Things Americans don't get about us

[GibsonGirl]

i love both of those things especially meat pies

I miss meat pies. I haven't seen ONE since I moved to Canada. Chicken & mushroom, steak, lamb, steak & kidney...



Tried to make our own, but the pie pastry we get here is terrible.

 

[Kristie]

there's another one

kidney as people food

 

[the rockin edge]

I miss meat pies. I haven't seen ONE since I moved to Canada. Chicken & mushroom, steak, lamb, steak & kidney...



Tried to make our own, but the pie pastry we get here is terrible.

you can't get them here either

every time i'm in England though...

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

Okay, i'll play.

In Italy--> had to pay for water at all meals. no free refills on pop.

At bars, not alot of ice in the drinks which was both good and bad.

It was weird that we couldn't find a deodorant/antiperspirant combo. only deorderant.

 

[GibsonGirl]

you can't get them here either

every time i'm in England though...

It's a tragedy. What do you say, tre? We should introduce meat pies to these North Americans and let them see what they've been missing. I could go for a pepper steak pie right now.

 

[the rockin edge]

It's a tragedy. What do you say, tre? We should introduce meat pies to these North Americans and let them see what they've been missing. I could go for a pepper steak pie right now.

great idea.

steak pies

 

[meegannie]

Pub culture and public drunkenness. I'll never get used to seeing droves of violent drunks and loud, scantily-clad, completely wasted middle aged women at 4.30pm in the winter.

London smells like urine (see above?).

The lack of the word "gotten."

The subjunctive isn't used nearly enough.

JELLIED EEL. Why, god, why??

Cricket.

Blatant racism/xenophobia. I know that this obviously exists everywhere, but I think that political correctness and the fear of lawsuits in the US must make it more subtle (and I'm from the South!). I'm shocked by some of the things I hear otherwise intelligent, educated, and/or quite liberal people say.

Camp grounds that consist solely of caravans.

 

[Targon1991]

I don't get football (soccer)

i just don't

oh well, i'll always have hockey

<--- I you Ovechkin!

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Things Americans don't understand about us?

Universal health care
No gun culture
That food and drink does not have to come in a standardised format wherever you go in the world (Maccas, Starbucks et al)
Australia is not Austria

I could go on....

 

[Merc]

Australia is not Austria

 

[GibsonGirl]

I know Canadians who thought South Africa was South America.

 

[TheQuiet1]

It's a tragedy. What do you say, tre? We should introduce meat pies to these North Americans and let them see what they've been missing.

I'd have thought Americans ought to love meat pies. They love meat, they love pies, combine the two and you should have the ideal American meal!

 

[GibsonGirl]

I'd have thought Americans ought to love meat pies. They love meat, they love pies, combine the two and you should have the ideal American meal!

That's what I would have thought as well. But the concept is foreign to them.

I want a chicken and mushroom pie. Right now.

 

[Merc]

I don't know if this also applies to Americans, but I've talked to quite a few Africans (very well-educated Africans actually!) who thought that all Europeans had English as their first/main language... and when explaining that we all have different languages, they had a hard time understanding that it wasn't just like different dialects, but completely different languages!

 

[bammo2]

I miss meat pies. I haven't seen ONE since I moved to Canada. Chicken & mushroom, steak, lamb, steak & kidney...



Tried to make our own, but the pie pastry we get here is terrible.

Make your own pastry. Dead easy.


things that American's don't get about us?

When I was travelling around the USA, everywhere I went, when I told people where I came from, the reply I got was:

"Nottingham EXISTS???"

yes it does exist. It's not just part of a legend about a guy in green tights

Oh, and they pronounced it 'NottinghAYUM'

It's pronounced 'Nottingum'

 

[mikal]

i have a question:

Why is everyone so jealous of our freedom and democracy?

 

[zoobeatle]

Great things about America, you get more for your money, bad things Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, that accent is unforgiveable.

 

[Kristie]

I know Canadians who thought South Africa was South America.

There are WAY too many Americans who think Africa is all one country, too.

 

[GibsonGirl]

There are WAY too many Americans who think Africa is all one country, too.

Lord help us. I thought world geography was supposed to be taught in schools?

 

[meegannie]

There are WAY too many Americans who think Africa is all one country, too.

Far too many Europeans think that as well. My husband heard a politician on the radio this weekend refer to the "country of Africa."

 

[TheQuiet1]

Far too many Europeans think that as well. My husband heard a politician on the radio this weekend refer to the "country of Africa."

 

[GibsonGirl]

Far too many Europeans think that as well. My husband heard a politician on the radio this weekend refer to the "country of Africa."

Let's face it. People everywhere are ignorant.

 

[Irvine511]

i'll play, but i'll limit my comments to Europe:


schizophrenic attitudes towards the US -- we love you! we hate you! essentially, why do you think we're there to fulfill every need a European might have to explain all the bad in the world?

Quick?

why must you begin a sentence that begins with the phrase, "you Americans ..." when there are over 300m of us?

why do you demand i appreciate the vast cultural differences between people from different towns in, say, Wallonia, yet you assume that a person from California is exactly the same as a person from Mississippi?

why no ice -- water is better cold

why the lower (sometimes, much lower) standards of personal hygiene? cologne and BO is not an attractive combination.

why are there more varieties of hair coloring products than there are soap, shampoo, and deodorat varieties put together?

resentful, spiteful waiters -- why? perhaps if you tipped better, they'd be nicer?

i admire your lower energy consumption, yet don't understand why you don't recycle as much?

why must one pay to use the WC? perhaps if they were free, Paris wouldn't smell like pee.

why must you sit at home, all day, to wait for the guy to come over and plug in your cable?

why does everything close at 5pm? don't you realize that people have jobs and need to shop during the week after work?

why do you let your dogs shit EVERYWHERE!

why do you view traffic laws as mere suggestions?

why do you complain about genetically engineered food, and then follow your meal with a cigarette?

 

[Irvine511]

[BI can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
[/B]

yes, why do you all insist on doing that?

everyone else thinks it's quite obnoxious -- and isn't it less a Canadian flag and more of an "i'm-not-an-American" flag?

nice cultural identity if that's what you're most proud of wish to celebrate in such a public manner.

 

[Kristie]

why the lower (sometimes, much lower) standards of personal hygiene? cologne and BO is not an attractive combination.

I second that!

I live in a graduate dorm that is mostly international students, and there are times where I don't know if I'm going to make it alive through my elevator ride (or through the lobby) because of someone's ghastly BO.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

i have a question:

Why is everyone so jealous of our freedom and democracy?

Hey don't include me in that. Your version of freedom and democracy where less than half of the voting public actually vote and where American politics is held hostage by the religious lobby (of whichever religion)?

I also wouldn't believe all the Bush propanganda being fed to the American public.

For goodness's sake, the US is the country where everyone got into a snit because Janet Jackson exposed HER BREAST. Nowhere else in the world would that have been such a furore. We laughed about that in Australia, and the American over-reaction.

 

[carrieluvv]

^ i dont think anyone would have any problems NOT including you ...you seem like such a snob

 

[carrieluvv]

^ i dont think anyone would have any problems NOT including you ...you seem like such a snob

judging by your post count it doesnt look like your a real blast to hang out with
you should try getting your ass out of the chair once in a while

 

[carrieluvv]

im just trying to catch up .....i better take a break and fuel up on some mcdonalds and rub my lucky janet tit

 

[anitram]

yes, why do you all insist on doing that?

everyone else thinks it's quite obnoxious -- and isn't it less a Canadian flag and more of an "i'm-not-an-American" flag?

I guarantee you with 100% certainty that the treatment you'll receive in France will be considerably better once you make it obvious you're Canadian. And even then, the French are obnoxious to us as well.

That's the one thing I don't get actually.

I have never heard of or been to another country which treats its tourists with such contempt as France.

From the obnoxious "NO English" signs in ticket windows, to the absolute unhelpfulness of people on the street, it's unreal. You go to spend money there and they'd like to spit all over you. What a terrible image to present to the world!