How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I heard an interesting talk from Stuart Cosgrove on BBC today. According to him the USA is deeply foreign. He was talking specifically about Race Relations and one of the recent shootings by a cop.

His line is that initially the US seems similar because of language etc, but that other attitudes (particularly on race) are deeply alien to those of us from this side of the Great Pond.

What say you ?
:eek:

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I'm British so it's foreign to me, not sure about the adjective though?

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

The US is significantly different to the UK in many ways. If all the world spoke English as a first language, there wouldn't be this incorrect assumption that the US is so similar to the UK.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Anian, what would you say are the biggest differences in your opinion?

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Two countries split by a common language!

You have to live here to realize all the differences. Here's a few that come to me off the top of my head (I'm at work, so don't have a lot of time)...

Language - yes, it's basically the same, but VERY different!
Work ethics - One to two weeks' vacation for at least the first two years!
Healthcare and insurance - don't get me started on this one!!
Cars - 95% auto to 5% manual - about the reverse of the UK.
Buying stuff - warranties, etc. are grossly different. Buying cars is like going back to the stone age!
TV - some good, some bad, but the Brits still do drama and period peices a LOT better (BTW, there's a new series of Luther coming, YAY!).

That'll get something started.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Politics. The US is the most right wing country in the western world by a huge margin. There's a much stronger "I'm alright Jack" mentality and so many people completely forget any help they received to get where they are - attributing everything to their own efforts.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I agree Anian.

Guindalf, I don't understand what you mean in regards to buying stuff. I didn't know there was a difference with warranties, are they better or worse in the US? How does it differ buying a car in the US versus the UK?

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Generally, the retailer is not responsible if a product is defective and will only accept returns within the first 14-30 days. IIRC, if a product fails within the first YEAR, you can return it to the shop back home. Electronics retailers will also often add a 15% or whatever 'restocking fee' if you return something that's not faulty and in any case, it's you who has to pay return shipping in many situations. This is why Walmart does so well. It has a liberal return policy.

Same is true with (used) car buying. It is the norm to sell without any kind of warranty, especially with the smaller dealers and often with some of the big ones too. If you get down the road and it dies, you can be SOL, which again, is not the case in the UK.

As for new car buying, there are many taxes and fees added to the final negotiated price. I personally, have seen a dealer attempt to add $799 in 'document fees' to the total (not on MY watch!), The advertised price is always plus tax, tax and doc fees, whereas the UK made manufacturers display drive-out pricing. There's also a lot more haggling here than I remember back home.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I had no idea. It really has changed. So much for the old saying of you can sum up the US with one word "Service". :(

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I thought you could sum up the US with one word, "USA! USA! USA!"

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

A lot depends on the perspective of the observer. I see more similarities than most who have posted already above. I see the UK as having as many if not more similarities with the US than it does with Europe. The UK resisted the working hours directive and therefore has much longer working hours than countries in Europe, protections against being fired are much weaker in the UK than in Europe too. Then there is politics where the mainstream parties in almost all European countries are left and center- left, as opposed to right and center-right in the US, whereas the UK has a center-left and center-right party, so half way between the US and Europe.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Tax added to prices.
TV with may more ads.
Stop signs.
Someone shot every weekend.
Collecting cans with shopping trolleys.
Crazy rent prices.
Private land signs
Garage sales
Lack of vacation time.
Light switches up side down.
2x4 houses.
Shingle roofs.
Pay before you pump.
Mental health.
Division.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

That is an enormous, and untrue, generalisation.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Objectively speaking the main/biggest "right wing" parties of France, Germany, and Italy have social, economic, taxation, and defence policies that have more in common with the British Labour party than with the British Conservatives, which is exactly why the British Conservative party has never been able to form any sort of political alliance with their counterparts in the leading Eurozone countries. There have been occasional fleeting signs of allegiances with the "right wing" parties of Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland, but it soon became obvious that even those countries' "right wing" parties were closer to the "right wing" parties of France, Germany, and Italy than to the British Conservative party. ..... Or do you have some other explanation for the similarities between European "right wing" social, economic, taxation, and defence policies and those of the Labour party, and that the British Conservatives have been unable at any point over the past 42 years to form even the slightest allegiance with the European right wing parties? :confused:

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Are you talking about within the EU Parliament? I'm not aware that forming pan-European alliances has been a serious focus of any party. Not even Labour.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

The French, German, Italy, and other countries' "right wing" parties vote in a bloc, and contrary to the policies/ preferences of the Conservatives. ..... And generally/ broadly EU politicians vote in accordance with their own national counterparts. ..... And yes, even Labour is out of step with a lot of the Euro-parties. :rofl:

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

In the UK we grow up surrounded by American media.
Television shows, movies, music, comedians, literature... even our news output allows you the opportunity to gain a pretty thorough understanding of the political landscape in the US.

Kids nowadays are growing up in the age if the internet, possibly making the US seem even more accessible.

Yes, there are small differences (they don't have taxes included on the price tag here), but are things really so deeply 'foreign'? I had a pretty good idea of what to expect before I arrived.

We are all still putting our trousers - excuse me - pants on, the same way.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Talking of media, the average American has little or no knowledge of events happening outside of its territorial boundaries.

Most news programs focus on, first, local news (for the nearest big city working outwards) and then national news stories. Only if an American is affected does it go beyond that - or it's a big wnough story that it warrants international attention.

"An American citizen broke a nail while vacationing in France today - here's a 10 minute report from our correspondent. After that, we report on the earthquake that killed 10,000 foreigners"!!!!!

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Public toilets with an 18 inch gap at the bottom and that any person over 6 foot tall can see over the top of.

Oh and invariably a half inch gap where the door shuts.

Biggest difference.

That and the amazing amount of drive-thru's. Food, Dry Cleaning, there is even a drive-thru Margarita place 2 miles from me

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

This always amazes me when I hear Europeans say this: we know all about America because we watch American TV. Sorry, that's absurd. Do you think I could actually learn what it's like to live in the UK by watching BBCAmerica and the Harry Potter movies?

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Depends what show. The Inbetweeners is a pretty close representation to what it was like in my last few years of school ...

In all seriousness, I don't think when people say that, the implication is that just by watching American TV it means you will automatically know what it's like and be 100% prepared to live in the US with no adjustment. It does make it a bit (just a bit, mind) easier to transition over into living here.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

It depends. I get a lot of foreign news first (some of it quite obscure) from my right wing US friends on Facebook. There's a whole bunch that share stuff from the Fox News website. True some of it is outright wingnut - 'ISIS is in Mexico!' - but I can't honestly say that they have little or no interest or knowledge about what is going on outside America (even if the picture they have is very skewed).

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

This. Plus most of the time, the gap between the toilet seat and the water is tiny so have to stand up to wipe. Being 6'5" I have to crouch forward so I'm not saying "hello" to everyone that walks past.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

He should read some of the comments on the Torygraph site every time there is an article that touches on Muslims or immigration. Or go to certain parts of Scotland with a brown skinned friend in tow and see how many ash-trays you get thrown at you.

The US and UK are a lot different because they have very different historical experiences since they diverged in the eighteenth century. A lot of the things that we now find very alien are actually rooted in English traditions which have been de-emphasized in the mother country.

Probably the key factor is the average US citizen's distrust of government because that's fundamental to a lot of the differences. It's seen as a necessary evil rather than a positive force for change as it was in Britain following the Beveridge Report and the introduction of the welfare state. That's why the type of things that government alone can act on (universal healthcare, maternity / paternity leave, mandatory vacation time) have been slow to arrive or have proved very hard to implement. If the US had been even more affected by the First and Second World wars than it was then perhaps things would have been different.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I feel this is becoming less and less true these days. Friends in France & Scandinavia confirm that the right is ascendant, surging into power in many EU nations. Sentiments all over Europe are swinging against old EU-led brand of socialism. Rebellion against austerity policies and immigration problems are the fuel. Marine LePen could win the next election...

Europe's Deep Right-Wing Logic - Forbes

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

This is so true from my experience here in Alabama, the Americans are very insular it seems compared to English.
Watched coverage of 2012 London Olympics here in US and it was difficult to believe there were countries other than the US involved.
If the US came sixth in an event they would get more coverage than the winner.

I can use American terms in England and be understood trunk/hood/parking lot/pants, use English terms here and get met with a blank look :p

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I think some of you are channeling the differences and missing the love. Many Americans follow the royal family, love British culture, cross the pond to visit London. I have two American novelist friends who are raging Anglophiles. One has published a series of novels set in the Tudor era (beginning with "The Crown"). The other's fondest wish is to move from Texas and live in Cornwall where her novels are set.

I guess you already know Americans along the east and west coasts tend to be less insular and more worldly.

This American understands about 85% of the slang used by members here, but I'm picking up the rest of it. As a direct response copywriter, I've written some ads targeted to the UK and a few for Australia, so reading here is actually helpful. Thanks! :)

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

The last conference I exhibited at, it was hard to get much business done because the American prospects insisted on telling me about their last trip to England, their favorite Monty Python episode, how much they love the accent etc etc. There was even one who was telling me how superior Rugby Union is to American football.

There's definitely a special relationship all right! (although it's really a cultural relationship - in foreign relations it's a bit more suspect)

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Well, I wasn't talking about condensing twenty years' worth of media into a movie or two. But yeah, that's just me and my experience. *sips tea*

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I wouldn't confuse knowledge with disinformation. They're not uninformed, they're misinformed (which is even worse.)

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

One thing I have noticed when out eating or drinking is that there rarely seems a table of mixed races. Maybe it's different at lunchtime when people from work seem to wander out to eat together but in the restaurants during the evening there will be tables of white people, tables of black people, asian people etc etc.
Hardly ever do you see a mixed bunch of people. Find it quite odd really.

Maybe just a Texan thing :confused:

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

It's a good thing the BBC, The Guardian and The Independent always offer such an completely unbiased, multidimensional, comprehensive and impecably factual depiction of the US. :p

I'll give you The Times, fantastic newspaper.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Yes.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Having just eaten our usual Friday lunch in a Chinese, with Indian and a Vietnamese colleagues, its different in Pa.....

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Happens all over the US and Canada, an evening meal is typically a family meal so makes sense you'd see mostly people of the same race.

Lunch time you will see more as lunch tends to be more co-workers and friends getting together so you tend to see more mixed groups.

Also some people once into their mid 20's, just don't see or do a lot with friends, they work, they spend time with family and go back to work.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Yes, that could be it :)

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Java Jo'z? Good Ole Boys? Maybe we're not so far away.....?

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I agree, but to be fair, that's not exclusively American - there was a "Not the Nine o'clock News" sketch highlighting this as a British trait years ago...

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

Billboards!!! Culture of strip clubs. Billboards with half naked woman advertising strip clubs. :ohmy: Hooters.

Re: How "Foreign" is the USA ?
 

I am surprised strip clubs are still popular down there. They have pretty much gone extinct in Canada except for a handful in some of the larger city's.