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What Europeans Like about North America

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  • Sandy
    Forum Member
    • Jan 2001
    • 113

    What Europeans Like about North America

    This was an interesting topic from the fodors.com bulletin board--people from Europe answering the question. I've summarized some of the responses--all these things we take for granted:

    The large hotel rooms, air conditioning, price.

    The big highways and interstates. The low cost of petrol. The size and price of rental cars.

    The service. "Anywhere you go, shop, hotel, restaurant, the service is always good, and usually very friendly."

    Inexpensiveness. "A weekend in New York including flights from London is not much more than a partying weekend in London."

    Boston Lobster, FAO Schwartz, bras from K-Mart. Pizza, pancakes, 24-hour diners, cheap Levis, large appliances (more beer in the fridge), endless varieties of potato chips, Ranch dressing, bagels, breakfast chefs who know 3.5 million ways to cook an egg, crispy bacon, Caesar salad, American steaks.

    Friends and The West Wing.

    Grand Canyon, national parks, whales and sea otters and bears and moose (in the wild), large expanses of protected wilderness. The thousands of possibilities for outdoor activities, like swimming with dolphins.

    Free coke refills in restaurants. Free coffee refills.

    "Americans are very friendly and hospitable." " I like sitting in a bar and being able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Everybody seems to have been to Germany, knows someone who lives there, etc."

    The cleanliness of America. "The first time I saw a carry it in, carry it out sign in a park, I was amazed. And then I saw that Americans actually do carry out their rubbish."

    From a park volunteer in a tourist-oriented community: "We are constantly amazed at European visitors' comments about things we take for granted. For instance, they are surprised at the concept and practice of volunteerism. Working for free? Working for fun? . . . Foreign visitors also comment about how helpful our police are. They marvel at the absence of "verboten" signs in our parks and forests."

    Convenient shopping hours. Free parking. Drinking fountains with free drinking water.

    It's okay to wear fanny packs and sneakers. Even Hawaiian shirts are okay.

    Freedom of the press.

    Size, cleanliness and modernity of your hospitals.

    "People are less judgmental. I'm originally from Ireland, but live in the U.S. I can achieve success at work based on my knowledge and skills rather than what school I went to or my religion."

    "Average houses are bigger than in Europe. We (Europeans) haven't quite figured out the concept of attached garages."

    "I've made friends from all over the world while living here."

  • RPD Explorer

    #2
    ...Those Texans sure are nice...

    Mike

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    • Donut2000
      Forum Member
      • Jun 2000
      • 48

      #3
      You know, as much as I love this country and hope to be serving in its Government as an 1811, I also must say that you Europeans have it good too in my opinion.

      Europe is beautiful, great culture, the best in food, and maybe its just me, but I think British chicks are hotter than American chicks (Rachel Weisz for example )

      Comment

      • wonderwoman
        Forum Rookie
        • Mar 2001
        • 2045

        #4
        Donut2000......

        Nah..... Canadian chicks are hottest!!

        ------------------
        Treat every day as the most precious day you have!

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        • rob KELLY
          Forum Member
          • May 2001
          • 8

          #5
          Never mind the babes, you US lads and lasses have the tops in kit and vehicles (well probably every country does over us Brits) and the aussies too come to think of it, we are just about leaving the "stiff upper lip" traditional image and heading towards the "stuff to do the job properly" zone. We have much catching up to do though when it comes to vehicles.....our standard patrol car is more often than not a small hatchback (and I mean small!) with if you are lucky one mondeo-sized response car to a station. We are lucky where I am, though, as we have a 4x4 which looks the business! mustn't grumble!!

          Comment

          • rob KELLY
            Forum Member
            • May 2001
            • 8

            #6
            But you do have Buffy!! she wins hands down every time with us!!

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            • NJCop
              Banned
              • May 2001
              • 11

              #7
              The cops in Amsterdam are cool. They ride on dirt bikes and dress like Bruce Lee movie bikers. I was there last month and I heard a siren outside of my window. I went to look out and there were mounted police, dirt bikes, cars... They looked pretty cool

              However, we have it so much better. All of the taxis in Holland are Mercedes but the cops drive little VW's or on/off road bikes. I would be so uncomfortable in those little cars.

              Europe is great and cheap to visit but they really haven't caught up with us. Yes, the rooms are small. We decided to stay at a decent and above average Hotel chain (AMS) just to be safe for my g/f. It was clean and nice but for the same price here I would have gotten a suite!

              ------------------
              bob体肓 - 中国官网在1990年12月成立,【818988d.com ¥¥ 1999年12月在深证上市】公司注册资本535万,拥有固定资金730亿。主要从事电力电子产品的生产、电力工程施工和技术服务以及光伏发电系统工程的建设、维护。

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              • JKT
                Seasoned Veteran
                • Mar 2000
                • 1699

                #8
                Originally posted by wonderwoman:
                Donut2000......

                Nah..... Canadian chicks are hottest!!

                Ahhh, never mind.


                ------------------
                Optimistic pessimist: Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

                Jack

                [email protected]

                [This message has been edited by JKT (edited 05-25-2001).]
                Optimistic pessimist: Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

                Jack

                [email protected]

                Comment

                • Sig220Man
                  Forum Member
                  • Feb 2001
                  • 1025

                  #9
                  Having just returned from a 9 day trip to England, I can say that I had a most wonderful time!

                  I was staying with a friend who's also a Police Constable, and he was kind enough to arrange a couple of ridealongs for me, one with the patrol unit, the other with the traffic unit.

                  The traffic guys/gals get the nice cars to drive. At my friend's department, it's a Vauxhall Omega (North Americans know this car as the Cadillac Catera). Coupled with a 3.0L V6 engine and 5 speed manual transmission, the car will reportedly do 140 MPH, 150 for the "stealth" units with no overhead light bar. All are VASCAR equipped, and a few even have in-car video with a display screen mounted where the stereo would normally be fitted.

                  The patrol guys/gals...well, that's a different story. They get a much smaller vehicle, a Vauxhall Astra. It's roughly the size of a Toyota Corolla, and it's equipped with a diesel engine.

                  While American and Canadian cops used to Crown Vic's and Caprices are probably snickering at this, the Astra is ideal for patrolling Britain's small towns and villages, many of which are virtually unchanged from medieval times. There are many places where an Omega would be a tight squeeze, much less something like a Crown Vic.

                  One feature that the British cops have that I have yet to see here: hands-free police radios. A microphone, similar to that for hands-free cell phones, is mounted in the headliner above the driver's seat, and a toggle switch is mounted on the steering column, reachable without having to take one's hands off the wheel. Very handy for those quick "10-4's" or especially pursuits. A regular handset is still fitted for when you have a partner.

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