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I'm trying to like the USA

I'm trying to like the USA

Old Dec 20th 2012, 11:12 pm
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Mallory
I have always had wonderful healthcare in the US. I think the healthcare available is top notch! Never had a problem.
Never in the history of mankind has the word 'available' meant so much to so many.
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Old Dec 20th 2012, 11:14 pm
  #77  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Zen10
Never in the history of mankind has the word 'available' meant so much to so many.
The voice of reason of BE speaks.

I seriously feel like flying to Oz just to have a few beers with you and put the world to rights.
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Old Dec 20th 2012, 11:22 pm
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Cuthbert Rizla
Nah, that's would be petty and juvenile.
I'm a big boy.
( Bet you didn't pick that up on your naked airport scanner ! )
Go back to playing WoW. You suck @ trolling mate. Just friendly advice. You are also in no position to tell a moderator what to do, despite your corny attempts at humour. You are about as funny as genital warts.
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Old Dec 20th 2012, 11:32 pm
  #79  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Where are genital warts on the comedy scale in relation to herpes?
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 3:03 am
  #80  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

I don't know if I "like" it here, i live here, have lived here since 1966, but I'm settled here. My beloved London doesn't exist anymore, it is a different place. I only remember one place for curry and that was a high end Indian restaurant on Queensway in Bayswater, now I see it is the national dish!!!.

It would be a start to look at the history behind the history of the USA. The UK had a class system, that was fairly overt; the general population accepted that they should be ruled, even the Labour party was/is largely run by public school types, the public school boys were taught that they were the rulers of empire, we, the great unwashed were not offered any hope of bettering our fathers; the USA is/was different, there were frontiers to push, wide open spaces, children are told that they can achieve anything, there are no limits. All of this and more has formed the feeling of individuality here even though the population densities in some areas mitigate against it.

I didn't understand grid iron football until I played a couple of games of rough touch. Soccer is becoming more important, back in the sixties we encouraged kids to play and it has grown because the smaller kids could be good at it.

There is much to like and much to dislike here, but then there is much to like and much to dislike in the UK. If my children and grandchildren were spread around I might be tempted to find a place in the Blackdown Hills, but they are all within an hour of here.

In the end, I think it comes down to you adapting to the place rather than trying to adapt the place to you.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 3:05 am
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Mallory
I went to my internist's office on Tuesday. The person at the front desk was a very efficient and nice black male. Everything is computerized, and he even took a computer photo of me to place in my chart. We don't all live out in the wilds of the frozen north!


I know you posted to show not all receptionists were female battle axes but why did you have to mention his colour?

Strange..
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 10:53 am
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by paddingtongreen
In the end, I think it comes down to you adapting to the place rather than trying to adapt the place to you.

It is remarkable how many people move to the United States and then spend their time reminiscing about the things they miss.
It's almost as though they haven't prepared themselves properly to move to a different culture.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 11:13 am
  #83  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Cuthbert Rizla
It is remarkable how many people move to the United States and then spend their time reminiscing about the things they miss.
It's almost as though they haven't prepared themselves properly to move to a different culture.
Truly remarkable that immigrants would reminisce and miss certain aspects of their birth country. But of course, you've already figured out the sole reason for that, utilizing your infinite wisdom.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 11:30 am
  #84  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Cuthbert Rizla
It is remarkable how many people move to the United States and then spend their time reminiscing about the things they miss.
It's almost as though they haven't prepared themselves properly to move to a different culture.
<sarcasm>Yeah, I know, it was totally normal for my father to have immigrated as a refugee from Hungary in 1956 (look up the year) and then decide to assimilate so violently that he wouldn't teach his kids Hungarian or associate with any other Hungarian immigrants. And it's completely abnormal for my mother's Russian Jewish family to get together every year about this time to watch Fiddler on the Roof, swill booze, eat traditional food, and miss a place they haven't seen since before I was born.</sarcasm>

People emigrate, not ciphers in a citizenship database.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 12:41 pm
  #85  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Mallory
I like the fact that there are many international airports in the US. If you don't fit in here, you can easily leave.
Hmm.. we have an "international airport" twenty miles from where I live. It has three flights a day, to Albany. Not only is Albany in the same country as me and this airport, it is in the same state! So it seems any airstrip in this country is able to label itself "International Airport."
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 1:38 pm
  #86  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Speedwell
<sarcasm>Yeah, I know, it was totally normal for my father to have immigrated as a refugee from Hungary in 1956 (look up the year) and then decide to assimilate so violently that he wouldn't teach his kids Hungarian or associate with any other Hungarian immigrants. And it's completely abnormal for my mother's Russian Jewish family to get together every year about this time to watch Fiddler on the Roof, swill booze, eat traditional food, and miss a place they haven't seen since before I was born.</sarcasm>

People emigrate, not ciphers in a citizenship database.
I seem to have touched a raw nerve.
Don't get me wrong,old cock, it's entirely understandable that someone wishes to retain their national identity when moving to a foreign country and reminiscing is all part of that.
But when what you're missing actually begins to affect your life in a new country then you've got problems.
Some posters on here appear to loath the US so much and miss the UK so much you wonder why they stay.
Or why they didn't think about what they're missing BEFORE they moved to a new life.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 2:29 pm
  #87  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Cuthbert Rizla
I seem to have touched a raw nerve.
Yeah, guess so; it's a nerve made raw by traveling to countries where people say it's delightfully silly how Americans hang on by their teeth to their motley heritage, but the same people ask where your family name is from and proceed to judge you on that basis. (I don't mean to imply that you did anything of the sort, just saying that's been my experience.)
Don't get me wrong,old cock, it's entirely understandable that someone wishes to retain their national identity when moving to a foreign country and reminiscing is all part of that.
But when what you're missing actually begins to affect your life in a new country then you've got problems.
Homesickness problems. I think it's natural to try to comfort yourself with the familiar when the unfamiliar is a source of extreme stress. It's not permanent or insurmountable, and you can't say Ethelred didn't give it a good try. Only he can say whether it's his best try, and maybe it has been.
Some posters on here appear to loath the US so much and miss the UK so much you wonder why they stay.
Or why they didn't think about what they're missing BEFORE they moved to a new life.
As my own family history demonstrates, it's not always as much of a choice as you assume.

Last edited by Speedwell; Dec 21st 2012 at 2:32 pm.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 2:45 pm
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Not that I'm wanting to go through this whole conversation again, but just to point out that many people moved to the US for reasons other than desperately wanting to emigrate to the US.

Eg, they fell in love and moved to get married, or their job changed/moved to here, or they came with their spouse who got a job here.

When people haven't made the positive, absolute decision to go for a new life in a new country, but are here by circumstances, it is entirely natural that they may have more reservations.

I'm here because my company offered transfer out of the blue and I took it because I believe you've got to give things a go. But I never had a desperate, burning to desire to move and live in the USA. I think that affects your attitude - in my mind I'm here for a few years and will get out of it what I can. sure, I get irritated by aspects of US life, but I vent and then let it go because I'm pretty sure I won't be here permanently, so why let it bother me?
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 2:53 pm
  #89  
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by Speedwell
Yeah, guess so; it's a nerve made raw by traveling to countries where people say it's delightfully silly how Americans hang on by their teeth to their motley heritage, but the same people ask where your family name is from and proceed to judge you on that basis. (I don't mean to imply that you did anything of the sort, just saying that's been my experience.)
Homesickness problems. I think it's natural to try to comfort yourself with the familiar when the unfamiliar is a source of extreme stress. It's not permanent or insurmountable, and you can't say Ethelred didn't give it a good try. Only he can say whether it's his best try, and maybe it has been.
As my own family history demonstrates, it's not always as much of a choice as you assume.
I still am trying, believe it or not (hence the thread). I haven't completely girl up on the US just yet, but I'd be lying if I said that it's not a major struggle.

Some people clearly don't know much about immigrant in general. It can take 2 generations in some cases to completely assimilate. Look at Latin Americans for example here in Miami - they're US citizens, but are proud of their roots and fly their flags in addition to the US flag.

The difference with us Brits and some other European groups is that there are no defined British-American communities for newly arrived immigrants to fall back on, in order to make the assimilation process easier. We are scattered across the country and rely on groups like these to seek out fellow expats. A Cuban in Miami would not have that issue. He/she would be among his/her people.

I suspect that many Brits and other Europeans here who are completely happy are those who are financially secure, have good health insurance and perhaps never felt that Britain was "home" in the first place, despite being born there.

People emigrate for various reasons. I did so solely to marry a USC. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I'm still here almost 10 years later. Whatever happens, no one can say I didn't try hard enough or that I threw in the towel too soon.
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Old Dec 21st 2012, 2:56 pm
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Default Re: I'm trying to like the USA

Originally Posted by yellowroom
Not that I'm wanting to go through this whole conversation again, but just to point out that many people moved to the US for reasons other than desperately wanting to emigrate to the US.

Eg, they fell in love and moved to get married, or their job changed/moved to here, or they came with their spouse who got a job here.

When people haven't made the positive, absolute decision to go for a new life in a new country, but are here by circumstances, it is entirely natural that they may have more reservations.

I'm here because my company offered transfer out of the blue and I took it because I believe you've got to give things a go. But I never had a desperate, burning to desire to move and live in the USA. I think that affects your attitude - in my mind I'm here for a few years and will get out of it what I can. sure, I get irritated by aspects of US life, but I vent and then let it go because I'm pretty sure I won't be here permanently, so why let it bother me?


Well that's an excellent and very positive attitude to have.
Nowhere is perfect - particularly a country as vast as the US - but it's important to balance the pros with the cons.
The problem really arises when the cons overwhelm the pros and then it's very easy to lose sight of reality.
For what it's worth I'm firmly of the belief that in many cases
it's the individual and not the country that's a fault.
People who are a failure in life in one country hope that by moving to another it will change things - reality bites when it doesn't.
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