Where are you from ?

[yinfire]

Yeah you've got places for the metropolitan types (London) and the quiet, laid-back types (Centreparcs do really good quiet, countryside breaks).
Wales is a very laid-back place in particular, it's lots of fields haha, and it's not uncommon to have cows and sheep crossing the road in some parts!
The vists I've made to other countries have all been 1 week stays mind, so while I've been able to experience lots of different places, the time I spent there was by no means long enough to truely soak in the culture! Perhaps after university I can return to those places for longer stays! I hope so anyways, world travel is kinda one of my life passions! ^^

Sleeping with a rock star has always been a passion of mine.
So, British people write parc and not park? Learn something new everyday.
At first, I was eager to go to England, until I realized that your English is slightly different from American English. It's like I have 100+ new words to learn.

Like you call chips "crisps"
you call fries "chips"
you call a phone booth "call box," I don't understand that.
and well, others. So, staying in England isn't the way I first thought it would be. And everything is so expensive. I've read that English kids don't leave the house until their 30s. Most American kids get the boot when they turn 18.

I was expecting England to be a lot like America, but I realize that you England is very different after all.

One thing I LOVE about England is how you guys don't mix religion with politics. In America, we do it ALL the time and I find it annoying, since I have been atheist most of my life. It's like anybody who's not a Christian is a bad person.:kaioken:

And personally, to imply that being nonreligious makes one immoral is HIGHLY offensive to me. I consider myself a good person even though I am not religious.

Oops!:sorry: Got side=tracked.
Sorry for babbling. I do that a LOT.

 

[Saradus]

Sleeping with a rock star has always been a passion of mine.
So, British people write parc and not park? Learn something new everyday.
At first, I was eager to go to England, until I realized that your English is slightly different from American English. It's like I have 100+ new words to learn.
Like you call chips "crisps"
you call fries "chips"
you call a phone booth "call box," I don't understand that.
and well, others. So, staying in England isn't the way I first thought it would be. And everything is so expensive. I've read that English kids don't leave the house until their 30s. Most American kids get the boot when they turn 18.
I was expecting England to be a lot like America, but I realize that you England is very different after all.
One thing I LOVE about England is how you guys don't mix religion with politics. In America, we do it ALL the time and I find it annoying, since I have been atheist most of my life. It's like anybody who's not a Christian is a bad person.:kaioken:
And personally, to imply that being nonreligious makes one immoral is HIGHLY offensive to me. I consider myself a good person even though I am not religious.
Oops!:sorry: Got side=tracked.
Sorry for babbling. I do that a LOT.

Noooo we don't actually say parc instead of park. Centreparcs is a brand name and the misspelling is an intentional thing they've done for the brand. We say park just like you guys

Thats right, crisps are your "chips", chips are your "fries", jam is your "jelly", jelly is your "jell-o", biscuits are your "cookies". It can get a bit confusing! Although I don't think we use call box that much, I've always called it a phone box or phone booth, so that might be a bit of a misconception (or maybe only posh people call it "call box"!). Also tea is more regularly drunk here than in America.

Things are definitely more expensive here, its due to the fact we have a high tax. We got 17.5% (although for this year only its 15%) VAT added to all items (except food bought from superstores I believe?).

Hmm I think the idea that people dont leave home till 30 is a little far-fetched. I mean for starters the majority of us leave home to go to university and we stay in university accomodation. Im at home right now but that's cause its the holidays. After university, the students, now used to being away from home, tend to move out for good then and get a rented accomodation. I'm in a fortunate position in that we have two homes (one was bought from inheritence), so when I leave university my parents will live in one home, I'll live in the other. So independence is mine!

As for religion, yeah its a lot less extremist (for lack of a better word) here. People just believe what they believe and tend not to impose it on others, and politics is definitely kept very separate from religious beliefs. I think sometimes we take that for granted here!

The downside to britain is it's booze and lout culture. We have a lot of chav teens (this is a british stereotypical group of people, usually wearing "bling", dirty clothing and generally unpleasant personality) hanging around street corners with big bottles of cider. And this is no exaggeration, even in the quiet village I'm in, in Wales, you'll see this quite often (particularly down the rugby stands). This is mainly down to the relaxed attitude towards alcohol here. The drinking age as you know is 18, but not only this, it's quite easy for underage teens to acquire alcohol one way or another and usually there's no penalty for them if they're caught (the police officer will just take the drink off them), so there's no deterrent for acquiring alcohol underage. The bars and clubs are very strict though and almost always require ID (in the form of a passport or drivers licence). This is why all the underage drinkers are out on the street, because they can't get in the clubs and bars. Hence why we have this image of dirty teens getting wasted (drunk) on the streets here in Britain!

Other than that, nice place to live lol

And don't worry about typing too much, as you can see, I ramble on a lot as well!

 

[yinfire]

Noooo we don't actually say parc instead of park. Centreparcs is a brand name and the misspelling is an intentional thing they've done for the brand. We say park just like you guys
Thats right, crisps are your "chips", chips are your "fries", jam is your "jelly", jelly is your "jell-o", biscuits are your "cookies". It can get a bit confusing! Although I don't think we use call box that much, I've always called it a phone box or phone booth, so that might be a bit of a misconception (or maybe only posh people call it "call box"!). Also tea is more regularly drunk here than in America.
Things are definitely more expensive here, its due to the fact we have a high tax. We got 17.5% (although for this year only its 15%) VAT added to all items (except food bought from superstores I believe?).
Hmm I think the idea that people dont leave home till 30 is a little far-fetched. I mean for starters the majority of us leave home to go to university and we stay in university accomodation. Im at home right now but that's cause its the holidays. After university, the students, now used to being away from home, tend to move out for good then and get a rented accomodation. I'm in a fortunate position in that we have two homes (one was bought from inheritence), so when I leave university my parents will live in one home, I'll live in the other. So independence is mine!
As for religion, yeah its a lot less extremist (for lack of a better word) here. People just believe what they believe and tend not to impose it on others, and politics is definitely kept very separate from religious beliefs. I think sometimes we take that for granted here!
The downside to britain is it's booze and lout culture. We have a lot of chav teens (this is a british stereotypical group of people, usually wearing "bling", dirty clothing and generally unpleasant personality) hanging around street corners with big bottles of cider. And this is no exaggeration, even in the quiet village I'm in, in Wales, you'll see this quite often (particularly down the rugby stands). This is mainly down to the relaxed attitude towards alcohol here. The drinking age as you know is 18, but not only this, it's quite easy for underage teens to acquire alcohol one way or another and usually there's no penalty for them if they're caught (the police officer will just take the drink off them), so there's no deterrent for acquiring alcohol underage. The bars and clubs are very strict though and almost always require ID (in the form of a passport or drivers licence). This is why all the underage drinkers are out on the street, because they can't get in the clubs and bars. Hence why we have this image of dirty teens getting wasted (drunk) on the streets here in Britain!
Other than that, nice place to live lol
And don't worry about typing too much, as you can see, I ramble on a lot as well!

We also use the word "jam" in America. Really? I thought "chav" meant something else. In one website it said that a chav is a poor, dumb person that likes to dress rich. So, a biscuit is our "cookie"? That IS confusing. So, if I want a biscuit, I guess I would ask for a bread roll? It's like I have to learn English all over again.

Yeah. We Americans know all about your tea and your drinking habbits. It's kind of a stereotype over here.

So, it looks like the British culture website that I've been going to is a bit innaccurate.

England does seem like a great place to live. Do you guys really call people "Ducks"? On the British culture website I've been going to it has a names that you might be called in Britian and the list was a lot like,"Duck, Duckie, Bird, Bloke, Dear, Dearie, Chick, Chap."

Now, I've heard of all of these before on BBC, except for Duck and Duckie. Like a bird is a nice term for a girl. and a bloke is a guy friend.

 

[Saradus]

We also use the word "jam" in America. Really? I thought "chav" meant something else. In one website it said that a chav is a poor, dumb person that likes to dress rich. So, a biscuit is our "cookie"? That IS confusing. So, if I want a biscuit, I guess I would ask for a bread roll? It's like I have to learn English all over again.
Yeah. We Americans know all about your tea and your drinking habbits. It's kind of a stereotype over here.
So, it looks like the British culture website that I've been going to is a bit innaccurate.
England does seem like a great place to live. Do you guys really call people "Ducks"? On the British culture website I've been going to it has a names that you might be called in Britian and the list was a lot like,"Duck, Duckie, Bird, Bloke, Dear, Dearie, Chick, Chap."
Now, I've heard of all of these before on BBC, except for Duck and Duckie. Like a bird is a nice term for a girl. and a bloke is a guy friend.

Yeah chav can mean that too. Infact chav originated from the nouveau riche (sp?) crowd. Go to google images and search chav. You'll see what typical chav boys and girls look like. Our streets are infested with them lol. The opposing stereotype is emo, I believe america has them too. Chavs and emos are sworn enemies, much like mods and rockers were in the 70s (or was it 50s/60s? Im not sure).

I'm not sure what your biscuit is, except that you have it with gravy sometimes? So maybe its a bread roll, or maybe a yorkshire pudding, not sure lol.

Naaa that duck thing is a serious stereotype of like really posh british people years ago. In fact a lot of the british stereotypes are of posh British people, the real upperclass ones. The large majority of britain are working or middle class and we're pretty much plain and normal just like most americans

Sometimes we'll use bird and chick for girls but not that often. Bloke doesnt mean a guy friend, its usually just a synonym for guys in general and bloke is a common word here. You could say "whos that bloke over there" about some complete random you've never met. A lot of people in the london area also use "lads" for guys.

I looked up biscuit. We call them scones here. And theyre not considered something savoury that you'd have with gravy.

Scones (or biscuits as you call them) are usually had with butter and jam and served alongside some tea. Scones aren't really common in the normal home though and again its really only something upperclass people have. Although you will see it commonly served in cafes and bed & breakfasts (as these are usually deliberately designed to be 'classicaly British' and posh). That said I've had scones in the house with jam and all that stuff sometimes, just cause its nice lol

 

[yinfire]

Yeah chav can mean that too. Infact chav originated from the nouveau riche (sp?) crowd. Go to google images and search chav. You'll see what typical chav boys and girls look like. Our streets are infested with them lol. The opposing stereotype is emo, I believe america has them too. Chavs and emos are sworn enemies, much like mods and rockers were in the 70s (or was it 50s/60s? Im not sure).
I'm not sure what your biscuit is, except that you have it with gravy sometimes? So maybe its a bread roll, or maybe a yorkshire pudding, not sure lol.
Naaa that duck thing is a serious stereotype of like really posh british people years ago. In fact a lot of the british stereotypes are of posh British people, the real upperclass ones. The large majority of britain are working or middle class and we're pretty much plain and normal just like most americans
Sometimes we'll use bird and chick for girls but not that often. Bloke doesnt mean a guy friend, its usually just a synonym for guys in general and bloke is a common word here. You could say "whos that bloke over there" about some complete random you've never met. A lot of people in the london area also use "lads" for guys.

I looked up biscuit. We call them scones here. And theyre not considered something savoury that you'd have with gravy.

Scones (or biscuits as you call them) are usually had with butter and jam and served alongside some tea. Scones aren't really common in the normal home though and again its really only something upperclass people have. Although you will see it commonly served in cafes and bed & breakfasts (as these are usually deliberately designed to be 'classicaly British' and posh). That said I've had scones in the house with jam and all that stuff sometimes, just cause its nice lol

So from google search, a chav is like are American wanna-be's? From the pictures I've seen, they look like wanna be gangstas. Yeah. we have a LOT of emos in America. Wait a minute, would a chav be similar to our "preps"? In my school, "preps" is a much of rich-looking, stuck up, jerks, who get their kicks by treating everyone else like they are less than human. But it only applies to school-age kids.

So, our biscuits are your scones? I think I've heard of that word before on BBC. I also read that you guys use a knife and a fork for EVERYTHING, except sandwiches. Like, I read that you even eat fried chicken and pizza with a fork and knife. This might be a dumb question, but do you also eat bacon with a fork and knife?

From what it sounds like in that British culture website I was going to, America has a looser eating habits. We just do what's most convient, pretty much. Some etiquette we do have is to always chew with your mouth close and not to play with food, and no elbows on the table. But that's pretty much it.

I also read that a tube is a subway station, is that right? And a double decker is your buses.

Btw, you have pretty blue eyes.

Sorry, I'm also a very random person. I say things randomly a lot of the time.

 

[Saradus]

So from google search, a chav is like are American wanna-be's? From the pictures I've seen, they look like wanna be gangstas. Yeah. we have a LOT of emos in America. Wait a minute, would a chav be similar to our "preps"? In my school, "preps" is a much of rich-looking, stuck up, jerks, who get their kicks by treating everyone else like they are less than human. But it only applies to school-age kids.
So, our biscuits are your scones? I think I've heard of that word before on BBC. I also read that you guys use a knife and a fork for EVERYTHING, except sandwiches. Like, I read that you even eat fried chicken and pizza with a fork and knife. This might be a dumb question, but do you also eat bacon with a fork and knife?
From what it sounds like in that British culture website I was going to, America has a looser eating habits. We just do what's most convient, pretty much. Some etiquette we do have is to always chew with your mouth close and not to play with food, and no elbows on the table. But that's pretty much it.
I also read that a tube is a subway station, is that right? And a double decker is your buses.
Btw, you have pretty blue eyes.
Sorry, I'm also a very random person. I say things randomly a lot of the time.

Sort of, I've always considered chavs the UK counterpart to american preps. Although they differ in certain ways. While preps are rich looking, chavs are usually dirty looking and are actually using the ones that grow up on council estates. The girls are notorious for teenage pregnancy and the boys are notorious for physical harrassment and knife crime.

Yeah pretty much use knife and fork for everything, altho a lot of people my age will use just a fork. We use our hands for pizza and any fast food joint (KFC, burger king, maccyds). As for table manners, you dont really see it that much these days. I'll gladly put my elbows on the table as will others and heck we'll play with food too! Um yeah bacon is either in a sandwich or we have it with other meat and roast potatoes so then it would be on a plate as a meal with gravy. So we'd use a fork at least, I wouldn't like to use my hands to eat that lol

We only have one underground train system and thats the London Underground. We'll either call it the subway, or the tube, usually the tube tho, like you do. We have a food joint called Subway that do baguettes and stuff so if we subway we usually refer to that. Its getting as popular as KFC, MaccyDs and the like now actually.

No double decker buses arent that common here (except in London and other sightseeing areas, where you see a lot of double decker TOUR buses. Most of our public transport is on regular buses and we just call them buses lol Public transport is mostly either bus or taxi but sometimes we'll take the train if its a long journey. We call it either train or railway system for above ground trains.

Haha well thank you They're actually just colour contacts. I love blue and green eyes so thought I'd get myself some! It's great cause since I'm half asian it always attracts a lot of attention, people always say how striking they are and love it hehe

 

[yinfire]

Sort of, I've always considered chavs the UK counterpart to american preps. Although they differ in certain ways. While preps are rich looking, chavs are usually dirty looking and are actually using the ones that grow up on council estates. The girls are notorious for teenage pregnancy and the boys are notorious for physical harrassment and knife crime.
Yeah pretty much use knife and fork for everything, altho a lot of people my age will use just a fork. We use our hands for pizza and any fast food joint (KFC, burger king, maccyds). As for table manners, you dont really see it that much these days. I'll gladly put my elbows on the table as will others and heck we'll play with food too! Um yeah bacon is either in a sandwich or we have it with other meat and roast potatoes so then it would be on a plate as a meal with gravy. So we'd use a fork at least, I wouldn't like to use my hands to eat that lol
We only have one underground train system and thats the London Underground. We'll either call it the subway, or the tube, usually the tube tho, like you do. We have a food joint called Subway that do baguettes and stuff so if we subway we usually refer to that. Its getting as popular as KFC, MaccyDs and the like now actually.
No double decker buses arent that common here (except in London and other sightseeing areas, where you see a lot of double decker TOUR buses. Most of our public transport is on regular buses and we just call them buses lol Public transport is mostly either bus or taxi but sometimes we'll take the train if its a long journey. We call it either train or railway system for above ground trains.
Haha well thank you They're actually just colour contacts. I love blue and green eyes so thought I'd get myself some! It's great cause since I'm half asian it always attracts a lot of attention, people always say how striking they are and love it hehe

Actually, I think a chav is much closer to a wanna=be gangsta or at least that's how they look like. Crime and pregnancy? They sound like the gangsta kids.

Yeah. Your eyes does look STRIKING with those blue contacts. Just like Byou in green contacts. Byou is a Japanese rock star, so green eyes really stands out, but in a positive way. I have always been a fan of green eyes. I don't care for dark brown eyes, even tho, that's my eye color.

In America, for breakfast, we eat bacon all by itself. I mean, we would probably have eggs to the side. So, we do eat bacon with our hands.

Actually, I think "tube" is a British thing. I don't think we Americans call it that. Then again, I live no where near a subway station.

Yeah. When I was in high school, me and my friend would use our hands all the time and steal food out of each others plates. Sometimes we would use our forks on a food, and if we were full and somebody wanted the rest of it, we would pour it on their plate

Me and my friends also drink out of the same bottles a lot. If one gets a pepsi, you can be SURE that EVERYBODY's had their mouth on it. I caught the kissing disease that way, once. NOT hypies. Mono.

 

[ghostbuster]

Hello All,
Im a newbie. Im from Malaysia. Anyone from Malaysia.

 

[om3a]

haha damn not many people are from australia xD oh wells ^^

 

[SushiShin]

Japan living in Belgium

 

[aroundtraveler]

I introduce myself:

I am European. Born in Barcelona and living in Buenos Aires.

I have lived and/or studied in London, Oxford, Eastbourne, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Granada before to come and live in Argentina. My wife is Argentinian and my child is Argentinian and Spanish.

I am currently CEO at Marketing Web Design and I teach Web Development as well.I love Photography, Cinema and swimming.

 

[yinfire]

I introduce myself:

I am European. Born in Barcelona and living in Buenos Aires.

I have lived and/or studied in London, Oxford, Eastbourne, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Granada before to come and live in Argentina. My wife is Argentinian and my child is Argentinian and Spanish.

I am currently CEO at Marketing Web Design and I teach Web Development as well.I love Photography, Cinema and swimming.

Wow! You really are a traveler. It's amazing how many places you've been. You are so lucky.

 

[aroundtraveler]

Wow! You really are a traveler. It's amazing how many places you've been. You are so lucky.

@yinfire You are right, I feel very lucky as I had the opportunity to know some cultures and many interesting people around.

 

[yinfire]

@yinfire You are right, I feel very lucky as I had the opportunity to know some cultures and many interesting people around.

That's cool. I would LOVE to leave the country someday. I have NEVER been outside the country, which is very unfortunate. I wish I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Germany, Japan, and whatnot.

 

[aroundtraveler]

That's cool. I would LOVE to leave the country someday. I have NEVER been outside the country, which is very unfortunate. I wish I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to Germany, Japan, and whatnot.

I'm sure you will have the opportunity, just work for it ;-)

 

[yinfire]

I'm sure you will have the opportunity, just work for it ;-)

Oh Darling, I will! I'm trying so hard to get in the military, which is taking longer than expected.

 

[aroundtraveler]

I wish you best luck!

Best wishes from Argentina!

 

[yinfire]

I wish you best luck!

Best wishes from Argentina!

Thank you so much. You are too sweet.

 

[Kujiki]

Call me Kujiki, I am interested in All-About-Japanese

But it seems there are only few of them here? sigh~

 

[Tsuyoiko]

Wow, there's more people here from The EU than US. That's interesting.

 

[Haruspex]

Wow, there's more people here from The EU than US. That's interesting.

First steps towards world domination. Now the continent is called Europe, but soon the planet will bear the same name: Europa. MWAHAHAHAHA

 

[yinfire]

Call me Kujiki, I am interested in All-About-Japanese
But it seems there are only few of them here? sigh~

sigh. I'm also interested in Everything Japanese.
Sadly, there are few Japanese people here.

 

[Goldiegirl]

Wow, there's more people here from The EU than US. That's interesting.

The EU consists of many countries....maybe we should have an option of "North America"...we could include Canada, USA and Mexico....

 

[yinfire]

The EU consists of many countries....maybe we should have an option of "North America"...we could include Canada, USA and Mexico....

LOL. That's true. Let's not forget about South America.

 

[jackkrone]

i'm from China.