Instead of putting this in the obama assassin thread; I am putting it here ... might interest you guys.

I would say about 70-80% of the people that I ask if they have been to the states say they went to new york city. And Almost all (cant think of 1) said they liked it and noone has told me the people were rude that I can remember.

and this question has been asked to all nationalities ie (its a melting pot here in london). And probably to at least 500 people.

-I personally have never been to ny-

- I will say this thou - I've run into a fair amount of people that refer to americans as loud and obnoxious and even refering to them as assholes ... I think this in reference to us over here.
- but then again the people usually making the harsh statements about americans as assholes seem like an asshole themselves and the ones that might say americans are loud and obnoxious seem a bit prude/uptight and closed off... ie take that what you will.

btw if you guys like rough stats - you might not know this (or maybe you do) most europeans think us americans are ignorant and not that versed in the world (ie we dont use our passport much).

- given that the size of the US is about equal to that of europe

I find it humorous that 85-90% do not have a general clue where the US's 3rd biggest city is in the states ie chicago. And just saying central doesnt count.

btw these rough stats are from bringing this up to 2000+ people in london. ie my patients and or random people that I meet.

There are 2 ways that I introduce where I am from - ie it frequently comes up in conversation or I just mention it because it almost always does.

#1 - If I dont feel like getting into where wisconsin is. I'll just say I'm from near chicago. Then I look at their facial expression and I might ask do you know where that is? ... and like I said 85%~ have no clue or might mention the musical that is here or some tv show. (btw I grew up in kenosha for you SE wisconsin peeps here).

Or #2 - I tell them I'm from wisconsin home of the greenbay packers; the best football team and just smile.

dont get me wrong here not all foreigners are clueless where chicago/wisconsin are located at or even what the greenbay packers are.

I just thought you guys might get a kick out my rough stats from meeting all sorts of people here in london.

- Meeting and interacting with all different types of people is one of the main reasons I am living in london.

My impression of Londoners (over a variety of visits short and long over 30+ years, is that they tend to be more informed on politics outside their immediate geography (whether you call that London, England, the UK, or Europe) than Americans are. They may not know where Iowa is, but they'll be more likely to know where "Darfur" is or that Brazilians speak Portuguese, not Spanish.

And their general historical knowledge is better. They know a lot more of our history than we know of anyone else's...and, they know a lot of our history that most of us don't. IMO a master's level degree in history from the top UK schools has at least as much oomph as a PhD from almost anywhere over here.

On the other hand, they've got no shortage of assholes, either.

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I once roadied for a band because I was friends with the bass player. He and I used to carpool together and one day, he blurted out that he was stupid. I said "what do you mean you're stupid? You can fix cars and motorcycles and can make a headshot without a scope at over 100 meters?"

Brains is relative. Facts are nice to have, but can they apply to real life?

At the time, I worked at a startup software company that was making tons of money. The people I worked with were all nerds, and I say this in a good way. However, the vast majority of them would not survive the 1700s or before. Sorry, but true.

One of my dear old friends told me the story of the Professor and the Oarsman. The Professor paid the Oarsman to take him across the river. As the Oarsman started rowing, the Professor asked him, "my friend, have you read the first of the Hindu Vedas?" The Oarsman replied that he hadn't as he's been a hard-working man and never got around to it. The Professor said "well, my friend, a quarter of your life has been wasted."

Halfway across the river, the Professor asked the Oarsman if he read the second of the Hindu Vedas. The Oarsman once again replied about how he's a hard-working man who didn't have time for it. The Professor replied "well, my friend, then half your life has been wasted."

Suddenly, a big wave came and knocked over the boat. With both of them in the water, the Oarsman yelled to the Professor if he knew how to swim. The Professor said "not one stroke," to which the Oarsman shouted back "then my friend, the rest of your life has been wasted."

From my experience, the English are the Professors. The Americans the Oarsman. With all that knowledge, the English never seem to do anything useful with it. Americans on the other hand win almost every single Nobel Prize every freaking year and invent more than every other country put together.

Yet the English love to remind us how stupid we are. And people wonder why I hate them.

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Americans are just dumb.

Oh? Well, your windmills suck.

On a serious note, +1 to Dulak for telling it like he sees it. I enjoyed reading this.

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This thread, FTW

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And that's why we stick with football, rodeos, shooting our sixshooters wildly in the air, and stuffing our faces full of french fries. Because it's all we know how to do.

I know. And you watched The Cosby Show for 8 seasons. That ought to count for something.

And don't forget bombing 3rd world countries that we can't even find on a map. We're pretty good at that.

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Yeah, as someone in this thread has stated (I think?), Europeans know more about the US than the Americans know about the outside world. Whether that knowledge is even useful in life is debateable. There's no need for booksmarts if you don't use them (although I imagine known what you're about to bomb would be some useful knowledge).

I'm surprised this wasn't posted yet...

[youtube]fJuNgBkloFE[/youtube]

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