“Scottish Haggis Are Practically Extinct”: 30 Interesting Facts About Countries Round The Globe
The world is wonderfully diverse. So many different countries and so many different cultures. Traveling can broaden our horizons, of course, but some things and experiences can still remain a mystery. That's why it's always interesting to hear from the locals: what they recommend, what they advise to avoid, and what fascinating facts we should know about their native place.
Someone was curious to know more about the latter, so they asked: "What are facts about your country, which foreigners do not usually know about?" People from all around the world started sharing their countries' wonderful secrets. From national animals to lesser-known achievements, all kinds of interesting facts came to light.
What about you, Pandas? Do you happen to know any strange facts about your homeland that you think foreigners should know, too? Let us know in the comments if you do!
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As a Canadian, I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT APPROACH THE GEESE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE.
As an Australian I find this impossible to believe. The native, and feral, geese here are so nice. I've even had the pleasure of a Canadian goose coming up to me in Australia and politely asking if I had any food.
Load More Replies...Canada geese are dangerous all over the continent of North America. Especially, it seems, on golf courses.
Once I was walking near the waterfront and there was a little mini “peninsula” that stuck out maybe 10m into the water and had a cute picnic bench on it. I sat on the picnic bench, enjoyed my lunch, and turned to leave. Blocking the way back to land was an entire flock of Canada geese. I ended up stranded on that peninsula for nearly 3 hours.
Load More Replies...Yeah, I think this applies to geese all around the world, and it's a pretty well known fact, not exclusive to Canada
We have no desire to find out if geese are tasty.
I live in the UK where we also get Canada geese, and yes, can confirm.
French here.
Parisian don't hate you in particular.
They hate everyone.
They hate each other.
And most of them are not even born in Paris in the first place.
wrong stereotype : actually parisians don't hate you, they just ignore you !
No, no, as and Italian, we feel really hated from you but we love you anyway..
Load More Replies...Was about to say this. I think this is true in most major cities, New York, London, Paris
Load More Replies...I've been to both Paris and California. In both cases I was told the locals would be really rude. In both cases everyone I met was actually very nice and helpful. Well, except for that one guy in San Diego, but I gave as good as I got with that jerk.
Back in the 80s I found some of the older department store assistants could be rude, but everyone else has always been fine with me. I was once asked by an assistant in the Musée d’Orsay to act as an ‘interpreter’ because she and a visitor, who both spoke excellent English, were struggling with each other’s accents.
Load More Replies...So true, generally. But when push comes to shove, there is great solidarity in Paris. I was there in the 2015 attacks, running through the streets, not knowing where was safe, hearing gunfire, blue lights everywhere. The openness and kindness of the locals was a beautiful thing.
I think Parisians treat you the way you treat them. If you are loud, rude and entitled they will be rude back. I had a great time when I was there and no one was rude to me at all!
Most Americans don't know this little tip about dealing with the French. Simply say Bonjour, and meet their eyes kindly and pleasantly to acknowledge them as a human first, instead of impatiently acting like they are just a useful object to serve you or an information kiosk. Pause for a response. Then ask your question. They will speak to you in English and be very kind. I was treated just lovely by everyone on my last trip to Europe by merely acknowledging people as individuals before getting down to business and asking questions. Now I do this everyday. Grocery clerks to bellhops, everyone likes to have someone look them in the eye as a unique human being. It has led to some memorable encounters with some people I might missed.
Scotland: National animal is the unicorn. Not joking.
The Lion and the Unicorn. Lion for England and Unicorn for Scotland. The ages old symbol for the United Kingdom. I may be a Yank but I know a few things.
The Lion and Unicorn, were fighting for the Crown. The Lion beat the Unicorn, all around the town. Some gave them white bread, and some gave them brown. Some gave them plum cake, and drummed them out of town.
Just one of the things to love about Scotland ♥ (Unicorns are my favorite mythological creatures)
I guess it is not a unicorn from lovely fairytales. Instead, it is a mighty, roaring creature.
Brazil: We have the biggest japanese community outside Japan.
That's the first 1 I've seen that's an actual TIL.
Load More Replies...Not exactly. Country with the highest number of Japanese Citizens outside of Japan is the US, Followed by China, etc. Brazil ranks 7. If you mean by racial or part racial japanese people, Brazil is number 1, mostly due to pre 1933 immigration (between 1908 and 1933), though they there were a lot post-WW2 as well. So it depends how you define Japanese, do you mean people of racial/ethnic extraction or Japanese citizens/nationals
Here we have a city that is called Little India. It's actually Surrey BC in Canada.
TOD&S @S BRASILEIR@S DÃO LIKE E RESPONDEM PFV QUER VER QUANTOS TEM AQUI
immigration. Many South American countries have high Asian populations. Peru also has high Japanese population
Load More Replies...Son came home one Thanksgiving with a super-bright Brazilian Japanese girl - was cool!
In Melbourne (Oakleigh specifically) we have the largest population of Greek people outside of Greece
The Italian national animal is the wolf, yes, but it's usually not specified that it's the *female* wolf.
Everytime I see a statue or image of this, I remember that "lupa" was also a slang word for a female prostitute and I give a little nod to the alternative interpretation of the legend 😄
Load More Replies...There's a she wolf in the closet/Open up and set it free/There's a she wolf in your closet/Let it out so it can breathe
An ex-girlfriend once told me there's an Italian phrase for "good luck", roughly equivalent to "break a leg", that literally translates as "in the mouth of the wolf". No idea what it is in Italian, sadly. But I always assumed that was about the Romulus and Remus myth too
The one on the pic looks cute. Even if it was first for practical reasons, I get why our remote ancestors, women as far I know about prehistory, wanted to domesticate wolves. :-)
The United States was formed by a bunch of aristocrats that didn’t want to pay their taxes.
Yeah, originally the constitution stipulated that only WHITE MALES who owned land were allowed to vote. We have a long tradition of preventing minorities and poor people from having a say in government. It's why we still vote on a Tuesday. Can't make it to the ballot box if you have to work all day. Voter suppression is baked in.
The UK votes on a Thursday. Schools normally get the day off, as many of them are used a polling stations. They are open till something like 10pm, so everybody gets a chance to vote. Oh and we have postal votes for those that can't get to a polling station.
Load More Replies...And the US still has a problem with its puritanical roots showing up in its culture. Huge aversion to sex while glorifying violence, endless money wasted trying to force biblical nonsense in courts schools and government buildings, patrimonial thinking in its politicians, and an intolerance toward anyone that doesn't fit in a tiny mold are some of the things that define the puritans, have existed since the US's founding and continue this day. The wealthy figured out long ago that using religion is the best way to keep the poor in line. Give em someone to hate, show them another group that has it worse than them, and put yourself in leadership positions that govern all eternity and you won't have to worry about the mob coming for you. It is this way of doing things that is at the heart of the conservative vs liberal conflict. And each successive generation's liberals become the next generation's conservatives.
Load More Replies...Get your facts straight. They didn't want to pay taxes to a government in which they had no input.
So they founded a country where people are forced to pay taxes to a government in which they have no input (Puerto Rico).
Load More Replies...Before that, the US was built on piracy. Roanoke was sold to parliament as "colonization", but was, in fact, established as a pirate resupply port so that British privateers could quickly resupply while harassing Spanish ships in the Caribbean.
Piracy and slavery. The Atlantic slave trade was created for British colonists in the Caribbean as the only profitable way to produce sugar. By the way, the privateers you refer to weren't pirates in the sense of lawless thieves. They were government sanctioned raiders playing a role a war between European nations attempting to steal as much of the Americas as they could - you can hardly call the Spanish "innocent victims" in the whole nasty business, what with them shipping stolen silver and gold back across the Atlantic, and the British trying to steal that stolen property from them.
Load More Replies...And wanted to keep their slaves. They could see Britain's abolishment of slavery coming, which happened less than ten years after the death of the author of the Declaration of Independence.
Mexico is not yellow, and I'm tired of Hollywood always making Mexico yellow in their movies.
THANK YOU! I always thought that was weird. I think it's because of the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70s and 80s. So Italians making movies about the USA and making the South West look yellow and orange to make it look hot. That's my theory at least.
Yep, yellow is a cheap and lazy way to make a location look hot and dusty
Load More Replies...You mean color grading? I think it's supposed to give you the impression that it's hot there. Same with other movies that play in the desert.
I would watch a lot more movies that take place in Mexico if they were filmed without that obnoxious sepia-toned filter. Hollywood LOVES to ruin a movie by making everything super dark or by changing the tone with a color filter.
TBf, I'm beginning to wonder lately. I haven't been able to mow my lawn for months (+ months) due to the rain we're constantly having. So much so, that a lot of my roses rotted before opening the last bloom time. But then, I do live near the border of Wales, lol. The reason it so sooo green & beautiful there. My parents are in Gwynedd (nth Wales) & moan now and then, but would never move to England, though. 😉
Load More Replies...I no more believe Mexico is yellow than I believe my grandparents lived in a black and white world. I (and I believe most people) understand movie lighting.
Kind of like ALL movies set in the future in outer space are gray and colorless! Like for some reason all color disappears from the universe in 100 years
One fact not even people who were born and raised know about: During World War 2 the Netherlands had one of the worst survival rates for Jews in all of the German occupied territories; only 5,000 out 105,000 survived the war. The extensive Dutch civil administration is often cited as a cause of this; once German police had access to the public records they knew exactly who was Jewish, and where they lived. Once they had that information, it was easy for them to target and deport any Jewish people living in the Netherlands.
While that is true, what is not often talked about is how much of the work tracking down Jewish people was done by Dutch people, many of whom benefitted financially from their actions. Police and civil servants got paid bonuses if they found Jews in hiding, notaries public would make a hefty commission on the sale of confiscated Jewish properties, even the national rail company got their cut charging the Germans for use of their trains to transport captured Jews to concentration camps.
Education about this aspect of the German occupation has gotten much better over the past ten years or so, but when I was a kid we were taught none of this. We only heard about the how the heroic resistance would oppose the Germans and try to hide Jewish people, when in reality there were more collaborators than there were ever members of the resistance.
I am Dutch and when I was a kid in the eighties this was taught everywhere.
I put it here: In case you happen to be in the Netherlands on 4th May, be aware that betwedn 20:00h and 20:02h (8pm to 8:02pm) every year the National Silent Commemoration takes place, for (mainly) the victims of WWII. During these 2 minutes no plane takes off or lands, no train departs or arrives, a lot of traffic stops, service in restaurants may appear "slow". I am a foreigner living in the Netherlands for almost 25 years - in these 2 minutes, almost all Dutch people are united. Pay respect, have patience, be silent as a foreigner, please.
It is shocking btw that the GVB, the Amsterdam tram company, actually tried to bill survivors after the war for the transports of jews that had not been paid yet by the germans. Anne Frank's father, for instance, actually got a collection notice in 1947 for her transport costs to the train. It boglles the mind. But horrible as it all is, but we need to be careful not to get carried away too far in the other direction. There was still a resistance, and both great and small heroics were done in constant defiance to the occupying force. As everything in life nothing is black and white, there were good and bad people and people just trying to live day to day. Decisions were made that wwere later regretted from fear or greed or need to conform. None of us that has not lived in a country occupied by a foreign force knows how we would act, or how tose around us would. And that is a good thing. Looking back to history we need to look at the good and the bad, remember those that fell and
You mean, her father got a bill from the train company for her train ride to the concentration camp?
Load More Replies...Same for France....few résistance, a good part of ''collabos'', and mainly indifferent people just trying to survive the war
From an unfamiliar perspective, they were not merely collaborators, but also active members of the Religion of Money. Adhering to the tenets of the teachings, they could have been heard saying, "it's just business, nothing personal".
I feel like too few people are really prepared for how fast the Australian sun will burn them when they get off the plane...
If your SPF isn't 50+ it might as well go in the bin.
Retirement in Australia is basically skin cancer treatments.
Slip slip slap people.
We play a game here in Oz called "Spot the Brit". It involves keeping an eye out for lobster red people in public. You see one, you've found the Brit. For some reason, Brits are the absolute worst at underestimating just how badly and how quickly the sun will burn them here. If you're travelling to Oz, don't bring sunscreen from your country - it's not formulated for our country and is effectively worthless. Buy some that's made here the moment you get off the plane and slather yourself in it before you step out of the airport.
Brit here, living in California! There are two reasons for that. The original Brits, the Celts, were very fair-skinned. Also, it's overcast most of the year so we don't have much exposure to the sun to build up a tan.
Load More Replies...Same on NZ, do not come here if you refuse to wear sunblock, hats, and cover up in summer. You will burn in our sun, the ozone layer hole covers us.
I got burnt in Taranaki, I underestimated NZ sun coming from the Emirates. Hats and long sleeves all the way
Load More Replies...Snowy mountains actually gets more snow than the Switzerland.
Load More Replies...Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat. Sing it with me fellow Aussies
To any sydneysider reading this: Melbourne better, whatever you say. Thats it. All there is to say. Don't even try. You wont win.
Seek shade and slide on sunnies. They added two more.
Load More Replies...Same goes for NZ. I live in the UK now, and it's just not the same. Even when it's summer here people just don't get the same sort of sunburn as they would at similar temperatures in NZ. Unless they're going to the beach or something, most people don't seem to bother with sunscreen much up here. I still use it like lotion after I shower, then reapply regularly on all exposed skin before going outside. My tip: if you're looking for sunscreen in the uk, look for sunscreen for infants - it absorbs better, doesn't irritate your skin, and is the only stuff you can find that's SPF50+
Even in Tasmania mainlanders will catch the sun easier than at home.
Yeah, I got pretty sunburnt there. Didn't expect it with 20 degrees
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New Zealand is colder than people expect.
Reminds me of a joke (from a kiwi friend) : How do you turn up the heat in NZ? You put another sweater on...
I'm a kiwi and this is so true. Only a few houses have internal heating. If you can't afford a heat pump or heater you simply freeze.
Load More Replies...There used to be a very old Australian joke about New Zealand, viz. 5 million sheep, 3 million pretending to be human
I was just there in late November and aside from Auckland, I just about froze to death. Very beautiful though, and the people are wonderful.
It's not that cold but I live in Auckland. Very hot humid summers and mild winters
Well no, we expected it to be cold (here currently 3 weeks) but haven’t worn any of our cold weather gear yet. But then, it’s not yet Winter, when you know like, it’s cold.
I suspect the weather isn't too different from the Pacific Northwest where I live. Cold winters, lots of rain.
Yes, the Central North Island especially. The further south you go, the colder it gets
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Iceland does not have a Mcdonalds. Not sure if this is a well known fact or not but I get asked by trourists sometimes.
Pointing out that you don’t like McDonalds doesn’t make you interesting.
Load More Replies...One of my internet exploration things is I've been trying to locate the most remote McDonalds in the world. The current holder of that title AFAIK is a place in the south of Chile called Punta Arenas. The McDonalds furthest from any other McDonalds in the world.
Thank you for this lovely little fact. I appreciate it.
Load More Replies...I wish there were less McDonalds around. But why travel to a foreign country and go to McDonalds? I don't get it
McDonalds in other countries than the US serve wildly different menus, and it would be fun to try.
Load More Replies...Iceland does have the last happy meal sold in a museum, from when their last McDonalds closed for good. It still hasn’t gone mouldy.
They had in the past, but BOTH restaurants have closed due to the fact of high costs of shipping ressources and equipment to the island.
America has one on every corner and I assure you, you aren't missing anything.
🇮🇪
1. We're not all drunk alcoholics.
2. We're not British.
3. There is more food and drink in 🇮🇪 than your stereotypes of potatoes, Guinness.
4. We don't like it when you claim your Irish through a long line of relatives.
5. The people here are not leprechauns. Some are just small or ginger.
Just don't claim you are Irish if you weren't born and raised there. "Being" a nationality is more than just dna/ancestry, it means knowing and having lived / live the culture. (I think I speak for most Europeans).
Load More Replies...Ancestry origin is a big thing in America because of immigration. It was a connection to something permanent. As well, there tended to be a LOT of hostility towards new immigrants from the descendants of the previous immigrants. Irish and Italians particularly were NOT made welcome initially. So, for a lot of immigrants, collecting together in neighborhoods and communities offered support and protection. Yes, I'm sure it's annoying for people in Europe when some Yank wants to connect, but try to be a little understanding.
Ancestry origin might be a big thing, yet, that does not make one Irish. Just call it like it is. 'I'm of Irish origin", is not the same as "I'm Irish ", not even almost the same.
Load More Replies...Back when my brother was stationed in Germany, he took a vaycay to Ireland. Guy walks up to him and starts speaking Gaelic. My bro is confused and the old man says "Oh god you're a bloody Yank". Half my family are gingers so we look Irish even if it really isn't there. Anyway he loved Dublin. I'd love to visit someday.
Scots get this all the time too. I don't think I've ever met an American who hasn't claimed that they're Scottish too because some distant ancestor was born here. If you weren't born or raised in the country then you're can't claim to be from there, it's that simple. I find it so weird that Americans tend to be extremely patriotic and claim it's the greatest country yet they're obsessed with their ancestors native countries and try to claim them too. (We dont care if your DNA test says your 4% Scottish, you absolutely are not Scottish and will just irritate us if you walk around claiming you are!)
Always been amused by the Irish Americans, weren’t born there, haven’t been there, celebrate St Patrick’s Day like it’s their own, dye rivers green, generally claim Irish heritage but have none of the connections to the place. Be American, be proud of that, why hook onto some perceived ‘Irishness’?
Why do people get so worked up about nonsense. So...someone's proud of their Irish heritage. It's a compliment, not a reason to disparage if they don't say it as correctly as you want. Okay....I'm not Irish, but I have Irish heritage. Meh....
The problem is foreigners claiming to be Irish - that is, citizens of Ireland - are are born and bred foreigners who understand very little about the people and culture of the nation they're claiming to be part of. It's somewhere between irritating and offensive. Having a great-great-granny who was Irish doesn't even mean you've got any Irish heritage - it just means you've got Irish ancestry, of which there is an awful lot in the US thanks to various aspects of Irish history mostly involving usually callous and often brutal misrule by colonialists from that somewhat bigger island to the East. Sorry (says the Englishman, even though he knows it wasn't his fault).
Load More Replies...There's an irish comedian who has a great way of dealing with the question where tourists claim to be irish even though they instead have irish ancestory and expect everyone to know their great great grandfather. Respond by saying something along the lines of " oh god ya we've all heard of him and the reasons he had to leave ireland. I wouldn't be bragging about being related to him now at all around here"!!!
My wife and I went to Ireland on our honeymoon, and I wasn't sure what to expect. It was the most incredible country I've ever visited, hands down. If I ever win the lottery (and I plan on winning any day now) I'll be one the first plane to Ireland and I'm never coming back.
Most of the haggis sold for meat are farmed in Wales. Wild scottish haggis are practically extinct.
🤣🤣 a Scotsman once Told me that haggises live on hills so one side of their body has shorter legs! 😂😂
This is correct. They can only run around the hill one way, so to catch them, you chase them the other way and they just fall over like they're foo.
Load More Replies...I prefer the North American wild snipe which must be hunted at night with a paper (not plastic) bag and a flashlight
They've come back since so many places have gotten rid of plastic bags.
Load More Replies...We don't eat our drop bears though. After all they are so good at keeping feral tourists under control.
As a Norwegian, Norway likes the "we are forward thinking and accept all people" publicity, but in reality, Norway is incredibly racist and xenophobic.
A lot of Norwegians will get angry if you point it out too.
Not really, the world just gets more polarized. As the world as a whole is becoming more aware of things like racism and xenophobia and in general getting more "woke", right wings getting louder and louder since they feel the thread of "losing their way"
Load More Replies...I believe that depends on where you live in Norway. I live here and have never experienced it, have a friend from Africa and two from Thailand that live close by, they have not experienced anything either
Oh, I didn't experience any racism when I was there at all. However, my Ex's father who is German, told me once that he there years ago, and while trying to book a hotel room at the hotels, but as soon as they heard him speaking German to his wife, they suddenly had no available rooms. After trying and failing numerous times, he instructed his wife to say nothing at the next hotel, where he tried to book while speaking Danish and had no problem. When he produced his ID after booking, and they saw that he was German, they were no longer friendly, but he didn't care, the room had already been booked.
It may have been lingering resentment for the brutality of Germany's invasion and occupation of Norway during WW2. I agree that it is a bit extreme to hold that against present day Germans, but national memories can be quite strong.
Load More Replies...Really? I always want to visit Norway, now I am really concern though.
A friend went there often and told me : ''You walk or drive two hours without seeing anyone, but then the only person you meet is two times on three an a.....e
Yep I can attest to that having one Swedish parent and one not being in a small village in Norway they do react. Of course Sweden has its issues with racism too real bad on the government’s side too but amongst people it’s a bit easier in Sweden.
Many people in the US do not carry firearms.
MOST. In fact the vast majority of us do not. At this point there are about 80 million gun OWNERS in the USA but there are almost 400 million guns. Most of us don't own any guns but the ones who do, own on average five guns each. Think about that. 2/3 of us own zero guns but the ones who do own guns, own around five. YOU ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS FFS. Gun culture is out of control.
Maybe it's because the media hypes up the danger or maybe it's because I'm not used to it but it's the fact that any random person *could* be carrying a gun that gives me a slightly terrified feeling every time I visit the US.
Owning a gun does not mean that you customarily carry it about with you.
We also have bread that is not white sandwich bread, cheese that is not Kraft, chocolate that is not Hershey's, and beer that is not Budweiser.
I know someone who legally carries concealed whenever he leaves the house. If pushed to a life-threatening situation, he would use his weapon. Just last week in our town we had a woman who was dancing with her 4YO granddaughter when a man fleeing from police busted in and threatened them. She retrieved her firearm and shot the guy. Yay Granny! The man was only injured, and recovered, but she effectively halted his hostage-taking attempts.
Mass shootings because of lax gun laws and lack or resources for mental health makes us look ridiculous to the rest of the world (and the rest of the world is correct). OP is right, though, the vast, vast majority of Americans do not own, let alone carry guns. In my fifty years I have not been in a single situation where I felt I needed a gun for safety. Our streets are not the constant shooting gallery portrayed in the media.
But those who do are much louder and defensive when it comes to 'pro or against'-discussions.
If you hunt to provide for your family, you need at least 3 different guns. (Small game, big game, birds). But yeah, to many people put guns right between religion and nationalism.
In World War II Canada interned Japanese people.
Many people don't know this but what is now Strathcona and East Vancouver used to be Japantown which was a bustling Japanese community. They were taken from their homes and businesses. In fact if you visit some of the buildings in Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), you're visiting the very buildings they slept in; hundreds of cots, lined up with no privacy.
Honestly the amount of stuff I've learned as an adult about history is frightening that it's not taught on schools. Even history about my own country was white washed in school its shocking.
The focus on memorization of names and dates rather than why they matter is criminal, in my opinion. Although my inability to memorize dates probably skews my viewpoint a bit.
Load More Replies...To be fair, the only thing we hear is what the US is doing.
Load More Replies...Even though the Japanese in Canada, US, Australia were probably normal and law abiding citizens, the way Japan wreaked havoc in Asia was abominal and worse. Still the "troostmeisjes" of the Netherlands in Dutch Indonesia did not get a proper apology. And I just read this article on the atrocities of Japanese Unit 731 in China: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27597226/inside-unit-731-human-experiments-ww2/. The fear for the Japanese before and during WW2 was not something out of the blue.
True. The Japanese did terrible things, but this had nothing to do with Canadians, Americans and Austrlians that happened to be of Japanese descent. The fact that citizens called them not Americans, Canadians or Australians, but Japanese (or j**s) speaks to the issue. It would be one thing if German and Italian descent Canadians, Americans and Australians were placed in camps (gladly they weren't for the most part), but the glaring fact that they weren't shows the xenophobic application of these policies. And while I think awareness of Japanese war atrocities is important, bringing it up when talking up Japanese internment is frankly underlying the issue further as if there is some justification for it.
Load More Replies...They also changed the name 'Berlin' to 'Kitchener' after WW2, in Ontario - well, that is what my Canadian Ex-hubby told me.
I grew up in the Lethbridge, Alberta area. We had one of those camps outside. I know people who's families were incarcerated. It is insane that it happened. People nowadays are very kind about the issue. There are lots and lots of cherry trees in the area, and several Japanese cultural centers.
Yes, Southern Alberta has a sizeable Japanese-Canadian population as a result. Some of these Japanese-Canadians have started huge farming businesses as a result and have rebuilt. Lethbridge's Nikka-Yuko Gardens (Japan Canadian Friendship Garden) is a beautiful example of rebuilding.
Load More Replies...USA also had internment camps for Italian-Americans, which held journalists, language teachers, and men active in an Italian veterans group.
Amsterdam is not the only place in the Netherlands.
London isn't the only place in England, Paris isn't the only place in France...
But that picture is apparently the only one sites can find when posting something about Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is nice, but there are many other nice and more interesting places in NL.
pierogi is already plural , no knead to call them pierogies.
A cheesy one at that. (Great, Polish jokes...)
Load More Replies...Welcome to the wonderful world of the English language. Your word is plural but does fit our scheme? We'll make it DOUBLE-PLURAL! Have a perfectly good plural that doesn't fit our scheme? We'll add an 'S' to the end... so we have stadiums! Have a plural that we can't be bothered to use the singular? We'll tack on another word... so out of all the data, we'll take a singular data point instead of a datum...
It's not just English, in Polish we adapted "nuggets" to our grammar rules by adding extra -y at the end, even though the original form was already plural. Oddly enough, we didn't do it for other "borrowed" words like burgers or computers, where the suffix is applied to singular form instead.
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Our elderly care is abysmal. Nursing homes in US costs $8-15k a month and most insurance companies don't cover it. Don't be old, kids!
Of all health care, US dental care/insurance is bull poop. Bordering on being controlled like a cartel.
Load More Replies...In the UK care homes for the elderly are paid for privately. In 2022 we were paying £1350 a week for my mother in law to be in a care home. Had she needed to be in a nursing home - ie needed nurses rather than carers then (mostly) it is paid for by the NHS. When my father was on end of life care and came home from the hospital to die the NHS arranged a hospital bed for him, nursing care and carers - all within 24 hours.
While the NHS might be very broken, we can still be proud of the fact that UK palliative care is the best in the world. I'm not saying that just because I'm British, the UK is ranked number 1 for palliative care by the WHO.
Load More Replies...Who the hell can afford $8000 a month for a NURSING HOME? That's more than most people make.
Speaking as someone with a relative in one, they keep them alive as long as they can even if their quality of life is zero and drain all their savings until there is nothing left. My MIL (who was comfortably off when she first went there) is in a near vegetative state and they are gamely keeping her alive. It will be interesting to see how that changes once they have absorbed every last cent. It’s a nasty, greedy business.
Load More Replies...Maybe the US should have a different culture where it comes to our elders? Instead of removing older family members from their homes, we could let people age in place. And caretakers and others would come to them?
We tried. But at a certain point, they need 24 hour care and then going to each house isnt practical.
Load More Replies...Perhaps if health care was more affordable fewer would need long term care.
Load More Replies...Upon removal of the fear factor caused by the introduction of hell into the mainstream of thought over the past two thousand years, the dark retribution given over to an honorable self- removal from Earth can become nonexistent. My body, My life, My choice
US policy is for everyone to have as many kids as possible then exploit you from birth to death. It's amazing how many people vote for the people that pass these laws while saying "I'm not into politics".
A lot of times both choices suck. We have to pick the lesser of two evils for most elections.
Load More Replies...This is why nursing homes in the US are legally allowed to take the houses and other property belonging to their patients. They sell it to pay for the care and there's not much the children of these parents can do to stop them. I know a lot of people looking into trusts and other options to prevent nursing homes from taking everything they own in case they end up in one. Even willing it to a family member won't be enough to save the house, and they don't care if other residents end up homeless as a result. Example: if my dad ends up in a nursing home, my mom could be forcibly removed from their house. They will take it.
Germany: The autobahn is just a mundane part of everyday life many of us don't really think about, and speed limits do exist.
It's technically true that there's no speed limit, as in there is no general speed limits like on every other type of road. However, authorities can and do enact speed limits if road conditions make one necessary. So don't expect to go blasting over the A43 at 300 kp/h for an hour or so. You'll likely be stuck in a traffic jam for that time.
Of course there are speed limits on the autobahn as well as on other roads! There are parts (!) of the autobahn without a speed limit, but trust me that on every other road and also most parts on the autobahn there are very strict street limits and you better not drive faster.
Load More Replies...And the Oktoberfest is in Munich. We have lots of big and small festivals, in big cities and in small towns, but they each have their own names and traditions.
Load More Replies...I think what many foreign people in Germany don't realise about driving (or in general) is that you have a duty to help people. You must pass a first aid course as part of a driving license and you must carry a first aid kit in your car. If you see someone who needs help, the absolute bare minimum requirement is to call for help and if you don't, you could face criminal charges.
In addition to the 130-rule, please note that the Autobahn is not a professional maintained Formula 1 racetrack. Be aware that you need to prepare to encounter anything between an animal, trying to cross, and a sofa on the road. Or a traffic jam. Or an accident. Driving faster than you can come to a full stop within the stretch you can actually see, will get you in trouble in case of an accident, even if it's only the sofa and you involved. It is less complicated if you grow up here, you learn by watching as a kid and while taking driver's lessons.
I've had a woman with a jerrycan cross the Autobahn just in front of me - only a few hundred meters away from a bridge, near Magdeburg on the A2, then unlimited there (2015, may be different today). I had just reached the vehicles Vmax of 230 or so kph, hit the brakes with all my force and then, momentum, and it felt like 10 seconds or so, hanging in the seatbelt more than sitting on the seat. We got to miss each other, but not by anything large like a meter or so, I'd had more than halfway expected to hit her and see her fly-spinning to the other side (where did I have the time to visualize that from? Don't know, had it...), but ... we missed each other. Luckily - although I'd consider myself innocent on rational grounds here, it may be looked as "partially to blame", which they ALWAYS assume if you exceed 200 kph, in regard to accidents.
Load More Replies...... plus ... we do have a sense of humor. Really! People who name their town "Tauberbischhofsheim" (deaf bishop's home) must have a sense of humor. What do you think? ;)
It doesn't really mean "deaf bishop's home" though. "Tauber" in this case comes from the name of the river there, which is derived from the Celtic word "Dubron" meaning "fast moving water"
Load More Replies...Please do note the speed limit explanation on the sign when entering Germany. The white 130 in the blue square means "recommended max speed". You do you outside the red circled stretches, but if you get involved in an accident, the german insurance companies will ask money from you, even if you are innocent of causing it.
I have driven in Germany and it was wonderful. On thing that I always had to explain to visiting Germans is that most Americans do not really know how to drive correctly. The fact that usually sells it is that in Germany the drivers training is extensive. Once I point out that the person that almost hit them only had to answer 40 questions on a written exam and then they can legally be driving (accompanied by an adult with a licence). Maybe someone in Germany can post what the current requirement to get a drivers licence is there?
14 x 90-min theory classes and 12 x 45-min special driving (at night, on the Autobahn), theory exam, practical exam with your instructor and someone from the local authority, plus an eye test and a mandatory first-aid course.
Load More Replies...Yeah, the autobahn just feels like any interstate in the US. Some places have standardized speed limits, some literally have none (as long as you're travelling safely for the conditions), or the posted limits aren't enforced, especially out west. I used to have to travel from south Florida to Orlando once a week cruising at 100mph (161kph) with nary an issue conditions permitting, and it can be a crowded corridor. Out west where in most stretches there's nothing and nobody for hours at a time it's wide open.
There are actually more than 3 Pyramids in Egypt.
There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt. Over 200 in Sudan vs 118 In Egypt
However, to borrow phrasing from Sandi Tokvig when this was discussed on QI, Sudan is "a bit war-y"
Load More Replies...The weirdest thing I recently learned about the 3 famous pyramids at Cairo is that the highest is not the tallest. The great pyramid of Khufu is the tallest. The pyramid of Khafre is the highest.
What’s the difference between tallest and highest?
Load More Replies...But not as many as there are in Sudan (Though they are much smaller)
time for Science channel and History Channel.. lots of really good info on pyramids!
Brazil actually have strong laws against crime. We are just incapable of enforcing them. I think most Brazilians don't know this either.
I think this is most places. Here in Germany, too. Yet every time something goes wrong our politicians call for new laws... because properly enforcing the existing ones costs money.
It is easier to show dramatic new effort than it is to admit they haven't been keeping up with their responsibilities. Imagine the news announcement "Whoops! That's our bad. We should've caught that. Oh well, tomorrow is another day." "Oh Tomorrow you will do your job. Because up until now, you were what? Playing? Okay, Thanks for nothing." Tough new laws sound better than that.
Load More Replies...Here in Italy the response to every problem is "we need stronger laws". Dude no, we need to enforce what there already is. Stronger laws often are a problem, because then they are not enforced as too draconian.
America has strong anti-crime laws, but we definitely miss the mark in some areas. Neither I, nor anyone else, should be able to walk into a store and walk out with an assault rifle.
Same with Russia. Only putin has the biggest army of enforcers in the world (in percentage to population).
I mean bruh, same for us in Mexico, I would argue that is the same as not having them, just like you can claim any piece of land if you can defend it and hold it, laws only truly exist when they are enforced. Is kind of an epistemological requirement.
Is this because the police underpaid, and constantly subject to temptation?
Canada is a well known place for animation. A lot of US studios farm out work here and it's subsidized by the provincial governments. The standards for children's animation is high and is easily exportable to other countries.
Very much the opposite. Tey exist in Japan and South Korea too, and they have been places of karoshi deaths.
Load More Replies...I find a slight resemblance between this photo and my city. Both buildings are curved too. And also the name of my city is TARANTO lol Screenshot...1f-png.jpg
Oh GODS Yes! Back in the ... 70s? - I caught a series on PBS - 'The International Animation Festival', hosted by Jean Marsh. Lots of stuff from the National Film Board of Canada, lots of stuff from Zagreb, Yugoslavia, lots of stuff from many other places. Wish I could find clean copies of that miniseries on DVD or Blu-Ray, but at least some of it's on YouTube. Not all in one place, though. (Go to YouTube and look up 'MaxiCat'...)
Load More Replies...Best description of Toronto I’ve heard was “imagine New York, but run by the Swiss”.
I knew this. I think the very first CG animation I saw was Canadian, and the makers of ReBoot were English but went to Canada because they were more advanced in the CG animation field. Also, Nelvana
What Canada should be known for is the Wyeth Mare farms. Premarin stands for Pregnant Mare Urine which is used in the manufacture of the d**g. Pregnant mares are kept in stalls just wide enough for them to stand for six-months. During this time, they are connected to collection cups to capture the urine. After giving birth, the mares are impregnated and placed in stalls again. The foals are the by-product of the industry and are generally sent to auction. If lucky, they will be adopted; if not, they are sent to slaughter.
Oktober fest does not start in October.
Is it called Oktoberfest because that's when you sober up? 🤭
Load More Replies...Well s**t, you can blame us for not knowing this, that is just false advertising.
Correct. But I seem to remember that earlier on, it was indeed held in October. Wonder why it changed.
And we locals do not appreciate tourists wearing cheap Tracht. It honours us if you wear our traditional clothes. It makes you look cheap if you wear something similar you bought for 30-50€ are the train station. Yes we can tell! Simple rule of thumb: if the fabric feels nice running through your hands it's fine to wear.
I don't think that there is a 'Beer' season in OC, CA. We have a TON of independent breweries/restaurants. They all have their own take on brewing. And it all seems to be great.
and Rhinegeist (the glass in the picture) is a Cincinnati Ohio USA brewery.
When it comes to Dubai, 99% of people seem to be of the opinion that Dubai has no culture and little history.
Not so. When i moved there in the 80s (before it became a behemoth), the culture was very much evident.
Fishing from dhous, trading along the river, ancient traditions such as camel racing, falconry and, most impressively, creating successful nomadic communities that thrived for thousands of years in some of the most desolate areas on the globe.
And then oil was discovered.
They get to ride the wave of opulent excess for a short enough time. Future factors may completely upend the whole thing.
Load More Replies...Every place has culture. We just only notice it when it differs from our own. Culture is like the air we breathe. We don't notice it until something draws our attention to it.
Only ever go there if my flight is directed through there and I usually pay extra to avoid it.
Most of Dubai's GDP (over 95%) is non-oil based and is mostly derived from wholesale and retail sales.
Good Filipino hospitality only works for foreigners. Towards fellow countrymen, most Filipinos are pretty selfish.
You could say that about numerous places around the world, tbf.
I have visited 25 countries. Filipinos were by far the most welcoming.
Load More Replies...Filipino here. Filipinos in rural areas or in places where people still know each other are generally hospitable. Urbanization and people living in cramped communities brought about changes in the culture.
You could say the same about London. My dad nearly had a coronary when he came to visit me when I was working there (10 years). He raged at the fact that no one gave way on the roads (which was true, lol), and was constantly cut up. Even my mum was stressed out of her head as a passenger. Said they'd take the train next time (and they did).
Load More Replies...Funny that... I'm a Newfoundlander, meaning I was born, raised and live in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Everyone LOVES 'newfies' and their amazing hospitality (see the show 'Come From Away') However, they are not overly hospitable to their own.
Australia - has 15 ski resorts, though by international standards they're pretty lame...and expensive.
When I lived in Melbourne I was surprised a snowy mountain was only a 40 min drive from the city centre
Cyprus has a ski resort. You can ski in the morning and sit on the beach in the afternoon.
Reminds me of Vancouver :) you can ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon, and you can see snow-capped mountains from the beaches.
Load More Replies...I live in Victoria in Australia and to get to the snow from where I am (on the coast) is a two hour drive, we go skiing every year
Expensive is a relative term. Consider how poorly our Dollar is faring against the euro and US dollar it's probably not that bad.
Rick and morty is animated in ireland.
like... everything about that seems wrong.
Lot of good animation studios in Ireland. Always has been going back to the 60s.
I read this wrong and thought for a second that in other countries there was a show with real people!!! 😳 what a blonde moment!!!
So can these animations be called Irish? Or will that cause the gatekeepers' heads to explode
Don't be a tool bag. I bloody hate that stupid stereotype.
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Singapore has entire clusters of crammed foreign worker housing out in the fringes of the city in industrial areas, at the edge of forests, and along the sea.
Yes it is! They are really short of usable land, but it's so clean and tidy there. Makes me ashamed to live in the UK.
Load More Replies...While not as nice as central areas, the rest of the country is also quite clean and safe.
I have live in the country my whole life, everybody keep saying it is clean and safe, I have to agree on safe, but clean, na, I have seem littering everywhere, people just eat and throw rubbish, like throw in the river, even thought it is not that bad as other country, still there are black sheep, I try to do my part to keep mine till I found a bin to throw, also try to tell my friends to do so. Also the government is starting to build housing for them to stay with wifi and all.
South Africa, First human heart transplant took place here. Also, the Kreepy Krauly and cat's eyes were invented here.
*blinks slowly* I was born with them, but they took awhile to open.
The what? Oh, a swimming pool cleaner. I've had a few of them over the years, never come across this brand name being used as a generic term. Hardly a national claim to fame, I wouldn't have thought. And Cat's Eye's were invented by Yorkshireman Percy Shaw in 1933. In England.
"Interesting facts" not necessarily "Claims to fame".
Load More Replies...Well, we got rid of him and we don't want him back!
Load More Replies...You may hate me for this, but I read recently that Dr Christiaan Barnard was not a nice man. The first heart transplant patient died very rapidly, but that was hushed up.
It wasn't hushed up. I can actually remember it all happening. This was the first heart transplant tfat was in any way a success. In the very first, the patient died after an hour.
Load More Replies...Nope on the cats eyes (assuming you're referring to the road safety device)! Invented in Yorkshire in the UK by Percy Shaw.
I thought cats eyes were British? Invented in WWII to aid driving with the black out regulations. Maybe we just adopted them at that time instead, I don't remember 🤷🏻♀️
Invented in 1934 (so pre-WWII) by Percy Shaw, in Yorkshire.
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That we burned the White House down.
AliMcGraw:
O CANADA!
NAH we showed no mercy *CANADA INTENSIFIES* Screenshot...74-png.jpg
Sadly, you don't get credit for it in the US schools, they just teach it was the British (not British Canadians)
In fairness, at the time it was red. (It was painted white to whitewash the damage.)
Should have stayed down too. The number of evil decisions made in that building (and its surrounding political institutions) is disgusting.
To be fair, by that standard, there are buildings all over the world that would deserve the same fate. I get weary of the "You're bad, we are good" mindset - it's not unique to Americans.
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An exiled French aristocrat is the reason we (the United States) gained our independence. To be honest, I think most U.S. citizens don't realize this either.
I'm takin' this horse by the reins makin' Redcoats redder with bloodstains! >:D
Load More Replies...He was on duty for the King Louis XVI who was glad to annoy England. He was exiled but later, after the French revolution and after being held in prison both in France and abroad as he was considered as a traitor by both sides. So not an exiled by the time he helped Americans gain their independence.
"Lafayette in the Somewhat United States" by Sarah Vowell gives a wonderful/entertaining explanation of this.
What??? Remember Bernardo de Galvez, you moron. He is at the Capitol Hall of Fame ;-D and He is a Citizen of Honor of your Republic.
The USA didn't pay their debts, bankrupting France and leading to hunger, death and the bloody revolution, which is a direct result of the USA war of independence and Frances help.
The U.S. paid off all of its financial debts by 1795. That's pretty fast, if you ask me.
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In Belgium, hospital insurance is typically included as part of the national social security system, which is funded through taxes. This means that citizens contribute to the financing of hospital insurance through their taxes, ensuring access to healthcare services without additional out-of-pocket expenses for hospitalization.
This partially explains why Belgium has a tax rate of 40% for incomes exceeding 15,000 euros per year, which is essentially a minimum wage salary over here.
Not sure why the poster thinks this is unique to Belgium, most of its neighbours have similar health systems and similar tax rates.
Still seems quite a lot to me, personally - I make the equivalent of about €34,000 euros here in Canada with our own fancy socialized healthcare and my income tax is only 14.95% (same income tax bracket is 15% in the USA, interestingly). I hope this means that either Belgians are getting incredibly good health care or I just don’t properly understand the post haha!
Load More Replies...Shut up, commie! *eats freedom fries and guzzles freedombeer (sacrasm, people)
UK comparison: average: 20% of their weekly or monthly Income. The max (richest- if they don't evade it) is 40%.
I'm sure National Insurance was originally how we paid for the NHS, but on checking it out, it seems we no longer do. I wonder when that occurred? 😶
Load More Replies...For comparison, I live in Japan. I pay in the neighborhood of about $500 a month, I think, for a combination of health insurance, social security, and workers' compensation (or equivalent). That payment is based on salary. That covers my entire family. In Japan, healthcare for minors is currently free (thanks to low birthrate). I can go to ANY clinic or hospital. EVERYTHING is covered, including medicine and dental care. I pay 1/3 of the cost. There are also caps the limit how much I can be charged per procedure, per month and per year to prevent medical debt. My last surgery, I was in the hospital 5 days. Including all care, I paid only about 40,000 yen. All my taxes together only take about 25% of my salary.
I comprehend it. I am American. I would HAPPILY pay higher taxes in exchange for the peace of mind..
Load More Replies...I don't even know how to respond to you without being very rude. So I'll just say that you're a terrible person.
Load More Replies...Brit here, living in California. The US seems to be the only developed country that doesn't have some form of nationalized healthcare. Americans value their "freedom" but you could go bankrupt and lose everything if you get sick.
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There are sand dunes in Colorado, US.
Yeah I knew that. Boys to Men shot a music video there in the '90s
Some US states are crazy diverse like that. Oregon is another great example of unexpected biome differences. We've got it all: forests, plains, mountains, swamps, highlands, deserts, dunes, craglands, the works!
There's also beautiful sand dunes all along the western coast of Michigan along Lake Michigan. One of my favorite places in the world is Silver Lake, Michigan, where the dunes sit between the tiny Silver Lake, with a small town by the same name on the other side, and Lake Michigan, which is basically a freshwater ocean. The dunes are massive though and you can take a 4WD truck up and drive on them. Super fun.
https://www.google.se/maps/@37.77097,-105.5181283,3a,75y,344h,92.05t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPtBn87hZwRSl9BmW_Zi5yUl3luHtArlyrNL_BP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPtBn87hZwRSl9BmW_Zi5yUl3luHtArlyrNL_BP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya330-ro-0-fo100!7i5000!8i2500?coh=205409&entry=ttu
Sweden. Our public transport is good enough that you really don’t beed to rent a car unless you have tonnes of baggage. You can get around on busses and trains super easily.
But it´s costly, if you are more than one, it´s cheaper to rent a car sadly..
Depending a bit on where you want to go. Though be prepared to download an app or carry a card since many things don't take cash nowadays.
just say that again .... I can't remember last time I paid cash.
Load More Replies...It also depends on a lot whether you reserve your trips beforehand or not. Usually buying them from the website earlier can save you up to 50% of the price. At least in Finland they do (and usually swe-fin are similar in these kind of things).
The fact that you have a massive train network isn't impressive. The fact that you can use it to get across the country faster than if you had a car is. I looked up to report how utterly impractical train travel is, as it is in Canada or several other European countries, and I was VERY impressed to find you can get from Goteburg to Stockholm in under 4 hours.
Foreign people think that Butter Chicken, samosa and butter roti are the only dishes that Indians eat. There are many more than that, taster, healthier, and affordable 🙌🙌.
Quite so, I cannot imagine any foreigner thinking either literally that this is all they eat or even more figuratively that those are the main elements of Indian cuisine.
Load More Replies...Samosa, known of them for years. Butter chicken, only came across this about 5 years ago, and it was today I learned of butter roti, as opposed to just roti. However, I am far more familiar with bhaji, pakora, biryani, madras, bhoona, rogan josh, korma, poha, dosa, poori, chapati, naan, and aloo paratha. And, this is someone who doesn't know much about Indian cooking.
Chaat papri and palak paneer and gulab jamun are staples for me when I order Indian food! But also butter chicken because I freakin love that stuff
Load More Replies...Anyone from the UK (where lots of Indians live) would never think in a million years that this is all they eat! We have so many regional Indian restaurants and most people are very familiar with Indian food (including the various regions).
Didn't ban the use of DDT until 1989 last country in the OECD I believe also the last of the nations that had troops exposed to agent Orange in Vietnam to offer compensation and funded treatment NZ.
The USA waited until most of the troops exposed to Agent Orange had died before offering those veterans proper medical treatment. In other words, most illnesses caused byAgrnt Orange were denied treatment until less than 25% of those exposed were still alive. There are very few of them still alive. It's shameful 😔
The DDT used to be a solid finisher for Jake Roberts, but these days, it's just a standard wrestling move ;)
DDT is still being used for niche applications in many countries, and rightly so. The only significant danger is the thickness of egg shells. Feeding DDT to adult birds does not result in reduced life expectancy.
"The only significant danger is the thickness of egg shells." - so the "only significant danger" is that the birds affected cannot reproduce? What does it matter if DDT doesn't reduce an adult bird's life expectancy if the bird cannot successfully reproduce? That results in population decline either way. Banning DDT is one of the major factors that saved several bird species from total extinction.
Load More Replies...To know that Marrakesh and Agadir are not the most beautiful, there are other unknown cities that you can visit and enjoy (Morocco).
Honduras is essentially just Mexico and Brazil but a bad knockoff.
Chicago is shockingly clean, and the people are crazy-friendly and will take their entire lunch break to walk you to the Art Institute if you're mildly lost, and invite you to Thanksgiving Dinner along the way.
We're not rude. We're not New York!
Chicago is also one of the world's greatest gourmet food cities, the best American city for architecture, and BY FAR the best American symphony orchestra. We gave the world Modernist Cuisine, and skyscrapers, and deep-dish pizza, and we remain the world's top destination for jazz. The Art Institute is WORLD F*****G CLASS.
Everybody knows facts about New York and LA and SF and Walt Disney World, but foreigners hardly know anything about Chicago -- "It's in the middle, right?" "Ooooh, Al Capone, bang bang!" -- but it should be your top US city to visit.
I absolutely promise you that you will enjoy no US city more than you enjoy Chicago. Everybody who lives here loves Chicago, and wants you to love Chicago, and they are SUPER NICE besides. You will begin to believe in American smiles because Chicagoans smile because they mean it and want you to enjoy your visit.
Lol clean? You've got to be kidding me. No, no it's not clean. Maybe certain neighborhoods but not overall. I lived in Southside and used public transport and drove all around the city. I promise you, it would not be considered a clean city by anyone that has actually been to other big cities around the world.
With a crime rate of 37 per one thousand residents, Chicago has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 27.
Ok, I love Chicago more than any city in the world. It's my favorite place to go. But this reads like someone's small business runs on the power of tourism. haha
Both ER and Shameless are in Chicago, if I'm not mistaken. We, the world, learn the US through Netflix.
This was my exact experience! I was beginning to think I'd just imagined it
I'm sorry but no, what chicagoans call "deep dish pizza" is actually far closer to a quiche than a pizza, just one made with cheese instead of egg.
Thank you Rayne! Was gonna say sumthin bout their pizza too !
Load More Replies...I do actually want to visit Chicago, the history sounds amazing..... But isn't it the murder capitol of the US or something?
It's not. Lived here 43 years, never been murdered or harmed.
Load More Replies...Yay BP. Learned some new things from this list, and it wasn't repeating frequently featured facts.
Yeah, it was a nice surprise. I was expecting the see the inevitable "people don't get how just huge the USA is", but it didn't appear this time.
Load More Replies...The UK has a wide range of accents and dialects. Considering its small area size people are often suprised as how diverse the UK sounds. Usually when non Brits talk about a 'British' accent they are thinking of the recieved pronunciation accent that you hear many famous British people speaking in the media, such as the Royal Family, David Attenborough, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons etc. Most of the UK does not speak with a RP accent as it's usually a sign of a private school education, which very few Brits have had given the cost of private schools. (To clear up another British sterotype I've come across: less than 1% of us went to boarding school). I think it's often taught at drama schools such as RADA and the Guildhall as well which is why so many British actors speak it. Scouse, Brummie, Geordie, Mancunaian, Cockney, Yorkshire to name just a few, all sound very different from each other and that's just in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have several different accents of their own as well. They are all British accents. If you tell us you love the British accent, we'll ask you which one?
To further complicate things, accents can differ in a very small distance, within cities and towns, and even from village to village, for example. Sadly, regional and local accents are becoming less distinct because of the influence of media and increased social mobility.
Load More Replies...Late to the party, but another Netherlands factoid: our country really is "nether", much more than you might think. 40% or so is below sea level, mostly West and North. So if you're in Amsterdam or the tulip fields, you might actually be several meters under. Which is why we have dykes and windmills.
Son: "So what's a Frisian?" Me: "It's someone from one of the regions that made up what was known as the Netherlands, before the Netherlands became the name of just one country." Son: "So one of the nether regions?" Oh, he was perfectly deadpan, but he knew, he knew...
Load More Replies...Canada has sales tax that's calculated at the till, not in the price on the shelf. The amount varies by province because provincial sales tax (PST) is set by the provincial government (in all provinces except Alberta and the three territories, which don't have PST). There is also goods and services tax (GST) which is country-wide. I tend to forget this when I visit now, and get confused as to why things are suddenly costing more than they were advertised.
Also, the elk are not nice and will hurt you. Do not go near them.
Load More Replies...Same with the firearms post in the US but with cars - many people don't own either, but if you are an owner you likely own multiple, especially if you're counting by households - if you're middle-class and don't live in a big city you usually own at least one car per person over 15 years old living there (it's the standard 15/16 birthday gift). If you're doing well you often own a "daily driver" and at least one "fun" car (again, assuming you like cars).
The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is a desert, will all the fauna you'd expect, including turtles, reptiles, and rattlesnakes. [ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/okanagan-snake-varieties-tips-1.6848623 ]
Might have heard it before, but in case you haven't. Australia actually exports both sand and camels to the middle east. Camels were imported here way back when, some got free (or were deliberately released) now we have a sizeable feral camel population.
Yay BP. Learned some new things from this list, and it wasn't repeating frequently featured facts.
Yeah, it was a nice surprise. I was expecting the see the inevitable "people don't get how just huge the USA is", but it didn't appear this time.
Load More Replies...The UK has a wide range of accents and dialects. Considering its small area size people are often suprised as how diverse the UK sounds. Usually when non Brits talk about a 'British' accent they are thinking of the recieved pronunciation accent that you hear many famous British people speaking in the media, such as the Royal Family, David Attenborough, Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons etc. Most of the UK does not speak with a RP accent as it's usually a sign of a private school education, which very few Brits have had given the cost of private schools. (To clear up another British sterotype I've come across: less than 1% of us went to boarding school). I think it's often taught at drama schools such as RADA and the Guildhall as well which is why so many British actors speak it. Scouse, Brummie, Geordie, Mancunaian, Cockney, Yorkshire to name just a few, all sound very different from each other and that's just in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have several different accents of their own as well. They are all British accents. If you tell us you love the British accent, we'll ask you which one?
To further complicate things, accents can differ in a very small distance, within cities and towns, and even from village to village, for example. Sadly, regional and local accents are becoming less distinct because of the influence of media and increased social mobility.
Load More Replies...Late to the party, but another Netherlands factoid: our country really is "nether", much more than you might think. 40% or so is below sea level, mostly West and North. So if you're in Amsterdam or the tulip fields, you might actually be several meters under. Which is why we have dykes and windmills.
Son: "So what's a Frisian?" Me: "It's someone from one of the regions that made up what was known as the Netherlands, before the Netherlands became the name of just one country." Son: "So one of the nether regions?" Oh, he was perfectly deadpan, but he knew, he knew...
Load More Replies...Canada has sales tax that's calculated at the till, not in the price on the shelf. The amount varies by province because provincial sales tax (PST) is set by the provincial government (in all provinces except Alberta and the three territories, which don't have PST). There is also goods and services tax (GST) which is country-wide. I tend to forget this when I visit now, and get confused as to why things are suddenly costing more than they were advertised.
Also, the elk are not nice and will hurt you. Do not go near them.
Load More Replies...Same with the firearms post in the US but with cars - many people don't own either, but if you are an owner you likely own multiple, especially if you're counting by households - if you're middle-class and don't live in a big city you usually own at least one car per person over 15 years old living there (it's the standard 15/16 birthday gift). If you're doing well you often own a "daily driver" and at least one "fun" car (again, assuming you like cars).
The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia is a desert, will all the fauna you'd expect, including turtles, reptiles, and rattlesnakes. [ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/okanagan-snake-varieties-tips-1.6848623 ]
Might have heard it before, but in case you haven't. Australia actually exports both sand and camels to the middle east. Camels were imported here way back when, some got free (or were deliberately released) now we have a sizeable feral camel population.
