Earliest memories of another country?
 

I was curious as to what everyone could remember of the very first visit they had to the US. Good, bad, or ugly - but the very first trip you spent here, regardless of whether or not it was to stay. Or for that matter, doesn't have to be the US, any country will do.

I can't contribute on that front, but can share my memories of the UK. I didn't get to see much - London, University of Sussex, and Cambridge I believe was it. Before this my knowledge consisted of words of advice from a French family I stayed with. "They think they're better than us because they have a Queen" and "the bread is terrible there" are all that I can recall.

Memories of England:

• Very expensive (keep in mind I live in the midwest). A silly girl in our group commenting that she hadn't spent much in London at all. "How did you manage that?" we wondered. "I just charged everything" she said. :rolleyes:
• Went to go see a play called "Martin Guerre" by myself - I was the only one who wanted to go to the theater. It was excellent.
• Stood outside for an hour to have my purse checked before I could go into Harrod's. Watched a woman repeatedly hit other cars trying to parallel park. :eek: Funny - I don't remember much about Harrods itself - though it had some marvelously tacky souvenirs that I picked up.
• My London hotel had a standup shower with slick tile and a curtain. I slipped, fell out of the shower, landed on my thigh on the tile edge and was black and blue the rest of the trip.
• Eating falafel for the first time.
• Got horribly drunk at the University of Sussex when I was visiting a friend who was studying there. My friend lived in an international dorm and had some poor Libyan convinced that squirrels were rabid and that he should run should he ever see one. (Led to a funny story when he visited her in San Francisco a year later.)
• Convinced myself that a Brit wasn't hitting on my friend and me - that it was in my head (I was smashed). He ended up shagging another girl there. Looking back ... he was ginger ... maybe I should have guessed something was off? ;)
• "Mind the Gap"

But my favorite memory has to be seeing Davy Jones outside the Hard Rock Cafe in London. Seemed quite fitting as I had a huge crush on him when I was little. I was surprised that he was shorter than I am! :)

All in all - a good time.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

You cant get horribly drunk in a student unioon. You HAVE to get horribly drunk in a Student Union, its just the way the wheel turns.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Best early memories?

1) Meeting my future wife for the first time

2) Wedding and Honeymoon in Vegas

3) Seeing red-necks for the first time (they still make me laugh)

4) The insane heat getting off the plane

5) Cheap gas prices (at the time...about $1.40)

6) Religious nut jobs

7) Drink refills (long story, but cute)

7) Wedding and Honeymoon in Vegas

8) Adjustment of Status Approval notice

9) Growing the balls to make the first move at a four way stop sign

10) We're not in Kansas anymore Toto

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Well, my earliest memory has to be Mexico, since I grew up in South Texas. In the early 70s people headed across the border to fill their cars with gas; even with the drive to Mexico being 20-30 miles and back, it was far cheaper than in the US. Every station had the same name (Pemex, the nationalised petrol company) which was intriguing to me because of the variety of brands available here.

I was sixteen when I first visited Canada, and while it was different to home, it was hard to shake the feeling that it was just another part of the US. I stared at those maple leaf flags hard, along with the multicoloured funny money!

But the pilgrimage to England has been the absolute best. The US was another world away and I was quite happy for it to be that way. ;)

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

TRUE STORY

Being about 4 or 5 years old and sitting in the back of my dad's Ford Zodiac travelling from Poplar to Maidenhead to see family. Heading through (what I later found out to be) Southall and saying to my dad in all innocence...."Dad......are we still in England"?

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

first memory of another country was N Ireland we were driving behind the army in a truck and they kept their back doors open with their guns pointing out back and I remember being terrified wondering why these men had their guns on us and why they wouldn't close their doors :o

Of the US I was 17 and our group was touring Georgia etc. I just remember the wall of heat you got walking outside and how the sweat dripped in about 10 mins and needing a shower 3 times a day :ohmy:

We stayed in peoples homes and I couldn't believe that people had more than one bathroom and I had a whole one to myself. :D
But after 3 weeks of eating nothing but fried chicken and barbecue beans (people just wanted to give us Southern food :))I was so ready for other food :o

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

My first memories are of camping around the edge of the footie field in Ploubally in France. Went there TONS. Played babyfoot in the local cafe, and drank Cacolac. Bliss! I went to France at least once a year, for at least 2 weeks at a time, so very fond of the place.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Ooh I had a crush on Davy Jones too! :wub:

I didn't visit the USA until I was 32 with a toddler, we came over to visit my husband who was on a secondment in Philadelphia. We went to a little Halloween fair where he was living which was very sweet. I thought Philly was very interesting but was surprised by the phenomenon of an area suddenly turning very "rough" just across a street boundary. Going to New York I was surprised at how crowded and chaotic the tunnel entrance to Manhattan was, still assuming everything American was super-efficient. My son thought FAO Schwartz was fabulous! Spent a couple of hours in there as he wouldn't get out of a toy police car! I remember going Amish country too which was fascinating.

The first foreign country I went to was Germany when I was 7-10, we travelled around to other countries from there such as Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Spain. My brother and I had a lot of fun and England seemed a little dull when we came back.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Cacolac!! Loved that stuff. And Perrier Cassis!

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

We used to drive from Brum to the south of France and camp every summer and one of my earliest memories was of the 1966 World Cup Final in a camp site outdoor french cafe, cheering like mad every time England scored. We were the only Brits in a cafe full of Germans and I was 9 years old.

Other memories of the same period were driving forever on those long, straight, tree-lined French roads in the heat and stopping every now and again so my brother or I could throw up.

And my dad's stubborn insistence that he was not going to stop driving even for a minute, so he used to eat while driving (my mum used to feed him French bread and cheese). He must have had a cast iron bladder, I recall it was always my brother, mum or I who we'd have to stop for toilets for.

Happy days.

I went back to France for the 2004 Tour de France and it evoked very strong memories of the feel of the place that I had completely forgotten (last time I was there was almost 30 years before).

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Earliest memory of another country was a two week holiday in Buncrana, Ireland. I was 3 years old, so most of it is a blur, but I do remember the quaint cobbled hilly streets, and the dark interior of the holiday rental that we stayed in. I met my first crush there... She was a little red haired girl whose father owned the local pub. I remember going everywhere together holding hands for that two weeks. I also remember getting sick (measles) on the ferry coming home.

First memories of coming to America aren't that fond. It was 1974, and I had to change planes at JFK. While going through the immigration process there, the very nice smiling NYC lady official welcomed me to America, and asked where I was going. When I told her I was going to live in Southern Mississippi, a look of horror came across her face, and all she could say was "WHY? I told her that my wife was born and raised there, she said "Good luck... You'll need it". Unfortunately, she was right.

When I stepped off the plane (it was 10pm), the heat and humidity were oppressive. I knew at that moment that I wasn't going to be living in Hattiesburg very long. My boss turned out to be an active member of the Klu Klux Klan, and was hell bent on informing me of the evils of nigras. I tried to be polite to him for a while, hoping he'd eventually let it go, but when he wouldn't, I finally told him that my son's godfather was black. He never spoke to me socially again.

My overall opinion of Mississippi is that is was full of rednecks (some who were nice and friendly, and some who were not), and overly horny women. I lived there for three years, and then moved north to Connecticut (sans wife and kid), where I had some more normal friends.

Overall, I like this country. It has its good points and its bad points (like everywhere else). I've visited my homeland (Scotland) several times since coming here, and although the visits were great, I would never want to go back there permanently... Although, being a nature boy at heart, I do miss the scenery.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Jumping in and out of the pool all night long after school in Brasilia and eating oranges straight from the trees in our garden. Oh and my Dad bowling at us three girls on a Saturday and using the banana tree as the stumps, we never were any good. He really did want boys.........

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Never heard of such a thing...

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

Then you never lived in Hattiesburg, MS.

Re: Earliest memories of another country?
 

i guess for you the title of the thread should read.....

Earliest memories of another state? :lol:

btw good morning bloody yank ;)