demonstrated a lot of "shock" and "wow" comments about very much here. She likes some foods better here, others see likes Russian better. She does like that our local area is clean and well taken care of.

She has commented drivers are better here than Russia with less crazy traffic jams..which tells me just how bad it must be on the Russian roads.

Overall, not much has garnered special comments one way or the other. Only thing I can offer is she was surprised how ugly and poorly dressed Americans are. Both men and women. And I'm sure Mox would agree.

Hehe, yep on everything you posted. She wasn't surprised about much, and mostly notes anything different without much surprise. Sort of like we all did when visiting her country. "Oh, coat checks. Interesting." My wife did say, however, that Americans must be worse drivers because they are so careful.

[Kailey 3]

Hehe, yep on everything you posted. She wasn't surprised about much, and mostly notes anything different without much surprise. Sort of like we all did when visiting her country. "Oh, coat checks. Interesting." My wife did say, however, that Americans must be worse drivers because they are so careful.

I would agree on driving - when in Boston i was told that traffic there is just awful and drivers are crazy and rude ... hmm... then this is what I saw: polite people queueing in a traffic jam.. noone tried to drive on the sidewalk, noone was using a horn every 3 minutes just to vent, noone did set up a purchased on the black market police siren on the car roof and started a siren forcing the way (that happend in Russia quite often at the late 80s-90s:) ).

In Texas with its straight roads that just whisper 'let's drive faster, road is so clean and straight' people still seem to drive 60 if the sign says '60'. I understand that not 100% drive like this and yes, you can see a daredevil here and there but that's the key word: 'here and there', and not everywhere .

Actually that topic made me curious - would an average ( by 'average' I mean not criminal, not on drugs, just a good citizen that has no time to spend in a traffic jam) American driver use a sidewalk to shorten the way? Or drive behind a tram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram ) ON tram road using tram as a shield?

+ I remebered one more 'wonder' - size of plates (portion) in restaurants!!!

Also that people you see for the 1st time in your life start a conversation and you can talk for 5-10 min as if you know each other for years . That can happen in Russia too but not as often as in the USA.

Edited December 24, 2009 by Kailey