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Culture shocks?

Culture shocks?

Old Sep 12th 2008, 2:16 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Culture Shocks I like: no roundabouts, supermarkets less crowded, people super friendly and welcoming, no chav gangs hanging round on street corners intimidating anyone who walks by
Culture Shocks I didn't like: no public transport where I live (boonies) what. the. hell???, no pedestrian areas in the city where I work, have to drive everywhere :curse:, Americans I have met and become friends with really don't seem very interested in history/culture other than their own. Not in a bad way just in an... ignorant way. I hold a Bonfire night party every 5 November at my house (into our 3rd year!) and invite our friends, they come but it's with a very bemused air. Yet when 4th July/Thansgiving rolls round I'm expected to fall in line with gusto. Ah well, it's not a bad thing I guess.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 2:35 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Xebedee
California has history.
Of course it does.

The 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.
Hi:

Just the other day was California Admission day -- September 9, 1850 -- when California was admitted to the Union as the 34th State. It was never a formal organized territory of the United States. It seems that the popular history seems to ignore the fact that California's admission was part of the Compromise of 1850, which was blown to pieces anyways in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Otherwise, California was not really involved in the run-up to the Civil War.

The "white" history is fairly recent -- the Spanish settlements came in the 1770's and shortly thereafter. El Pueblo De La Nuestra Senora La Riena De Los Angeles was organized in 1776.

Query: what is your opinion on whether or not Father Juniperro Serra should be canonized? Some people think he was a demon.

Of course, the very phrase "49-er" has gotten into the English Language. I've always been amused by the difference in street names in downtown Los Angeles as opposed to downtown San Francisco -- Los Angeles honored more of the Spanish & Mexican names than San Francisco did. But then Los Angeles didn't really become sizeable until the 1880's with completion of the Southern parts of the railroads.

Of course, when one studies the history of the US and Canadian west, the railroad figures prominently.

The very names of towns going from south to north in California gives a clue to Spanish Missions on the El Camino Real. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_(California). One of the commemorative bells is in front of my office building from when Sunset Blvd. was US 101 before the Hollywood Freeway was built. But to drive from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano to Santa Ana to San Gabriel to San Fernando to San Buenaventura [now Ventura] to Santa Barbara to San Miguel to Santa Cruz to San Jose to Santa Clara to San Francisco gives a historical sense.

Last edited by Folinskyinla; Sep 12th 2008 at 2:48 pm.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 2:54 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by another bloody yank
Yeah I kinda figured he didn't show up expecting medieval buildings. I hope not anyway. I reckon he was probably more shocked by how the lack of such things affected him, rather than the fact that they weren't there. But I'm just guessing.
nope, I didn't expect to see medieval buildings... But, as you said, I also didn't expect that it will bother me that much, but it did.


Originally Posted by nethead
I think he probably meant as in actual buildings, or cities and towns. And he's right, if you are used to walking through a city that has buildings from medieval times it's not quit the same as walking through say, Cleveland OH is it? It's easy to take the piss when you don't know what that's like. The city I'm from has architecture from the Roman times, there really isn't much like that here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath,_Somerset
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 3:39 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Folinskyinla
Of course, when one studies the history of the US and Canadian west, the railroad figures prominently.
And between the railroads, and the Gold Rush, you get the explanation of why so many Chinese are in the area - they were encouraged to come over and do manual labor, and many settled and stayed, giving rise to the huge Asian population today (no, they didn't all arrive recently - though there are a lot of more recent arrivals, too).

Originally Posted by Folinskyinla
The very names of towns going from south to north in California gives a clue to Spanish Missions on the El Camino Real. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_(California). One of the commemorative bells is in front of my office building ... But to drive from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano to Santa Ana to San Gabriel to San Fernando to San Buenaventura [now Ventura] to Santa Barbara to San Miguel to Santa Cruz to San Jose to Santa Clara to San Francisco gives a historical sense.
Your "El Camino" link is busted (missing closing paren) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_(California)
Don't forget Sonoma (or "Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma")! I was there last month, a great place to hang out for an afternoon or more, in the heart of the wine country.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 3:47 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Leeds_Lass
Culture Shocks I like: no roundabouts,
YEAH !!!! I'm not the only one who does not miss roundabouts! Mini-roundabouts are a scourge on the earth (road pimples, or 'zits' as we would say here!). I think it's you and me against the world, Leeds_Lass!

Thansgiving
I LOVE Thanksgiving here in the US - it's not commercialized at all (unusual for the US) and taken more seriously than Xmas - evidenced by the fact that you get two holiday days off, compared to Xmas and New Year with only 1 day each. People make a huge effort to be home with family, with everyone flying everywhere.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 3:58 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Yup, nothing pleasant about roundabouts Steerpike.

I really enjoy Thanksgiving also. I think that the meaning behind it is great, to give thanks for what you have be it friends, family etc. I thought it was weird being bigger than Christmas at first but I understand now why it is bigger. The first settlers here had nothing those first few years and barely survived, to give thanks for the food on our table is really something we should do every day, not just once a year. I only get one day off tho . Still, we go all the way to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with friends and their family on their farm, it's a mad crazy rush to get there but very worth it. Not to mention the food, yum!

One thing that does puzzle me is that Easter is fairly ignored. There are Church services in my area but no recognised holiday like in the UK. I know the US is more diverse religion wise but still, I found that odd. Still, give it a few more years and I'm sure the minority in the UK will have found something offensive about Easter and it'll be done away with. I guess they won't be the minority when that happens though, will they?
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 3:58 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Steerpike
YEAH !!!! I'm not the only one who does not miss roundabouts! Mini-roundabouts are a scourge on the earth (road pimples, or 'zits' as we would say here!). I think it's you and me against the world, Leeds_Lass!


I LOVE Thanksgiving here in the US - it's not commercialized at all (unusual for the US) and taken more seriously than Xmas - evidenced by the fact that you get two holiday days off, compared to Xmas and New Year with only 1 day each. People make a huge effort to be home with family, with everyone flying everywhere.
Are you sure you are British at all??
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:01 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Leeds_Lass
Yup, nothing pleasant about roundabouts Steerpike.
Do you actually prefer 4-way stops to roundabouts? I would much rather be able to whizz through a roundabout when the coast is clear than have to come to a pointless stop.

According to an article I read recently, there are more accidents at 4-way stops than at roundabouts.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:04 pm
  #249  
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by aceastwood
Do you actually prefer 4-way stops to roundabouts? I would much rather be able to whizz through a roundabout when the coast is clear than have to come to a pointless stop.

According to an article I read recently, there are more accidents at 4-way stops than at roundabouts.
Are you kidding me? Would I rather get stuck on a merry go round trying to get over to get to my exit OR would I rather pull up to a 4 way stop and wait my turn to go? HRM LET ME THINK.

No contest. 4 way stop.

There is actually a roundabout in one of the Huntsville suburbs that I use regularly to get to a friends house, it's one of those two lane simple ones. They're easy enough. Those big awful ones you find at junctions to motorways however are the stuff of nightmares. Leeds is full of them.

Last edited by Leeds_Lass; Sep 12th 2008 at 4:06 pm.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:08 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Leeds_Lass
Are you kidding me? Would I rather get stuck on a merry go round trying to get over to get to my exit OR would I rather pull up to a 4 way stop and wait my turn to go? HRM LET ME THINK.

No contest. 4 way stop.

There is actually a roundabout in one of the Huntsville suburbs that I use regularly to get to a friends house, it's one of those two lane simple ones. They're easy enough. Those big awful ones you find at junctions to motorways however are the stuff of nightmares. Leeds is full of them.
Methinks you needed more practice on the Leeds ring-road. (I am a fellow West Riding person).
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:13 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by aceastwood
Methinks you needed more practice on the Leeds ring-road. (I am a fellow West Riding person).
Methinks I'll just stick to my 4-way stops .
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:20 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by aceastwood
Do you actually prefer 4-way stops to roundabouts? I would much rather be able to whizz through a roundabout when the coast is clear than have to come to a pointless stop.
And those pointless stops waste gas as welll..

Originally Posted by aceastwood
According to an article I read recently, there are more accidents at 4-way stops than at roundabouts.
Yes, that's true and also true of traffic light controlled intersections as well. Additionally, roundabouts are a far superior mechanism at distributing traffic flow to traffic lights. Traffic lights tend to "bunch" traffic moving in a particular direction due to the lights cycle, whereas roundabouts tend to distribute traffic much more evenly.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:21 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by aceastwood
Do you actually prefer 4-way stops to roundabouts? I would much rather be able to whizz through a roundabout when the coast is clear than have to come to a pointless stop.
Drive-throughs are more efficient also, but I try to avoid them .. there is something appealing about a simple 4-way intersection with nothing more than a classic 'stop' sign.

I drive 100 miles a day, and I only drive through one 4-way stop that could possibly be converted to a zit, so I just can't get excited about making that more efficient. I can see that, if you had to struggle through dozens each day, you may feel differently. But to me, a 4-way stop is part of what makes this place 'America', like seeing a cop with a gun, or a US flag outside someone's house.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:28 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Steerpike
Drive-throughs are more efficient also, but I try to avoid them.
Me too - by the time they have struggled with my Yorkshire accent, it is quicker to have gone inside anyway.
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Old Sep 12th 2008, 4:30 pm
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Default Re: Culture shocks?

Originally Posted by Leeds_Lass
Still, give it a few more years and I'm sure the minority in the UK will have found something offensive about Easter and it'll be done away with. I guess they won't be the minority when that happens though, will they?
Seriously? Didn't realise you could get a subscription to the Daily Mail in the US!
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