Yeah but im just lazy and cant be bothered to type them. Also it winds Brit up

You know, I was just trying to be funny. "Perfect American" pertained to her accent, i.e. she has an American accent as opposed to a British one.

Accents vary all over America, as they do in Britain....

I knew what you were talking about, it just read a bit funny, if you know what I mean.

Really? I thought they all sounded the same.

Seriously though, I guess it did sound odd. Point taken.

Hey FlyerGirlUK, the trip was excellent on the whole thanks for asking. I was really dreading the flights with our 6 month old (who was flying for the first time). I've been on other flights where youngsters scream their heads off - its not their fault at that age. But ours was a real trooper - handled it like she's been flying all her life No bother at all. I suppose business class does that for you But honestly, our lass flew business class at 6 months old - I didn't do that until I was in my thirties

We were given a bassinet for our little one on the international flight. I'm not stretching too far from the truth here, but it wasn't much more than an Adidas holdall - anyone else experienced these bassinet things?

I certainly enjoyed being immersed into UK culture while I was back (except for the Big Brother, Celebrity Love Island, etc crap). One of the first things I like to do is grab a copy of the Sun and have a read - doesn't take long And that gets me back into the swing of things.

Anyway, now I've been back a few weeks, it seems such a long time ago I was back in England, and it almost feels like it didn't happen. The wife is still over there. We've been web-camming frequently, and recently talking about when we'll go back in 2006 (we go back every year without fail). She tells me she wants to go back semi-annually now she's not working. So that will probably mean one trip with me, and one trip without me. I would ideally like to go with her on both occasions, but that would mean 1 week per trip for me instead of a single 2 week trip. Flying to the UK for 1 week from the west coast just doesn't seem worth it to me - you effectively get only 4 decent days.

Anyway, enough from me. I've had this year's top-up of culture, thoroughly enjoyed it, and am already thinking of the next one

And what precisely does that mean??


I could take offence at that but then looking at the rest of your post I can see that don't mean to be malicious....in fact you could substitute the U.K here for the U.S and it would be just as fitting

Not everyone in the U.K is materialistic, though I admit the culture in general is. I think it's a question of finding people who have similar values to you, and making sure your kids are exposed to other cultures and points of view.


see? the whole of the Western civilisation is materialistic...who are you trying to kid
I'm still baffled as to what you mean by worrying that your kids will become "typical " American's...is this in fact worse that typical Brits?? I doubt it ....as a child growing up in the U.K I was from a town, a typical town were everyone was from there , the same blah blah...well here in the States my kids go to school with children who are from all over the globe...China, India, Mexico, Finland etc one kids mom even came into the classroom , bringing Chinese food for the kids to sample and sharing stories of her country........that's what I call exposure to different culture....walking into a store and hearing /seeing people from different parts of the World is what I call exposure...not boring old artifacts and buildings....so Britain has more History...so what? to an Elementary aged kid it's all boring anyway

I think the average American child is exposed to more culture and more diversity than your average Brit either way you can't really generalise negatively in that way...you wouldn't like it if an American thought of the "typical" Brit as a Chav now would you?

Now that really funny .....

I think the average American child is exposed to more culture and more diversity than your average Brit either way you can't really generalise negatively in that way...you wouldn't like it if an American thought of the "typical" Brit as a Chav now would you? [/QUOTE]


absolutley not!!!!!
the culture and diversity in this country is a watered down version and if you think that going to las vegas to the Paris hotel is just as good as the real Paris you are having a laugh(a lot of people do)
I live here and travel to europe a lot and my teenage kids (born here) woke up after travelling....they were brought up (brainwashed) into believing that this country is the best at everything bar none, i tried to tell them but they were sceptical.. so i have been taking them, now they call this country JUrrasic Park hahahhaha.......

americans as a rule dont leave the country so they dont know...hell i live in orange county ca and most of my neighbours have never been to hollywood let alone another country, foreign relations is more than having a bangladeshi cousin (ali g)

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr............ ...........hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I cant agree with that even though I know where you are coming from.

I think the point Neathborn was trying to make was this...

Typical American child: "America the the beautiful, America the greatest"
Typical British child: "Britain. Another country in a World full of em"

Im not saying thats neccessarily correct (not as a blanket summisation anyway) but it certainly is more prevalent.

and why is that
kids aren't interested in the history of Britain ...well I never was and neither was anybody I knew...I think appreciation for that comes with age ....on a day to day level my kids have more exposure and more experiences with people from different cultures than I ever did, maybe it's the difference between a city and a town

Either way negatively generalising and comforting yourself that your kids won't be "typical" Americans is plain offensive

yeah you got it...I'm feeling a little defensive this mornin'

I know what you are saying but I could go to any town city in the U.k and also find plenty of people who have never left the country...it's not just an American thing

Hoi! My kids love going round castles and museums!

erm maybe cos Britain is so tiny....drive down the Island for several hours and you're in the English Channel drive in Texas for several hours and....er...you're still in Texas

I knew nothing about the States before I moved here so why should I presume a child should know about the U.k....besides I'm not talking about History and bulidings...day to day my kids are around more diveristy than I was ever exposed to and that's always a positive thing

you have to face facts

most american kids are stupid!!!!!!
its not their fault........the school system sucks!!! it is not run as an education centre but as a profit centre and they have messed it up.
A freind of mine just moved back to the UK and his kids were so far behind it wasnt even funny, but they caught up and have been on school trips to France and ireland and throughout the UK.
Kids learn from approx age 6 to 15 at the hifgest rate but here they piss around because so much value is put on college degrees,
see whats happening!! they go to college and party ...take african dance, religous instruction cos they are easy credits ...major in business management (like millions of others) get in debt then complain that they cant get a job that pays enough to live on......the system is broken......but nobodt wants to fix it (like the election process) because everyone is only interested in personel wealth.

whats your background are you an ex pat?

so do mine! though we haven't done castles yet cos they're all in Wales

no the "typical" American comment just got to me....