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Forums - General Discussion - The American lifestyle, what is it really?

Slimebeast said:
deskpro2k3 said:

 

Not everywhere in the USA is the same, so it depends on which state they're going live in.

Take this from a New Yorker. NY, and CA are the only places with sane people, and a lot of foreigners.

New York I think is one of those places where a European has really a romanticized picture of how life is. It's like, we think you're out and having fun pretty much all the time. Really social. Parties. Fun. Attention. Love.

When you meet your friends, doesn't it take like hours to even get there?

 

Heck no. NYC Taxi, and public transportation works 24/7 none stop. Nighttime, and Daytime is all the same for us.



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kowenicki said:
Slimebeast said:

Have u been there as part of your work or just as a visitor?

Did u vote leave or stay today btw?

Both work and holiday. Voted remain for purely professional reasons. I cant take another couple of years of massive market volatility, the last 8 years have veen enough.

Damn, I knew that! From what I've gathered through the years you are a fairly succesful owner of a small company. And one of the biggest argument for UK to remain is the economy on the business side. But I also remembered your heart is very EU sceptical.



Slimebeast said:

I don't know if you're familiar with Sweden, but imagine you are one of those guys. What image do they have of USA? A football player who can barely make a living out of playing football, here in Sweden this season they earn around $1300 per month after taxes from their football team. Over there perhaps double that. What do they mean when they say "they like the american lifestyle"? What do they expect?

One of them is going to Jacksonville. Dunno where that is. The other guy I dont remember.

Not sure how Sweden views us in the US.  Maybe being Swedish they think being exotic and foriegn they can enjoy vibrant social and sex life (given they are athletes and have accents...they're probably not far off there).

Jacksonville is an average city, but can say climate wise being in Florida is warm and access to beaches.  Maybe they are thinking about off season and relaxing and getting a tan and enjoying being home owners and driving cars.  

One thing they may find is the US is largely boring in a good way. The image our media and entertainment projects is not mirrored by majority of places and people.  99% of the time life is doing mundane tasks like working, shopping, commuting, exercising, spending times with friends and family.  It's nice, but not action packed or dramatic.  Then again maybe they like the peaceful life without worrying about those Danish hoards coming in the night (a joke, love the nordic countries).



When I was in my twenties living in Europe, the American lifestyle to me meant cheap electronics, state of the art cinemas and entertainment, movies half a year before they would get to Europe. My favorite tv shows a year ahead. Cheap gas, lots of room, cheap food, fast service.



Well you said they are going to Jacksonville so...
That is a larger city so here is what they can look forward to.
A nearly never-ending selection of different foods from just about every culture under the sun. It is a thriving city with a lower amount of unemployment so there a lot of great neighborhoods with bars, restaurants, and arts to take up their time when they are not at work. It is a very busy city and is more spread out than many of the same size so they will mostly need to rely on driving anywhere they want to go. There will be public transpiration but it will be lacking and inconvenient. They will not be able to live off of the income from Soccer alone, they will have to get a job just to pay rent, but housing will be much cheaper for them unless they plan to live in the Downtown areas.

Notable differences.
In the US fast food is everywhere as you have probably already heard, even the smallest of towns have some form of fast food. Larger cities have a fast food restaurant every couple of blocks downtown, or every mile or so outside of downtown.

Food portions everywhere are huge compared to everywhere in Europe.
With Britain being the exception life is more fast paced in larger cities vs larger cities throughout Europe.
It costs more to eat healthy in the US than to eat unhealthy, this is opposite from most places in Europe that I know of.
There is more stress at work in the US then an any European country, this has been proven with many studies.
On average we work more hours in a year and get much less vacation time. Most Europeon countries mandate vacation time for employees, it is not mandated in the US. Most people working "White Collar" jobs will not even take vacation even though they have it available. Work is taken very seriously, but not nearly as serious as it is taken in Japan, for example.
Recreation by means of Entertainment (movies, games, TV, and so on) is king in the US, although recreation by sports and exercise is starting to become more popular.
Strangers are typically very friendly to one another which I am told by foreign friends is very odd.

I think that may just about sum up most of the cultural differences that I can think of.




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Nymeria said:
Slimebeast said:

I don't know if you're familiar with Sweden, but imagine you are one of those guys. What image do they have of USA? A football player who can barely make a living out of playing football, here in Sweden this season they earn around $1300 per month after taxes from their football team. Over there perhaps double that. What do they mean when they say "they like the american lifestyle"? What do they expect?

One of them is going to Jacksonville. Dunno where that is. The other guy I dont remember.

Not sure how Sweden views us in the US.  Maybe being Swedish they think being exotic and foriegn they can enjoy vibrant social and sex life (given they are athletes and have accents...they're probably not far off there).

Jacksonville is an average city, but can say climate wise being in Florida is warm and access to beaches.  Maybe they are thinking about off season and relaxing and getting a tan and enjoying being home owners and driving cars.  

One thing they may find is the US is largely boring in a good way. The image our media and entertainment projects is not mirrored by majority of places and people.  99% of the time life is doing mundane tasks like working, shopping, commuting, exercising, spending times with friends and family.  It's nice, but not action packed or dramatic.  Then again maybe they like the peaceful life without worrying about those Danish hoards coming in the night (a joke, love the nordic countries).

Cars, yes! I think that's a big part of the romantic image people have of America. Lots of driving around in cabs in the sunshine.



Wake up- eat-take the train to school- Hang with friends outside the school- Homework- Eat- Play Video Games.



Slimebeast said:
KBG29 said:
My American Life.

Moday - Friday Most of the time.

Get up, eat, shower, work, work at home, eat, games/internet, sleep, repeat.

Friday Night

Get off work, Club/Casino/Bar/Bowling, Hook up with a dude or a pre-op transgender girl (If Lucky, both cases), sleep

Saturday - Sunday

Anything anytime all day, unless I work, then its the same m-f routine.

Living i the US is pretty awesome, but I have never lived anywhere else, so I am not sure if things could be better. Thialand has lots of beautiful gay guys and ladyboys so it may be more fun, maybe i'll find out some day.

So like many others, the highlight of your life is the weekends. You like going out a lot? Or, you actually go out two days a week (both Friday and Saturday)?

What about hobbies? Sports? Do you often go over to a friend's house and just sit there and talk (or suck his cock )?

Sometimes I go out almost every night of the week, usually when I meet someone knew I really want to get to know. On average though, I usually go out 4 times a week. I work 2nd shift, so I either going to late night/early morning bowling, or get up early and do some kind of sporting activities.

I have a bunch of hobbies. I like diving a lot so I have a Corvette, a Jeep, a Truck, a Subaru, and an late model Buick. Do a lot of work on the Corvette and the Jeep to enjoy track and off roading, or just crusing with the top off.

Sports, I usually get in a round or two of golf every month, and I get out and hit baseballs with friends or family at least once a week.

I was going to friends house quite frequently to game, work on projects, or other activities, but he just recently moved in so I spend a lot more time at home or doing stuff with him now.



Stop hate, let others live the life they were given. Everyone has their problems, and no one should have to feel ashamed for the way they were born. Be proud of who you are, encourage others to be proud of themselves. Learn, research, absorb everything around you. Nothing is meaningless, a purpose is placed on everything no matter how you perceive it. Discover how to love, and share that love with everything that you encounter. Help make existence a beautiful thing.

Kevyn B Grams
10/03/2010 

KBG29 on PSN&XBL

Slimebeast said:

Good! The mentality must be a huge thing. No negativity like you say. I've heard that a lot when Swedes talk positively about the USA.

Both are going to Jacksonville.

Do you know how popular NASL is?

MLS sides average 21K, NASL is around 7K, and USL is 5K.  Obviously some sides are bigger than others so could play in front of 15K or 2K depending.  Looking at Jacksonville Armada Football Club they play in an 11K capacity stadium and have solid support, but looking at the table are struggling near the bottom this year.

Football is growing every year, just twenty years ago the top flight was founded and struggling.  Now we have three tiers that are fairly stable with far more clubs across the country than even a decade ago.  I'd say right now NASL and USL have varying impact on their cities depending on other sporting competition and size of the city.  If I had to guess vast majority of folks won't recognize players walking around.

Also, not surprised they are interested in Florida. Seems like Europeans like the Sunshine State.



One item I forgot to mention earlier is that electronics are dirt cheap in the US compared to Europe and we don't have VAT tax. Because of this even the poorest of Americans families (excluding the unfortunate homeless) have a lot of personal/material possessions. The average poor citizen living off the government has a High-Def TV, Smart Phone and Cable/Satellite television service. It is not even uncommon for them to also have game consoles and other electronic gadgets.

With knowing the material goods and luxuries that the average poor family has you can begin to imagine what the average middle-income family has.