Things I adore about the USA and Americans

[PermanentTemporary]

No special reason... and it doesn't have to be things other people all agree with.

We're planning a holiday there in a couple of years to see some family so the wonderfulness of the USA is particularly on my mind. But am just thinking about how much I love it.

I'll bring up Senator George Mitchell, who gave years of his life to somehow bring the best out of every politician in Northern Ireland and made it possible for the Good Friday Agreement to be made.

I'll bring up American health care. Because although I don't want to change our system to theirs, the fact is that if you either have good insurance or nothing at all, you can have the best care in the world.

And the Grand Canyon. Not sure I've ever been speechless the way I was the first time I saw it.

I'm wondering if we can drop in to see some distant cousins of my partner's who live in Ohio. We've met once at a wedding. Of all the countries in the world, we can be pretty sure that they will be welcoming and happy to see us. ❤️

I really like the USA but I find big differences in the areas.
My favourite places for hospitality were the deep south and Wyoming.

Some of the cities were quite unnerving but as long as you know where to avoid you're OK.
By far the rudest people I met were in NYC and NY state. I'm not sure if the rudeness in NYC was more of a brashness, in that it didn't seem personal.
Boston people I found humorous, didn't seem to take themselves too seriously.

I particularly love the various beautiful landscapes, e.g. Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, Colorado Rockies, Big Sur etc. etc.
I like Cracker Barrel. Real American French toast with Vermont maple syrup.
American turkey- how do they cook it so well?
The unashamed patriotism and religion- if that's what you believe, you should be able to show it.
I just like America and Americans.

I'm not sure if the rudeness in NYC was more of a brashness, in that it didn't seem personal

It's not personal. NY'ers are just quite direct and to the point. I'm told that the same is true of Israelis, but I've never been there. The stereotypical New York accent is a holdover from the original Dutch settlers. I wonder if the attitude comes from Dutch culture as well.

I'm surprised you found the same thing upstate. In my experience, people are a lot more gracious when you get out of the city.

Edited to add: Thanks for your lovely post, @LorettyTen. We love our British visitors as well!

Wormhole alert - pics of Mass..😮Amazing.
My Dad used to have an Ansel Adams book, all those incredible photos. I'll never stop being flabbergasted by the variety of landscapes in the US, and the scale of it all.

If we're going to post pictures, here are some of the Hudson Highlands:

https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/hudson-highlands

The picture I've attached is from an Inn overlooking the Hudson, where my daughter's wedding reception was held in June.

That's stunning MissC.
Bet it was a gorgeous wedding reception - what a location!

It was a lovely location. The Inn is a converted Episcopal (Anglican) abbey with lovely gardens. The weather was perfect, too.

Here's the same view taken at sunset. I was on my way to the car to get my comfy shoes for dancing. 😀

Stunning!

Israelis make New Yorkers look polite and reserved, tbh!!
The Dutch are quite direct and brusque.

I love Thanksgiving, and another nice thing is it's not religious. Christmas is more religious here, though. In the UK lots of Jews do Christmas dinner but here it's not so common. From my perspective it's good not just because of us celebrating, but because we can have a holiday where we don't have any religious obligations for a change, we just eat!

It is so gorgeous here right now. I do love fall in the Northeast. Apple harvest, cider doughnuts, crisp air and blue skies. Plus pumpkin picking, corn mazes, \

Another thing to experience in America: a big state fair! Rides, animals, and they'll deep fry anything you can think of and some things you can't. There's a fabulous picture of Tim Walz holding a piglet at the MN State Fair and he's grinning like he's the happiest man in the world.

@PermanentTemporary my goodness you've just reminded me , the pancakes I had at Urth in Laguna beach and also West Hollywood were off the scale amazing!

The Dutch are hilariously rude.

They are, DH used to work there and according to him the rudeness in the form of being factual was incredible, there was a Dutch poster on MN once who genuinely (I think) wanted to know how to deal with her English MIL who was very upset with her after she pointed out how dirty her house was - the poster kept saying "but it IS" and just didn't seem to get it
DH has Austrian relatives and they take "being factual" to another level as well, some of them moved to Australia when young and THAT is a combination not for the fainthearted.

@Ginmonkeyagain they were pretty blunt when we lived in Denmark too- certainly the over 60s - not unlike the Dutch- I love the Netherlands as a place but we deal with them a fair bit in business and yes the rudeness/bluntness is sometimes hilarious as is the big headedness too - nearly always males

Things I love -

They have Dollar bills and you feel to have real money even if you have very little.

The opening times of their stores.

Cracker Barrel - I’d move there just to eat here!

Panda Express Orange chicken is A-mazing!

They are warm and friendly.

Their houses are huge and open plan!

Many have pools.

I appreciate this is not every American - I was once in Hope Arkansas and the girl I spoke to had never been out of her town and asked if we had the same president as they did. She’d never men a British person and was absolutely giddy.

Speaking of weather, we have had that first real break in the heat and humidity this week. It's a time that everyone comments on and is sometimes imperceptible to people who have not lived in the Deep South all their lives. I had a colleague years ago who had moved to take a job with my employer in the summer, and he had lived all his life in New England. He and his family had a miserable time adjusting to the heat. We were headed out to lunch on the day that the weather broke, and I remarked that we could feel that first note of fall in the air with the cooler and drier weather ( I should add it was still in the mid-80 degrees F). He looked at me and said, "Oh yeah, I can just feel Jack Frost nipping at my nose." Ever since that's what we say in my family on that first cool(er) day.

We are headed to Charleston for the weekend (another city I highly recommend), and the weather is cooperating wonderfully.

Yes ! My South African friend (also not known for their tact 😂) told me that Israelis are macho and very forthright.

I have been to many areas of America with work and also have family there. I love the many different accents, the friendly service in shops etc, the variety of landscapes; the cars, music and food. Although I love the UK i really enjoy the lack of sarcasm in the Americans I have met

Good to know! And it vindicates my theory about New Yorker's famous directness.

I was in Holland for business years ago . Yes the Dutch are direct but I was incredibly impressed when they smoothly transitioned from Dutch to English when realising a non Dutch speaker had joined their group or table.

Very impressive.

I don't have figures for Dutch speaking children but it will be vanishingly small.I was appalled to read only 2500 children studied German at A level last year.

But then the British are very bad the other way. I remember trying to explain to an exasperated Dutch colleagues the many words for no - "perhaps" "maybe" "I'll let you know" "we'll see".

And how "I wouldn't have done it quite like that" means "what the fuck have you done, you absolute idiot"

😁

In Virginia now. Loving the fall colours on the trees, sunshine. Just had lunch at a fantastic diner in Virginia Beach.

I work with an international organisation and spend my life "translating" between the Irish, German and Dutch participants.

West Virginia, mountain mama....

I miss the states.

I would have loved to have had a full lifetime there.

I love that Americans created the characters Cam and Mitch on Modern Family. Brilliant!

I love the supermarkets too. Recently discovered Fred Meyer in Oregon which was good (especially for bread), and I choose Publix every time in Florida, but on the west coast I prefer Albertsons/Safeway. The pumpkin displays there this September were amazing and I seem to have developed a bit of a squash habit since I got home.