Posted on 04/19/2015 8:29:54 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
One of the most exciting things about traveling to or living in a foreign land is learning a new culture, especially if the culture is vastly different from your own. Those who have visited or lived in the United States have reported being shocked and overwhelmed by a number of the countrys customs and practices. Here are the top fifteen things foreigners are surprised by in America. 1. The Use of Credit Cards
(Excerpt) Read more at destinationtips.com ...
So we'd scuttle in to some of these places where everybody would have their tea and snacks. Except for me because I don't drink tea or coffee.
In the 60’s, when my parents first got a car, there was no such thing as a 3 hour car trip. Once 2 hours had passed it was time for a tea break at one of those little tea places you mention. They never believed in fast food, so the tea stop would be leisurely and almost take one hour, and then back on the road.
Driving log distances in the US with them was sometimes time-consuming...:^)
Went down to Key west Florida on vacation long time ago, turned the radio on and heard Cuban music from Cuba on the radio.
Have them drink warm cola, then drink iced cola, let them see the difference..
They used to drink it that way. On her first trip there my wife asked for a Coke from a food truck... they just took it out from behind a window where it had been sitting in the sun.
Now they expect at least one ice cube...:^)
I remember being in a grocery store somewhere in western Maryland (Cumberland?) about twenty-five years ago and not noticing any liquor or beer on the premises. I asked a clerk where they were, and he said you had to go to the liquor store (separate building) to acquire those goods.
I think that was Yeltsin, not Gorbechev that visited JSC and then went to a supermarket.
but many of the secondary roads are pretty narrow...especially in Ireland
Yes need to avoid the cows in the road.
I had a Italian guy comment too me “ America ? A Super Power ? Why are the power lines not buried under ground like Europe “ ....
Forgetting the geographical size of America and how much it would cost to bury under ground all of those power lines..
Don’t worry we’ll be right there with soviet Czechoslovakia in about 20 years..
Our kids grand kids will be just like that poor woman.
I could have told them that I grew up 29KM from our mailbox...
I was in Germany and felt the opposite. But you did not want to get between the Germans and the door when the end of the shift hit - you would be crushed by the prompt and efficient Germans promptly and efficiently leaving.
Sounds like the federal government and the unions in Washington DC. As an auditor I observed this behavior often with coats on and hands folded waiting for the bell to ring.
We had a 72 Newport with a 383 in it.
A couple of things: Many Thai schools don’t teach geography. Most Thais travel by plane or train rather than by driving. Thus the ideas of distance are warped. After all the movies usually don’t depict long boring trips.
SUVs, Such Under sized Vehicles
The difference is Americans will help a foreign visitor with words or pronunciation.
In France, waitresses and shop keepers will often pretend not to understand unless your pronunciation is exact. However, I did have a non-English speaking driver that helped me immensely learning pronunciation for a speech. Many (business people) do understand English.
Which is probably why more Europeans now do speak English, it has become the lingua franca as a matter of necessity.
Wow, my brother was suppose to go to some program out in Idaho where the ranch ? You had to drive miles just to get to the front gate then drive miles to get to the actual complex.
The Germans will do that also. To their credit, most Germans are happy when you make an attempt to speak their language. I remember the information booth girl at Frankfurt Airport. I was asking for the train to Nuremberg (American pronunciation) and she gave me directions to the U-Bahn to catch the train to Nurnberg (German pronunciations). I repeated back “OK Nurnberg” (German pronunciation) and she did a little head tilt and got a little smile on her face.
Parisiennes? Not so much. The French out in the country from what I’ve heard are cool. They hate Parisiennes like most rural Americans hate people from New York city. Upstate New Yorkers are awesome BTW.
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