international relations 1

[HgTX]

At the moment, there is a delegation from Arab Nation X (Bedouin rather than Levantine culture, and that's as specific as I'll get) over on the other side of the building. My understanding is that they are here to learn from us; we're not trying to get anything from them. Nonetheless, information was circulated containing cultural do and don't with regard to Arab Nation X, and most of the employees (male and female) on that side of the building have been told to wear lab coats today so that they don't have to single anyone out in particular for immodest clothing that might offend the delegation. (Nice way to avoid sexual harassment claims, I suppose. Fortunately the "eating with left hand" issue only affects a small and elite group appointed to dine with the delegation.)

All this got me wondering--I'm sure if I went to Arab Nation A, they wouldn't be adapting much to my cultural habits; I'd be expected to adapt to accomodate my hosts. But surely somewhere out there are "How to deal with Americans" leaflets warning people wishing to do business with us about various cultural pitfalls?

Does anyone have one of these? What does it say with regard to proper care and feeding of United Statesians?

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[davidbeach]

KENAT, you need to go up I-5 until you are about as far from the Canadian border as you live from the Mexican border and there you will be able to find any number of places that serve good beer at reasonable temperatures. You could probably spend a year in Portland having a different pint every night, all of them brewed within 200 miles, all without a repeat. Many of them will only be available at the place where they are brewed or in a small number of other related establishments, never commercially bottled (beer does not come in cans). To get all the way through the year you will have to go back to places you were earlier to pick up all the seasonals.

 

[KENAT]

I'll take your word for it.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[moltenmetal]

The US beer situation has improved amazingly in the past 20 years. Which is a blessing to a Canadian who visits the US on expense account! No trouble finding something interesting and delicious to drink in most decent places there now. There's plenty of p*sswater to be swilled in just about any country you visit, Canada included.

Lots of foreigners try to make some "cultural accomodation" when they visit the US, as best they can. Canadians included. We learn to let our US guests start bashing Dubya before we tag in, for instance. And we at least wait until they've had a few beers before we start talking about Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans" sketches on the CBC- like the one where Mercer catches Dubya thinking that our then-current prime minister's name was Jean Poutine (poutine is a crazy Quebecois concoction of french fries, cheese curds and brown gravy), or the one where former presidential candidate Huckabee is on video congratulating Canada for preserving its National Igloo...

Some Japanese were taking "What you need to know before visiting the US" courses before going on their American holidays, after a Japanese exchange student got shot because he didn't know what "freeze!" meant when shouted by a person with a gun in hand...

By the way: I love Americans- they're great folks- I just can't stand their federal government and hate their foreign policy. That makes me very little different than the average American, from what I can gather!

 

[Gymmeh]

these are kinda delayed but i have been bussy...

rb1957, If you dont mind my asking what part of the US are you from? I moved to a part which uses the word "POP" (soda,coke) with much pride.


about the Central European Use of the racial words.. I have have learned to give a lesson on American pop culture vs. reality when guests visit. And then I show them the news and yes people do get held up at gun point in some parts of this city for their groceries.


In my area there is a chain of stores which proudly have over 200 types of beer! I have tried to drink them all but its harder then you think...and i live only a block from one of the stores!!

moltenmetal, I have been on youtube for the last hour cuz of Rick Mercer. funny stuff! however some US people do know Ottawa. Some even know the Rideau canal... It helps that I would drink there when I was 19...

Cheers

 

[moltenmetal]

gymmeh: sorry for the Youtube monkey on your back- Rick Mercer's a funny dude!

He did one where he asked people on a street in New York City what they thought of the fact that a recent study had shown that 7 out of 10 Canadians couldn't name their state capitals. A lady replied that she thought it was a shame and we'd better do a better job of educating our kids etc. etc., but her ~10 year old kid said, "Hey Mom- Canada doesn't have states- it has provinces! We learned it in social studies..." Mercer's just exploiting the natural tendency of people to not want to appear ignorant by saying "I have no idea what you're talking about". Instead they want to offer an opinion...This isn't unique to Americans, but it makes for some funny TV!

Yeah, some Americans know a lot about Canada, or at least about Montreal's bars and strip clubs...Real cultural ambassadorship! I had no idea that Ottawa, or probably Gatineau (Hull) across the river was a destination for under-age Americans too. There's plenty of Ontario traffic on the bridge, since the bars in Hull close at least 2 hrs later than the ones on the Ottawa side...vive les quebecois(es)!

 

[ewh]

moltenmetal,
I have to agree that you could probably pass for an average 'merican today. More and more love their country but hate their govt.
We love Canada too, but it gets much too cold for many of us.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. - [small]Thomas Jefferson [/small]

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

It's much too cold for many Canadians also, but when it gets REALLY cold they just bring a sled-dog or three into their igloos.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Sorry to drag this thread back to a side topic but, at least in my part of the US, the beer selection is quite superb. I can name 8 good breweries within 25 miles of my house, one of which even follows Campaign for Real Ale guidelines with their cask ales.

 

[Unotec]

So, if I read all these post correctly, what are canadians and americans doing drinking Coronas?

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[Gymmeh]

I NEVER Drink that p!$$!

 

[SomptingGuy]

The Ric Mercer stuff is good. I too have just wasted a lot of time watching it. Getting Joe Public to look stupid is fairly easy in any country. But catching the politicians out like that is priceless.

- Steve

 

[moltenmetal]

unotec: Corona? Get real...there's WAY better beer in the US than steeeenking Corona!

You can't judge American beer based on Budweiser or Pabst Blue Ribbon any longer! It used to be that the only decent stuff you had a chance to find in a restaurant was Sam Adams, but that's years ago now. The Colorado mini- and microbrewries alone could keep you in good suds longer than your liver would hold out...

I'd hope you don't think that Molson Canadian is the limit of Canadian beers, without having tasted Creemore or some of Sleeman's or Upper Canada's products at least, not to mention the thousands of good microbrews...

 

[Unotec]

Moltenmetal, thus my question. I'm mexican, living in Canada and the only mexican beers I consider worthy are Negra Modelo & Indio. Beer here is awesome (Alberta) as my few (many) extra pounds attest

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[HgTX]

The export beers aren't typically the best a country has to offer. As another example, Bud Lite is incredibly popular in Ireland. Go figure.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[ykee]

I've got to agree that popular beer does not equal good beer, and that most places have enough local microbreweries to have some good beer. I find the challenge is to find the good local beer when travelling. Since the OP was asking about international relations, is there a global guide for beer?

 

[HgTX]

Probably not readily available in the aforementioned Arab Country X...

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[Unotec]

HgTX, same happens with Tequila. I cannot believe the stuff people drinks here! I rather drink diesel!

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[moltenmetal]

unotec: sorry for the misunderstanding! We all agree that regional beers are best. You can't judge a country purely by its exports! (whether that be people OR beer...!)

 

[Unotec]

Then, can you judge people by the crappy imports they drink?
On second thought... as long as they share I'll say nothing!

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>