Ask a foreigner

[Upside Down Eagle]

Do Dutch people love their bikes the way we Merkins love our cars?

Can´t speak for all Dutchmen but I think generally we see bikes as things that are really fast and can get you from A to B, however most bikes are left outside or in a garage and tend to become shitty. Either that or they get stolen, or vandalized or thrown into the canals. Depending on where you live.

So I think the Dutch see bikes as fancy pieces of junk you can ride on. Probably most prefer cars, but a bike is just way more convenient sometimes considering it costs nothing and you can park it anywhere and take it with you in the city. So short answer: no, probably not - a bike is a cultural phenomenon different from cars :)

 

[somerandomguy]

Here in the good old USA there's a huge class difference, like everything else, in bikes as conveyances. Some people will spend as much as a car to get the nicest bike possible, and then others will ride any hunk of junk they can. Both might ride them to work, but the first person probably also has a car which they will pat themselves on the back for not driving.

There's not a lot in between the two extremes.

 

[Mee]

Flights v train etc in uk is not quite the no brainer - flights are cheaper . But location can make train quicker. Depending where you are going. Not slways.


DH used to have a commute from a continental capital to uk not main city - flight was cheaper , quicker , easier than train from London to our. Uk address . But flying long London to Paris or brussels rather than the train? Doesn’t make sense Often if you have limited baggage and are staying in central regions . Similarly - London to Oxford? There is a train- but coach is both cheaper AND more convenient often. I have done train once. Car has only been possible when we have had friends with own houses and parking and since I became disabled.
When we live in continental Europe it depends where we are living and going . Same in US. Like - I liked dc - nyc by train , easy and I was always going city centre to city centre. I have never traveled greyhound but dH has, because he thinks everyone should once. He actually loved it and made a friend he is still in touch with.

I really like to have a car. I recognise that as a possible trauma response now. I’ll go without a lot to have our own transport. I’d hot over that in my thirties and - it was partly choosing to rely on a friend with a car that saw me vulnerable to rape in 2017. :/. We hire a car even when staying with family now. ?.

 

[ladee]

I was reading this thread the other day and didn't have time to reply that day. I loved the conversation about coffee.

Ya'll just didn't go far enough South in the States. I am from South East Texas, very south. Thirty miles from Louisianna. If you want REAL coffee, make sure you get coffee around that area and in Louisianna.

The older Cajuns used to make chicory coffee, in a metal pot. It had three parts, four counting the lid. They fit together to make the pot. The bottom for the coffee to drip into, the middle for the coffee grounds, the top to pour boiling hot water into. Put the lid on.

They would add chicory to the coffee grounds.Now THAT is a cup of coffee!! Two brands that I always used was Community and Seaport. Dark black rich coffee.

The older cajuns also put a little sugar on the grounds. Didn't like that, but it did cut the bitterness of Seaport.

I rarely drink coffee anymore and really miss it. Health reasons damn it. But if I do drink it, it has to be some I made. I got so used to that real coffee, anyone else or restaurant coffee just didn't do it for me.

So from this 'foreigner', The States does have good strong coffee, ya just have to go South to find it.

 

[Rainman8772]

I was reading this thread the other day and didn't have time to reply that day. I loved the conversation about coffee.

Ya'll just didn't go far enough South in the States. I am from South East Texas, very south. Thirty miles from Louisianna. If you want REAL coffee, make sure you get coffee around that area and in Louisianna.

The older Cajuns used to make chicory coffee, in a metal pot. It had three parts, four counting the lid. They fit together to make the pot. The bottom for the coffee to drip into, the middle for the coffee grounds, the top to pour boiling hot water into. Put the lid on.

They would add chicory to the coffee grounds.Now THAT is a cup of coffee!! Two brands that I always used was Community and Seaport. Dark black rich coffee.

The older cajuns also put a little sugar on the grounds. Didn't like that, but it did cut the bitterness of Seaport.

I rarely drink coffee anymore and really miss it. Health reasons damn it. But if I do drink it, it has to be some I made. I got so used to that real coffee, anyone else or restaurant coffee just didn't do it for me.

So from this 'foreigner', The States does have good strong coffee, ya just have to go South to find it.

Community coffee is about all I will drink. It will definitely make your hair stand up. ? I still prefer my sweet iced tea like any good southerner.

 

[LuckiLee]

Sweet tea! ?

 

[ladee]

@Rainman8772, I'm a disgrace to my Southern culture. I do not drink sweet tea! But if you want sweet tea, you can find it here!!

Community coffee is the best! I agree! If we were ever in a crowd together, we would recognize each other by the hair standing straight up and the small little jerks of the body if we had more than two cups of that black gold!! :laugh:

 

[Friday]

It’s at least a 10 hour drive across Texas if you’re hauling rear.

3 day trip from FL to WA by greyhound... and entire DAY of that through Texas :facepalm: Dont drive kitty corner through that state!

East coast? Fall asleep and you’re 10 states away. Texas you can go to bed, sleep a solid 7 hours, up all day, sleep another solid 7, and still wake up in Texas!!! :bored: Did I die? Is this purgatory? Stuck on a bus, driving through scrub land that never ends?

 

[ladee]

I had a friend from here a long time ago, that was coming to Texas for a business meeting. They suggested we try to get together for lunch and coffee. I let her know it would take me 6 hours driving to get to her, she changed her mind.

People have no idea how big Texas is until you drive, or take a bus, thru it. It takes a full day or longer, two days, sometimes, to drive anywhere in Texas to get OUT of the state.

There are no short-cuts to anywhere here! :laugh:

 

[Mee]

There are interactive maps you can use to map which draws you have visited. I doubt I’ll get to visit all of them in my lifetime. But - I have been in most continents- so that makes up for it a bit :)


I love the idea of doing the major national parks. I’d really, really like to go to Banff. I look at pictures of it quite a lot. ?. Walking/ hiking isn’t so feasible now.

 

[ladee]

@Friday you must have slept thru the beautiful parts of Texas! The ex and I went camping in the Davis Mountains. It was a 14-hour ride from where we lived in Texas at the time.

I was SO SICK of seeing NOTHING for a gazillion miles of that trip!!! Couldn't wait to get back to the part of Texas that had TREES AND WATER!

 

[Teasel]

Can someone tell me about the most popular TV networks in US? I know HBO cause have seen plenty series from them. I know FOX wouldn't be my cup of tea. NBC has popular shows? But are funded by ads so they don't like to rock the boat? CNN is news but what kind of news they aren't like FOX? MTV I know too.

What are ABC like? What are other popular ones?

Oh, know something about PBS, seen some of their shows too. They have long explanations before each show saying who funded em...
Ta :)