Difficult to make friends in America?
#826
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
I agreed with everything in your post.I bet many people would be surprised to learn that 113 million Americans have passports. Somebody must be traveling! I also like to ask how many citizens in any particular country in Europe have over 100 million passport holders? I think that should put to rest the arguement that Americans don't travel and the myth that not many Americans hold passports.
The better question would be what percentage of European country residents have a passport, but as a large part of Europe is part of the Schengen Agreement, they don't need passports to visit 25 other countries that could have completely different cultures, and nearly definitely a different language (the only exceptions being Switzerland and the other countries that share languages with it).
#827
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Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 38,865
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
It would have been a good idea, however, to send an invoice to the 5 who backed out at the last moment charging them for their share of your costs!
Ian
#830
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,065
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Zug's Secrets: Switzerland's Corporate Hideaway - TIME
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...040142,00.html
Lots of people with passports here..
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...040142,00.html
Lots of people with passports here..
#831
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Location: Maine
Posts: 1,204
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Funnily enough I got chatting with my neighbor yesterday and he's an elderly native Mainer who you might assume never left the state. He was a butcher and has very working class roots. He told me about his many trips to London, the Cotswolds and the south of France. I was very impressed!
#832
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 329
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Funnily enough I got chatting with my neighbor yesterday and he's an elderly native Mainer who you might assume never left the state. He was a butcher and has very working class roots. He told me about his many trips to London, the Cotswolds and the south of France. I was very impressed!
American, mid-6os, from somewhere South by their accents, who'd just flown into Dublin,hired a car and were pootling about on some vague mission to discover more about their ancestry.
Towards the end of November in a rain-swept Ireland.
I was impressed.
Pointed them on the way to a good B+B and a decent bit of scoff.
#833
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Shocked at the kid party dissing reports from yourself and Sally. It is callous when it comes to how kids feel about these things.
All I can give is a 'Its not the same for us' story. No idea if its social milieu, geography or we just got lucky.
Lots of well attended parties, with parents who (generally) respond to invites and turn up if they say they will.
All I can give is a 'Its not the same for us' story. No idea if its social milieu, geography or we just got lucky.
Lots of well attended parties, with parents who (generally) respond to invites and turn up if they say they will.
Even just expecting one or two to be late or not show up after all, it does seem that it's the case that it's a bit more than that, probably about half and half from experience, but then they're little kids, no idea if that would happen with folder kids.
#834
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Posts: 860
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Funnily enough I got chatting with my neighbor yesterday and he's an elderly native Mainer who you might assume never left the state. He was a butcher and has very working class roots. He told me about his many trips to London, the Cotswolds and the south of France. I was very impressed!
#835
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Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,830
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
I'm curious to know if any of you think age is a factor in whether people in America are approachable/friendly or not? And when I say age I mean your's or the age of Americans.
#836
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Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
As mentioned before it is difficult to make friends the older you get. I do not believe older Americans are more or less approachable or friendly. The older you are, the more settled you are with less room or need for new close friends. Though still friendly and approachable.
#837
Banned
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,065
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
Well speaking as a Vietnamese, I can only say that Americans in their 60s and over scare the sh$t out of me.
#840
Re: Difficult to make friends in America?
FWIW I have always found Americans to be friendly, selfless and willing to make lasting friendships. Of course it's all anecdotal, but here are my experiences:
I was single and in my early 30s when I came here. I am sure that made it easier to meet other people. I also lived in a metropolitan centre where the locals couldn't get enough of my accent. Making friends was as easy as ordering a cappuccino at the local hipster coffee shop. As a result I did not need to seek out the expat community. That helped.
Are American's selfish? I don't think so. In my first two weeks in the country I had a minor medical emergency. I had to go for surgery in the local hospital. My boss, an American who I barely knew, drove me to surgery, came and picked me up, took me home and fed me, and then checked in on me regularly until I was better. I was pretty surprised and very grateful. I was doubtful that I would have had this experience when I lived in London.
Another key moment came six months after my arrival. My new American friends took me aside and pointed out that slagging off their president, food, ATMs, driving skills, fork-knife habits, language, accents, education etc... was getting a little old and maybe I could tone it down a bit (in the nicest way possible.) As an argumentative Scot used to pub debates I had no idea that anyone would ever take offense at something I said, so for a moment I was at a loss. Eventually I chilled out and started to treat the US as a very foreign country, and not just the UK with better weather. I think that helped speed up my assimilation.
I moved to New York and made more new friends. One of them I trusted enough to start a business with. It's been 6 years and going strong. Another friend took my wife and I in during the recent hurricane, fed us and took care of us until we could return home.
Conclusion? I guess YMMV!
I was single and in my early 30s when I came here. I am sure that made it easier to meet other people. I also lived in a metropolitan centre where the locals couldn't get enough of my accent. Making friends was as easy as ordering a cappuccino at the local hipster coffee shop. As a result I did not need to seek out the expat community. That helped.
Are American's selfish? I don't think so. In my first two weeks in the country I had a minor medical emergency. I had to go for surgery in the local hospital. My boss, an American who I barely knew, drove me to surgery, came and picked me up, took me home and fed me, and then checked in on me regularly until I was better. I was pretty surprised and very grateful. I was doubtful that I would have had this experience when I lived in London.
Another key moment came six months after my arrival. My new American friends took me aside and pointed out that slagging off their president, food, ATMs, driving skills, fork-knife habits, language, accents, education etc... was getting a little old and maybe I could tone it down a bit (in the nicest way possible.) As an argumentative Scot used to pub debates I had no idea that anyone would ever take offense at something I said, so for a moment I was at a loss. Eventually I chilled out and started to treat the US as a very foreign country, and not just the UK with better weather. I think that helped speed up my assimilation.
I moved to New York and made more new friends. One of them I trusted enough to start a business with. It's been 6 years and going strong. Another friend took my wife and I in during the recent hurricane, fed us and took care of us until we could return home.
Conclusion? I guess YMMV!