6 ms·

Those Crazy Americans: a boy's point of view

14 points by kposehn 13y ago

jhwhite 13y ago
I'm from the south and we call our meals breakfast, dinner, and supper. For the morning, midday, and evening meal respectively. But the timing was apparently the typical American times. 8am, noon, and 5-6pm.
- aaronem 13y ago
  Same here. My experience as an expatriate Southron is that everyone understands what is meant by "supper", but using "dinner" to refer to what these people call "lunch" gets you a lot of funny looks.
- steverb 13y ago
  I was raised in the south with the understanding that dinner refers to the largest meal of the day. Typically coinciding with supper, except on Sunday when we ate dinner at lunch time. Never had dinner at breakfast, but we did occasionally have breakfast for supper. Culture is weird,
martin-adams 13y ago
The beautiful thing about experiencing different cultures is that it will allow you to open your mind about how things can be done differently. You'll walk away either feeling more reassured about how you have grown up doing something, or you'll learn something wonderful. Being from the UK I do most of those. I sit here in my slippers, ready to go do bed under my duvet where I'll get up and eat my cereal, have a shower and head to work without a hat. If you want to know about something crazy us Brits do, we're the only country to cause our national grid issues by simultaneously turning on a kettle to make a cup of tea at the end of EastEnders. http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/people/teatimebritain.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/people/teatime...
- aaronem 13y ago
  I'm curious where he was in the United States that hats weren't de rigeur for very cold weather; I never saw anyone wear a hat in my Mississippi boyhood, but that's because it never dropped below forty (Fahrenheit) there. Here in Baltimore, when it gets cold out, everyone wears a hat who's going to be outside for more than five minutes at a stretch; I found it weird at first, but quickly discovered that, like a scarf, it's the only thing that makes sense when the temperature outside is measured in single digits.
  - mitchty 13y ago
    He said New York. I know here in Minnesota almost nobody goes outside without a hat. Then again weather that will cause frostbite under pants will somewhat ensure sane dressing practices. And I don't know anyone that walks barefoot in their house. And I tend to take a quick shower before I go to bed, because it seems stupid to go to bed without taking a shower, you're the most dirty then. I also tend to wash before going to the bathroom too for the same reason. I get funny looks for both of those revelations to my fellow americans, but after I explain they all agree it makes more sense.
- walshemj 13y ago
  Actually the Uk has a better national grid than the USA which has far more brownouts
aaronem 13y ago
He's got a point about sheets and blankets. I've never understood the appeal of tucking a top sheet in at the foot of the bed; I sleep with my feet sticking out of the covers, lest they sweat. He's also got a point about showers, or at least about the timing thereof; I generally take two a day, one in the morning and one when I get home. Not since childhood, though, have I seen a bath as a place to relax, or indeed had a bath at all; the purpose of a shower is to get clean, which rarely takes more than ten minutes, fifteen if I also need a shave. On the other hand, as I understand it, Russian culture includes, or has included until recently, a tradition of social bathing, and perhaps I'd feel differently about bathing had I origins in such a culture; in the United States, no such tradition has ever existed. And, as far as the adulteration of vodka goes, we do it because we're all lightweights! In the United States, being able to drink a big glass of straight vodka and not end up vomiting or passed out on the floor (or both, in any order) makes you an alcoholic; perhaps our Puritan ancestors are to blame for this, as for so many other things, but it's generally true nonetheless.
- srean 13y ago
  Indeed! One of the first thing I do in a hotel room is jail-break the bed.
  - foobarian 13y ago
    I understand the not wanting to tuck the top sheet, but I don't understand the lack of a top sheet underneath the duvet. I don't think it's a US thing either, I grew up in Eastern Europe and the top sheet has the important hygienic role of protecting the duvet from getting dirty. I couldn't imagine sleeping without a top sheet, directly under the comforter.
    - aaronem 13y ago
      The article author mentions sleeping under a duvet encased in a sheet; perhaps that serves the same role as does a sheet between body and comforter -- I assume the encasing sheet he's talking about is removable for washing in the same way what we call a duvet cover would be.
Dewie 13y ago
10. Americans that have graduated from prestigious universities will mention that fact at any opportunity.
- twic 13y ago
  But they will refer to this university as a "school".

14 points by kposehn 13y ago

I'm from the south and we call our meals breakfast, dinner, and supper. For the morning, midday, and evening meal respectively. But the timing was apparently the typical American times. 8am, noon, and 5-6pm.

aaronem 13y ago
Same here. My experience as an expatriate Southron is that everyone understands what is meant by "supper", but using "dinner" to refer to what these people call "lunch" gets you a lot of funny looks.
steverb 13y ago
I was raised in the south with the understanding that dinner refers to the largest meal of the day. Typically coinciding with supper, except on Sunday when we ate dinner at lunch time. Never had dinner at breakfast, but we did occasionally have breakfast for supper. Culture is weird,

martin-adams 13y ago

The beautiful thing about experiencing different cultures is that it will allow you to open your mind about how things can be done differently. You'll walk away either feeling more reassured about how you have grown up doing something, or you'll learn something wonderful. Being from the UK I do most of those. I sit here in my slippers, ready to go do bed under my duvet where I'll get up and eat my cereal, have a shower and head to work without a hat. If you want to know about something crazy us Brits do, we're the only country to cause our national grid issues by simultaneously turning on a kettle to make a cup of tea at the end of EastEnders. http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/people/teatimebritain.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/people/teatime...

aaronem 13y ago
I'm curious where he was in the United States that hats weren't de rigeur for very cold weather; I never saw anyone wear a hat in my Mississippi boyhood, but that's because it never dropped below forty (Fahrenheit) there. Here in Baltimore, when it gets cold out, everyone wears a hat who's going to be outside for more than five minutes at a stretch; I found it weird at first, but quickly discovered that, like a scarf, it's the only thing that makes sense when the temperature outside is measured in single digits.
- mitchty 13y ago
  He said New York. I know here in Minnesota almost nobody goes outside without a hat. Then again weather that will cause frostbite under pants will somewhat ensure sane dressing practices. And I don't know anyone that walks barefoot in their house. And I tend to take a quick shower before I go to bed, because it seems stupid to go to bed without taking a shower, you're the most dirty then. I also tend to wash before going to the bathroom too for the same reason. I get funny looks for both of those revelations to my fellow americans, but after I explain they all agree it makes more sense.
walshemj 13y ago
Actually the Uk has a better national grid than the USA which has far more brownouts

aaronem 13y ago

He's got a point about sheets and blankets. I've never understood the appeal of tucking a top sheet in at the foot of the bed; I sleep with my feet sticking out of the covers, lest they sweat. He's also got a point about showers, or at least about the timing thereof; I generally take two a day, one in the morning and one when I get home. Not since childhood, though, have I seen a bath as a place to relax, or indeed had a bath at all; the purpose of a shower is to get clean, which rarely takes more than ten minutes, fifteen if I also need a shave. On the other hand, as I understand it, Russian culture includes, or has included until recently, a tradition of social bathing, and perhaps I'd feel differently about bathing had I origins in such a culture; in the United States, no such tradition has ever existed. And, as far as the adulteration of vodka goes, we do it because we're all lightweights! In the United States, being able to drink a big glass of straight vodka and not end up vomiting or passed out on the floor (or both, in any order) makes you an alcoholic; perhaps our Puritan ancestors are to blame for this, as for so many other things, but it's generally true nonetheless.

srean 13y ago
Indeed! One of the first thing I do in a hotel room is jail-break the bed.
- foobarian 13y ago
  I understand the not wanting to tuck the top sheet, but I don't understand the lack of a top sheet underneath the duvet. I don't think it's a US thing either, I grew up in Eastern Europe and the top sheet has the important hygienic role of protecting the duvet from getting dirty. I couldn't imagine sleeping without a top sheet, directly under the comforter.
  - aaronem 13y ago
    The article author mentions sleeping under a duvet encased in a sheet; perhaps that serves the same role as does a sheet between body and comforter -- I assume the encasing sheet he's talking about is removable for washing in the same way what we call a duvet cover would be.

Dewie 13y ago

10. Americans that have graduated from prestigious universities will mention that fact at any opportunity.

twic 13y ago
But they will refer to this university as a "school".