You foreigners is strange peoples

[curious aardvark]

strictly paypal.
No comeback in that respect

Paypal only has to refund for 180 days in the uk and 30 days most other countries - Anyone not waited that long for a product from a startup 3d printing company ?
Exactly.

And on the sidetracked issue.

The really interesting thing about americans versus australians is this:

Ask an american what nationality he/she is and they will answer german, polish, italian, irish, hungarian - basically anything other than american (or english for that matter - I'm sure a lot of the settlers were english - but they're descendant refuse to ever mention it - that kinda makes me proud :-) .

The rule seems to be: nationaliy of ancestors first, state of origin second and American dead last.
I test this theory with every new american I communicate with - and it has never yet failed.

Ask an aussie where they're from and they will answer - emphatically - Australia first and foremost. Only reluctantly, if pushed, will they mention any nationality of ancestors.

I personally Am english first and british second. I am not - under any circumstances whatsoever - a europaen.

People went to australia - often involuntarily - to start new lives. And so happily abandoned their ethnic past.

People went to america to maintain their way of life and as a consequence only reluctantly admit that they're no longer italians, or dutch or german - but actually born and bred in america.

there are other anthropological reasons - but essentially, america is a young country whose inhabitants seem to believe they live somewhere else.
And australia is an equally young country who's inhabitants wouldn't live anywhere else and they'll fight you for suggesting otherwise.

I suspect that's one reason the average brit gets on better with australians than with americans.

Me, personally I like americans, and australians (well i say 'like', there's a strong element of national competition in there somewhere. As an englishman I value sporting victories over australia much much higher than over the us :-) And I'd hazard a guess aussies feel the same :-)

[Feign]

I swear, money has gotten disgustingly complicated of late...

Ask an american what nationality he/she is and they will answer german, polish, italian, irish, hungarian - basically anything other than american (or english for that matter - I'm sure a lot of the settlers were english - but they're descendant refuse to ever mention it - that kinda makes me proud :-) .

If you had asked in the 1960s you'd have gotten a whole different impression. People tend to lean on ancestry to other places when it feels appropriate to do so, after the war backlash of the 70s and the globalization campaigns of the 80s through today, and it's not as "cool" to be American (at least in pop culture) as it used to be.

Personally, I say I'm from Georgia first not because I dislike America, but because there's not really a way to get an impression of one's environment by just saying "America" any more than there is for someone just saying "Europe"... If someone says they're from America, it gives a much different impression than them being from New York or Utah, for instance.

As for people who identify with ancestral cultures, you tend to find that in either very urban areas on the coasts or very rural farming areas. Industrial towns and military towns tend to have people in them that care less about their family culture and more readily integrate into "the melting pot" of society. I have my own theories on this but I'm off topic enough already. Long story short, if you want to find proud Americans, you have to go to parts of America that aren't tourist destinations.

[old man emu]

Me, personally I like americans, and australians. As an englishman I value sporting victories over australia much much higher than over the us :-) And I'd hazard a guess aussies feel the same :-)

Funny you should say that. The first of this summer's One Day International Cricket matches is being played today. Australia -v- South Africa, and its is on TV. Just got my 2-year-old grandson up from his afternoon nap and plonked him in front of the TV. Got him practising his "Owzat!!!"

Practising during a game with the South Africans is a bit like being in the nets preparing for a Test against the Poms - you don't want to get bowled, but it's not the real thing.

(The sound you hear is all the Yanks scratching their heads trying to figure out what I just said.

Old Man Emu

[JohnA136]

Funny you should say that. The first of this summer's One Day International Cricket matches is being played today. Australia -v- South Africa, and its is on TV. Just got my 2-year-old grandson up from his afternoon nap and plonked him in front of the TV. Got him practising his "Owzat!!!"

Practising during a game with the South Africans is a bit like being in the nets preparing for a Test against the Poms - you don't want to get bowled, but it's not the real thing.

(The sound you hear is all the Yanks scratching their heads trying to figure out what I just said.

Old Man Emu

I have no idea what you are saying?

[Geoff]

Ask an aussie where they're from and they will answer - emphatically - Australia first and foremost. Only reluctantly, if pushed, will they mention any nationality of ancestors.

My family came here by choice, on a boat (we still have the boat tickets from the 1800's) and I am an 8th generation Australian.. so I've never thought of myself by anything but Australian. No one really needs to push me to mention British ancestry because I thought that was something that was just generally known about Australia ( ) I am not opposed to the monarchy because let's be honest, it's all just a formality now really isnt it? we could become a republic tomorrow and very little would change here in terms of the country running.

[Marm]

I hope none of my comments were taken as inflammatory, it was not intended.

Spent a month in England and Wales in the late 90's, loved it there, great country. Got sick on a Tuesday, dozed off in bed, watching cricket for background noise. Woke up on Thursday, and the same damn match was on, that was really messing with my head. Went to an engineering college, looked out my dorm window one day and all the Indians at school had a cricket game going in the quad, with lots of confused Americans watching on. I feel most non-americans feel the same way about Hand-Egg (American Football?).

[Mjolinor]

From what I've seen the "United" in USA is a myth so I would expect people to identify by state.

I have worked a lot in the US so a few quips to think about.

In 2000 I was in Cebit, immediately prior to that I was in Miami and one of the guys I was working with came to see us at Cebit, he was almost 60 years old and had never left The States. This guy was as Southern as anyone I have ever met. He flew into Berlin and had to hire a car to drive to Hanover. I met him about half way and we ate and stayed in a hotel for a night. The first thing he said to me when I asked how he found things was "they have flushing toilets".

1993 in Missouri and was a witness to a car accident. This was exactly on the Kansas City / not Kansas City border so police from the city and police from "not the city" attended ( I don't know what you call them, state troopers or something? Anyway the open hostility between these two different departments of police was something I found quite startling. If they are so hostile to each other how the hell do they solve inter-state crimes.

In South Africa the people of Dutch descent call themselves Dutch (Boers) but everyone else calls themselves South African.

My wife's uncle used to be a salesman for a company that make dummies (pacifiers?) and the ones that went to America were bigger than those for the rest of the world so that is just the proof that Americans have big mouths. << A fact but please don't be upset by it, hopefully it will make someone smile.

Of all the people in the world the US speaks more correct English than any other place including England. It's a goddam crime that Webster made a dictionary with incorrect spelling just so that he would be remembered.

[bford903]

One thing I worry about when traveling to a different country is committing a social faux pas. As it has been stated above, Americans have big mouths and we tend to stick our foot in there when the occasion arises.

If I'm traveling to your country, I'm from Texas, what are some things that would be unacceptable to do or say socially? (I'm talking slang terms, hand gestures, dinner table etiquette)

If you have one, give an example of a faux pas you committed while traveling.

[Mjolinor]

Don't be offended if someone asks you for a fag.

[Geoff]

Don't be offended if someone asks you for a fag.

We pretty much used that for as long as I can remember, and then around the 90's it sort of got changed to "durry"

So, if someone is asking you in Australia for a Durry, it means they want a fag.

oh...