Hi I am a 20 year old American(Born and Raised) and I am in school to become a radiographer. I have always had the idea that European Countries are superior to America in many many ways. But I do not know if it is dissilusionment based on me glorifying Europe in my mind. I know the food there is far far superior. Good luck finding something in America that does not contain Partially or Fully Hydrogenated oils and if you do your payin out the butt for it. Interesting fact about living in America, if every American ate the recommended daily serving of fruits & veggies there would not be enough for every body! I'll keep this one simple as possible, in Europe your newer X-ray equpment has built in features that at the push of a button reduces patient dose. We have the exact same equipment here in America... except after installation they disabled that button because our American X-ray technologist are not trained enough to know how to use it properly. I hate how we have no culture in America. Our culture is consumerism and as much as I enjoy our nice cars (no where near as nice as European cars), our HD tv, my Sirius Satellite radio, and all my other crap... I hate there being no real culture. I have always noticed that there is no culture in America. But when the man that owned the company I used to work for got married(His family is from Austria and his dad sounds exactly like Arnold hahaha) and I went to his party and there were these Germans there derssed in traditional German clothes doing traditional dances & a band playing traditional music... I was amazed it was so cool. The closets thing we have to a cultural tradition in America is Gluttony. Last one, there was this really crapy show on Discovery channle that I hope got cancled. The host appeared to be a jock from college football he was dumb as a rock. He went to a Swiss paper manufacturing plant and these people working there, just average middle class people. Were far more intelligent than any American I have met, (besides the doctors that teach my classes & I work with) they all seemed like college professors... I have long been pissed off at my fellow Americans for being so gosh darn stupid. but that really just blew me away at how much more intelligent those people were than my fellow Americans. So for a newbie that wants to take an extended trip to Europe one day. What is there to know? I love nature and would love to see beautiful uncurropted land.
As and English speaking native of Ireland I am constantly reminded of American culture through, language, T.V. film and advertising. Alot of T.V. we get is American. Although, we agree in film class in college (and most people) that the techinal side of T.V. and film is superb quality, but I don't find the story quality is that good. Alot of films based on history in the U.S. is often manipulated for the American patriot which kind of annoys me. American people in general are good people but I find there's a certain ignorance to the real qualities in life. I hope I don't offend American people by saying these things but I say this as an Irishman thats soaked in American culture. Over here we are becoming so close to America it's scary. Chain stores, convenient shops etc. Shops that sell everything in one. When I've been in France or Italy, I too, notice the things that you have noticed. Rather than convenient shops, shops are more specific. If you want confectionery, you go to a confectionary shop, if you want tobacco, you go to the tobacconist etc. Think, instead of having Wall Mart selling everything in one shop you would have maybe a few bakeries competing in the one area which would mean there would be competition between them to sell the best quality pies etc. It used to be somewhat like that. Now it's just one company selling us all the same stuff without or with little competion. These things make me want to be more European. I find the schooling and college system is more beneficial here for the people. Officially college education is free. Well, some will argue that it isn't due to the increased 'registration fee' but it's reletively cheap compared to the U.S. I will get my Diploma in media production at a cost of maybe €1500 and after I hope to get my degree in Wales in photography. Anyway, enough of that. I suggest, you head to Italy. Like most countries there's heaps of beautiful scenery. Top quality food and wine and some of the worlds best architecture. I've been 3 times already and I love it. France is another favourite of mine. Again, I LOVE the French countryside. It's amazing. If you like nature, I reccomend you camp there. I find its one of the best way to meet others and there's plenty of nationalities travelling and camping that enjoy meeting other like minded people. I would also suggest you learn a few lines of the local tongue. Most people will be flattered or at least thankful that you tried to do so and you will also be suprised how many people speak English so even if you get stuck I'm sure you will still be able to comunicate. Camping in France I met some lovely, crazy Dutch people, Germans and French. We all drank together, smoked, laughed exchanged culture - it was beutiful. Anywho, there's so much I want to say but I can't get it out right. If you have some questions just ask. Take care buddy
Right at the moment USA is living through a very conservative phase of your history. That will soon be over, and that's what so great about America - cuz you know that it will just be a phase untill your fundamental christian religious shit will be over, and it will just be a matter of time until America will become the rebel country as it used to be. Thanks to America the hippie-culture spread to Europe. In the USA there has also been a tensed dualism between those in power and the people... At least people in the USA protest against the war... you know what? In Denmark ppl don't give a fuck as long the government please them with lower taxes & bigger cars. That's why our war-criminal government has just been reelected for 4 more years. In difference to Danes, Americans at least are smart enough to fire a government that is simply war-criminal. Danes apparently don't give a fuck, as long as the war isn't mentioned in prime-time news. Danes are fat & greedy. Americans are fat idealists...
I wish it were that simple. Ever study and pole clearly says this current generation of 14-25 year olds is the most religious and most conservative in modern history. And that scares the Sh!t outta me. As for Americans firing war criminal governments... Well the current administartion was not elected the first time, before 9-11-01, they lost the election and the supreme court awarded it to them. And since Americans are a bunch of chicken shit pussies... after 9-11 it was incredibly simple for the Government to scare Americans into thinking the Republicans are better at protecting us. First off I don't need any God damned protection... If the government wants to protect me from something, I would prefer the government institute a driving test that puts drivers in challenging situations that prooves they can control a vehicle before they get a license. As for Terrorists well thats a chance I'm gonna have to take if Muhammed wants to blow me up he will do it whether the USA molests my civil liberties or not... just one way I died free and one way I died monitored. Second The Republicans are brilliant... They cripple our military & national guard. Then when a national dissastor strikes and our government has no way to respond they say see, we told you government cannot do any thing right... thats why you should re-elect us because we want to make the government weaker (lie) Sorry this is just my vent, I figure this is about the only place I can do it without getting the flames from the pro war, you gotta support the troops bull shit.
Oh, there are also pro-war-maniacs, even here in otherwise peaceful Hippie-land! But we're also alot of freaks to verbal kick their digital asses, so just feel free to be a non-con in here, my friend! I'm sorry to hear that the youth of America is so conservarive. Actually I thought the left-turn was not just a European phenomenon - I thought it was a global youth trend. Feel comfort that in Europe and in South America it's absolutely not cool to be conservative these days if you're under 30. In the future the youth of America will be inspired by the rest of the world, as a protest against old rulers trying make the USA an isolated island derived from the rest of the world. The Americans of tomorrow will meet the people of the rest of the world face to face, and they will reject their masters of wars. Since the conservative government in France has been reelected, riots are blooming once again in the suburbs of Paris. France is in a state of war against its own people. The face of fascism show its ugly face everywhere. Fascism is like the mole in the game "whack the mole"... American culture has always been very individualized. In Denmark high school students are organized in a very red organization. I have seen the difference between protest demos in Europe and rallys in the US. In Europe people always carry 20 feet broad banners when protesting - In the US people bring their own small signs when protesting. It's certainly a more individualized society, and it's harder to mobilize/organize ppl than in Europe. On the other hand the protest in America is more passionate, authentical (because of its individuality), and idealistic. European protestors against the war say "shame on you". American protestors are pissed - for a good reason!
I think American youth is so religious and so conservative because they are some of the stupidest people you meet. Our education system sucks. It used to be much better but it sucked even back then. Seriously the system is designed so that if you want to do well its easy as hell to do well. If you want to not do anything fail and still graduate then you are a product of the aptly titled "No Child Left Behind" (George Bush's brilliant idea to just push everybody through regardless of grades... grades are just numbers anyway & numbers don't know nothing) So combine the fact that we are an uneducated consumer driven society living in a way overly Christian nation and boom you have an ignorant, ditsy, youth, that whenever something happens they look to god just like a damn African tribesman that has never owned a pair of underwear and never left the grounds of his village of 80 people. on top of all that they are all fake Christians. They get mad when a store says happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas. But they don't think we should help in Dar fur. They think gay people chose to be gay and are going to hell, but they support an endless war that is just a way for Bush & his partners in crime to get rich. Almost every government contract this administration has made was a No Bid contract, it was just given to Haliburton (sp?) and various other companies owned by members of the administration. They want a 17 year old boy put in jail for receiving a BJ from his 16 year old girlfriend and labeled as a sex offender the rest of his life. But they don't want their priest punished for molesting 27 alter boys throughout his career. The face of Christianity has really been adulterated in recent years here.
America has tons of culture, but ours is so much younger than the European or Arab cultures that sometimes we fail to appreciate it. But yes, America is a very christian country, but from my travels abroad I have found that the Europeans tend to be a tiny bit more stereotypical/racist. It isn't overt, and you certainly don't see it from the younger generations, but it is still there, where in America "political correctness" deems it inappropriate to reveal such views. To be honest, the Europeans are a little more honest in that sense. On the plus, people are more natural about their feelings about each other, the opposite sex, drugs, everything, that alone is worth the trip.
