What do you think of the US?

SWEETIE > XXX

Nonu, no one would want you to be put off the US. Your enthusiasm is endearing!

Envious . XX

Vegas the Pacific coastline is magical. I could travel up and down California forever more, enjoying the wildlife and scenery.

Nonu,you'll just have to come back and visit areas near me!

Vegasmags, hope you didn't miss your chance to see Chicago!

Ana , I have had a busy weekend .

Nothing & I mean nothing will EVER put me off the US of A.

I luurve it .

Tegan,so right! I've lived in a metropolitan city in the South most of my life but would be the first to say there are a lot of places in the South I'd never live in!

I have visited the USA many times, the first in my twenties with my then husband. Ever since my teens, I had been interested in American literature (and this remains one of my great passions). We went to California, hired a Tbird and drove all over the place - to Monterey, Big Sur and the Napa valley. I fell in love with America and each time I visit I feel that way again. One of the things I love is the can do attitude - flying into Seattle about 2 months after the eruption of Mount St Helens, the pilot of our American airline did a detour so that we could fly over the top of it, which was just as darkness was falling. There is no way that would have happened with a British airline! As you can tell by my handle, I love Las Vegas - both the stark beauty of the desert and the razzmatazz of the city. I like the lack of class consciousness that seems to pervade and stultify British society. From log cabin to log cabin could be our motto. It is also such a spectacularly beautiful country. I have met some wonderful people there and have great memories - not the least of which was a proposal of marriage from a Chicago cop who watched me scoop up a poker pot. I was never too sure if he was serious or not

That's very true about the tv shows, anno - who said Americans have no sense of humour (or not one that matches ours)? These days our home-grown comedies are put to shame by a lot of the US offerings.

America has also given us John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Miller... to pluck just a few names out of the ether. There have also been some very good TV shows like Frasier, and the wacky Six Feet Under and Northern Exposure. My GC are hooked on the Simpsons which takes a pretty unvarnished view of US society and opinions. My GSs don't yet appear to be modelling themselves on Bart!

That's good to hear, Envious. Now we just need Eire to catch up!

We tend to think of America as a country and not a huge continent full of differing ideals and peoples. Which is where the misunderstandings begin.

Greatnan I think HE.L would freeze over before abortion would be illegal here again! Don't worry... The fundamental Christians make a lot of noise but they don't worry people.As far as late abortions well that's just wrong anyway unless the women's life is in danger and how often does that happen?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ElaYPo8B90

....and America did give us Bob Dylan . A country that creates someone that can write 'Masters of War' can't be all that bad, can it?

Envious - I would welcome being put right about any misconceptions I have - it is good to have facts from the horse's mouth!
Nonu - are you really saying that we can only have opinions about countries we have visited? Don't you think we can learn a lot from books, TV, films, the news.....?

Tegan,that yes,but the misconceptions bug me the most... I feel I should say don't believe everything you read.

I've never been to the US - don't like long flights - but I love lots of things American and I worked with a super,well educated, bright, American girl who had volunteered to come to the UK with het church. Apart from the fact that she said 'pled' rather than 'pleaded' it worried me that she would vote for Bush 'as he went to church'

Nonu; I think Envious actually wanted an opinion from people that haven't been to her country. Out of interest, what is your opinion on the American ideas on abortion, guns etc? [just out of interest ].

Nonu,I'm not sure I would like the U.S.if I were English...I wouldn't like the over all interference from bad fast food to our T.V. Shows. Also the news of the U.S.your exposed too. seems like too much to me.

Nonu!

I was wondering where you'd got to...

I just love it when posters who never been Stateside profer , an opinion.

As for me I just lurve the Staes have been to all of them excepting Peurto Rico and Hawaii, over a 15 year period, in actual fact we have been 20 times .

driven ourselves around each and every time .

I do think the concenus could be, WE LOVE AMERICA .

& [smiles]

I've only crossed the Atlantic once and spent a week in San Francisco. I was utterly enraged by Fox News which at the time was waging war on Obama's health reforms and frequently referred to UK's 'Socialist' NHS. I felt like going out onto the street and showing everyone what the NHS had done for me, free of charge. But then I doubt if a big scar down my right hip would have got a great audience!

Glad you think so! Our "ranters" loved it, and we could not believe what we were seeing!