NorthernGent
Posts: 8730
Joined: 7/10/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
The temptation to bash 'America' as a concept is immense, but I think your positive attitude is wise, NorthernGent.
Well, I don't think it's the English way to bash anyone (except the French), because we're indifferent to all of them - Chinese, Americans, Fijians - they're all just another bunch of people getting on with their lives thousands of miles away.
Of the people I know, I'd say most like American films - they're currency around the world - but don't know much else of what goes on inside the four walls of the US.
quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
I'm franco-british living in the States (but I never tell people of my French heritage, for the Frogs are seldom understood anywhere around the world - indeed, they're probably the second most disliked nation on the planet  ),
The French?, well.....what's that famous quote, "the best thing between England and France is the sea". There are no other two countries in the Western world who share such a deep-rooted, mutual suspicion as the English and the French. No part of our language is reserved for the Germans - except German measels, which is fairly tame by comparison - whereas with the French: French leave, French postcards (porn), French prints (porn), French consular guard (prostitutes), French knickers (prostitutes' underwear), French lessons (using a prostitute), the French disease (syphillis), French gout, French pox, French marbles, French aches, a French compliment, a French crown, French pigs, a French letter, a French safe..........even a lucky snick through the slips in 1940s cricket was known as a French drive.
Centuries of animosity........
Personally, I've found the French very similar to us in one crucial area - we're both a very self-confident people who are largely indifferent to other nations.
One huge difference is the French faith in the state, in comparison with the English love of the home.
quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
This can be a pain in the arse when people constantly tell you to 'have a nice day'
I can imagine......"what exactly do you know about my day? get the fuck out of my face."
quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
What grates for me is a lack of curiousity about the world beyond the national borders of the country
I reckon that's harsh. Most Europeans know nothing of that outside of Europe, and we most be a comparable size.
quote:
ORIGINAL: kittinSol
The jingoism and attachment to the flag really fucks me off,
Yeah, that flag thing is a bit weird, but, then again, if you look back at the esttablishment during the British Empire, the Americans are following a similar pattern; they too believed the English were God's chosen people (to the extent where a significant monority believed England was actually inhabited by the lost tribes of Israel - no joke).
< Message edited by NorthernGent -- 1/31/2008 4:46:33 PM >
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Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
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RE: ouch- USA people hated - 
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