Padraig Breathn

grey <[email protected]> wrote:

    >... If you don't want to help people out, maybe this isn't the group for you...

I don't recall that being a requirement for membership here. Imagine
it: a whole newsgroup full of people waiting to offer help, and nobody here who would
like to be helped.

PB

James Meek

Being British, i find some of the stuff offensive that has been said in this thread.
OK, so some Americans are not aware that the european battery is the same as the US
battery. But once we got that straight, life moved on!!!

Apart from a few incidents regarding the bombing of innocent people (Jews in France,
for Example), Europe is safe. But if you are going to be offensive to everyone you
talk to, don't expect it to be a nice place to visit...

"vince" <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    >
    > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe? Can
you
    > buy petrol in Europe? Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?
    >
    > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools, particularly
    > in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S.
border,
    > be raised to the standard which exists in the rest of the world?
    >
    > --
    > Regards, Vince Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk

Bux

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Hatunen) wrote:

    > On Mon, 6 May 2002 22:14:34 +0100, "vince" <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote:
    >
    > >
    > >
    > >"Go Fig" <[email protected]> wrote
    > >>
    > >> Spend much time on rec.travel.usa-canada ?
    > >
    > >No, none at all. We don`t have computers in Europe.
    >
    > I guess not. Here's an entire post to r.t.usa-canada from someone in the UK asking
    > about Florida:
    >
    > help, I need advice on going summer 2003

Rather a show of ignorance, I'd say. Summer 2003 is still coming and not yet going.

--
Food/Wine/Travel web sites http://www.worldtable.com
http://forums.egullet.com/ikonboard....ff;act=SF;f=10

Bux

In article <[email protected]>, "vince"
<don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote:

    > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    >
    > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe? Can you buy
    > petrol in Europe? Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?
    >
    > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools, particularly
    > in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S. border, be raised to the
    > standard which exists in the rest of the world?
    >
    > --
    > Regards, Vince Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk

Speaking of educational standards reminds me of reading comprehension. Surely we've
gone to two different schools. I don't recall recall exactly the same threads.

Should you choose to take offense or not, there's a difference between asking if the
tap water is safe all over and is there drinking water. Likewise do European
appliances use the same batteries as American appliances is quite different than are
there batteries in Europe. I trust you understand that not all batteries are the same
nor are they interchangeable. My watch battery cannot be used in my camera for
instance. I've never seen the petrol question and certainly an American would be
unlikely to speak of "petrol." Do you really think there's no reason for one to worry
about safety if they belong to a group which they read has been subjected to violent
attacks. Is it not reasonable to ask for first hand reports abou the severity of the
attacks. I'm sure if that same person were to take American newspapers at face value,
you'd be critical of that too. It really seems as if your hostility has nothing to do
with what's been posted here.

--
Food/Wine/Travel web sites http://www.worldtable.com
http://forums.egullet.com/ikonboard....ff;act=SF;f=10

Evelyn Vogt Gam

vince wrote:
    >
    > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    >
    > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe?

Actually, I think the question was whether one could buy the SAME batteries in Europe
- since the electric current in the U.S. (and electrical connector plugs) ARE
different than in Europe (as are TV and video formatting), it's a perfectly logical
question for someone to ask, if they plan to bring battery-operated gadgets along on
a trip to Europe. (I agree, the water question IS a bit clueless, but there are still
areas of the world where the question is valid, and Americans are NOT taught much
geography in school - some of us have only a sketchy idea of which of our own states
border which - in many of our minds the rest of the world resembles the unknown
territories on one of those medieval maps: "Here be dragons".)

    > Can you buy petrol in Europe?

Again, I think the questions were more practical than that - more "where?" and "how
much?" than "can you?" (Also evidently valid concerns about paying by American
credit cards when using automatic gas[petrol] pumps - apparently some pumps won't
accept them.)

    >Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?

You apparently don't realize how some of our news media play upon ethnic fears. It's
a bit like the perception many Europeans seem to have that America is a hot-bed of
crime, with armed gangsters "shooting it out" on every corner. WE know it's not true,
but it's often necessary to reassure visitors, nonetheless.

    > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools, particularly
    > in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S. border, be raised to the
    > standard which exists in the rest of the world?

Undoubtedly. How do you suggest we go about it, when each state - indeed each town
and city - is in charge of its own school system?

Just Joan

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

    > I imagine American kids know as much about Europe as Europeans do about the US and
    > pretty much the same way, through movies and distorted news stories. I found the
    > views that European teens had of America to be fairly hillarious when I lived there
    > myself in the 60s.

I'll bet that there was a lot less American content on TV back then.

--

Just Joan remove knickers to reply

Just Joan

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...

    > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    > question...?)

No, but it was totally inappropriate for the thread.

Defensive, much?

--

Just Joan remove knickers to reply

The Masked Marv

Imagine
    > it: a whole newsgroup full of people waiting to offer help, and nobody here who
    > would like to be helped.

i want to be helped.

When i visited Mexico, it was shocking to me that the people weren't like
Univisioned, or waiting for me to hire them for the raid on the stagecoach. When I
visit Italy, I'm certain the people aren't like the satellite feed I get in my local
ristorante.

And, God forbid, people in Europe think I run around the beach with Mick and the
gang, saving drowning victims while dodging bullets from drug runners all day.
(insert Pam Anderson-Marvel joke here)

But - until you actually see it, it's a hard thing to comprehend. My questions run
more along the lines of "will there be an ATM I can use with my card?" But - i
dated a girl from Milan for a bit here in the US, and she couldn't get over our
squirrels. They just run all over the place, and she thought it was so weird and
cute. People would ask her if they had TELEVISION in Italy. I heard it with my own
ears. Kind of cute that she thought that was odd, yet squirrels did something like
the same thing to her.

Oh yeah - as an American male, i appreciate the "thick" appellation - but that's only
because it means something totally different, where I come from.
    

peace 8-Damien

David Lewis

True story from Charlotte Church ( a young singer who is very well known in the UK.)

She was introduced to a certain G.W.Bush who, on hearing she came from Wales, asked
"What state is that in?"

No further comment required.

M
--
[email protected]

Jeremy Rogers

Just Joan <[email protected]> in message
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > In article <[email protected]>,
    > [email protected] says...

    > > I imagine American kids know as much about Europe as Europeans do about the US
    > > and pretty much the same way, through movies and distorted news stories. I found
    > > the views that European teens had of America to be fairly hilarious when I lived
    > > there myself in the 60s.

    > I'll bet that there was a lot less American content on TV back then.

A lot more on mainstream British channels. But I'm not sure how much things such as
Wagon Train would have helped.

For that matter there was more British material on mainstream American channels in
the 1950s and 60s, albeit still not much.

Jez
--

Rhys

    > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    > question...?)

Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful democracy
without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by Americans.

Paul Tauger

"Jenn" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > In article <[email protected]>, "vince"
    > <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote:
    >
    > > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    > >
    > > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe? Can
you
    > > buy petrol in Europe? Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?
    >
    > Any Jew watching the uptick of anti-semitism in France and elsewhere is an idiot if
    > they aren't concerned [the continent that killed its Jews and is STILL
    > anti-semitic]

Last week in Prague, there were extremely visible private security guards posted in
front of the few remaining functioning synagogues in the city -- and there are
virtually no Jews left in Prague. Why do you think those guards were there?

It seems to me to be a sensible concern for someone who has never visited Europe
before and, particularly with regard to France, is unfamiliar with the locations
of Arab neighborhoods, where most of the recent French antisemitic incidents
have arisen.

    >
    > And why would a novice traveler know that batteries are standard in the US and
    > Europe. The power supplies and electrical appliances are not. VCR tapes are not.
    > Why would someone who doesn't know guess that batteries were the same?

And don't forget electrical plugs and telephone jacks.

    >
    > And drinking water is always a concern for any sensible traveler. There was a time
    > when European drinking water was not generally safe [long ago to be sure] -- still
    > wouldn't want to drink it in Leningrad, would you? And since bottled water is more
    > of a custom in Europe than the US, it suggests to many American travelers that
    > maybe the local water is not that great to drink.

There's another consideration about drinking water when you travel. Even where the
water is perfectly safe (as it is in 99.5% of Europe), differences in the mineral
content can still give some travelers upset stomachs. This is a relatively obscure
medical fact (something I learned from my doctor), so there will be many Americans
who travel to Europe (and, yes, many Europeans who travel to America), who will
experience "travelers stomach" (I'm using euphemisms) and will, correctly, blame it
on the water.

Speaking of America, what do you want to bet that the OP (who I think is a troll,
anyway), will start up the "American" means "someone from Canada" thread.

    >
    > >
    > > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools,
    > > particularly in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S.
border,
    > > be raised to the standard which exists in the rest of the world?
    >
    > I imagine American kids know as much about Europe as Europeans do about the US and
    > pretty much the same way, through movies and distorted news stories. I found the
    > views that European teens had of America to be fairly hillarious when I lived there
    > myself in the 60s.

Judith

"vince" <don`[email protected]`t.read.it> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I have been astonished by some of the threads on r.t.e lately.
    >
    > Is there drinking water in Europe? Can you buy batteries in Europe? Can
you
    > buy petrol in Europe? Is it safe to go to Europe if you are Jewish?
    >
    > Here`s my question. Should educational standards in American schools, particularly
    > in relation to the world which exists outside the U.S.
border,
    > be raised to the standard which exists in the rest of the world?
    >
    > --
    > Regards, Vince

It very much depends on which group is speaking. Some very parochial areas don't know
much. Why would they? You can be 1000 miles from a border in the US. Many US people
cannot imagine ever going outside US/Canada/Mexico, or maybe not even farther than a
state or two away. They hear lore, like water is unsafe in other countries, not which
countries, just any other country. They hear that electricity is different, ergo,
maybe batteries are different, too. I just read the most terrible antisemitic trash
on an ancient history newsgroup, so yes, since it originated in Europe maybe I would
think it is rampant in Europe, plus there are news reports on antisemitic
demonstrations...it was the fears of a mother, after all, and mothers are like that.
I hadn't seen the petrol thing, but it's always nice to know what it is called
elsewhere, and that wouldn't be petrol outside UK and Ireland, surely. On the other
hand, I see/hear Europeans spouting ridiculous things about America, too. And of
other countries I hear even more ridiculous things. Many Europeans don't know or
understand the differences from their culture to other cultures. They also cannot
point to where New Zealand is on the globe. It isn't an American thing, it is an
education/experience thing.

mpprh

Hi

just an observation.

We may be concerned about the results of the French election, but the French knew the results within 6 hrs ?

Peter

The Oik

"Rhys" <@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    >
    > >
    > > I mean, you Europeans still can't sort out whether to let Jews live in France
    > > without getting their synogogues bombed. (Oh, wait -- wasn't that another thick
    > > question...?)
    >
    > Or the Americans letting people in Northern Ireland live in a peaceful democracy
    > without the fear of being bombed or shot at, mostly funded by Americans.
    >
    >

a bit more explicit please; US bombs and guns have killed in ALL of the UK