What do you like best about America?

[choctawmicmac]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

My wife is Mexican and we lived in Mexico. We visit Mexico frequently to visit family and vacation. I am fluent in Spanish, worked and traveled extensively throughout the country.. Having said all of that, there are far more negatives to living in Mexico than can be compensated for by cheap Medical care.

What my experience of Mexico being "good" was, was that I didn't get treated like a foreigner on my own native continent like in Canada and the more redneck racist parts of the USA.

How you are treated by everyone you encounter on a daily basis is part of the consideration of whether life is "good" or "tolerable" or not.

In Mexico no one treated me like I didn't belong on "their" land or should go back to where I came from - those things I never heard, even with my limited California-Spanglish understanding.

Mexico never treated me like I was "lying" about being Native American and like a liar and everything else seems to flow from that.

[Caelan]

Originally Posted by choctawmicmac

Canada is better if you are old, sick, disabled, or tired and want to do nothing and live off the government! (Be it the Government of Canada or Indian Affairs). The USA is better if you want a JOB. The pace of life in Canada is absolutely LETHARGIC. Even McJobs like cleaning toilets and mopping floors are few and far between and take forever to hear back from!

Buwahahahaha! So very true!

[Erynn]

I really appreciate the freedom in America esp. in Southern California. It's O.K to shop in my P.Js without anyone staring, and in summer, I can just walk around in beach-suits from morning till 2am as long as I don't plan going to any church. Variety of food is a bonus.

[Sechki]

Originally Posted by nomad

I would say that i always have enjoyed returning to the "good ol USA", a land of opportunity.

Having recently lived in Holland-what urked me the most was if i didn't have my receipt to return an item-i wasn't given the time of day...

In the U.S. the customer is always right---i really missed that.

Now having lived elsewhere allows me to appreciate at its fullest cultural diversity and understanding/appreciating it...

I so much enjoy meeting people of diverse nationalities, i actually thrive on it.
Kind of like having lived abroad and taking it all in.

by the way is there anyone out there who has lived in Saudi Arabia?

I spent seven years of my adolescence in Jeddah and love the goat dish in the Bedouin tent...the meal was spread out on a blanket covering the entire length of the tent and we ate with our fingers. The tongue was succulent.
Salamaleikhem!
Nomad

Hey I used to live in Saudi Arabia..for five years. I'm sure you know this city, but I lived in Atheib Compound, Al-Khobar. Was an ok place, lots of malls(rashid mall was awesome) and etc...

[tomben]

I hear mixed things about Mexico goo and bad like everywhere. I have yet decided to take the risk in driving my family across the Arizona border down to rocky point. I would like to some day.

In Arizona they were even advising the ASU students about going to rocky point for spring break. It was due to random gang shootings etc i think.

I also hear that as you drive through the first town in Mexico you will get stopped and asked for a donation to the ambulance or fire service, sound shady to me.

[mamasue]

The thing I like most about the USA is that house prices are generally cheaper .
I live in GA and I bought a lovely big house with a pool and land... and another rental property, for the price of my 1-bedroom apartment in outer London.

Also... the weather here in GA is much better than London.

Really... this is no more the "land of opportunity or freedom" than England.

[Cleo Shahateet]

Originally Posted by nomad

I would say that i always have enjoyed returning to the "good ol USA", a land of opportunity.

Having recently lived in Holland-what urked me the most was if i didn't have my receipt to return an item-i wasn't given the time of day...

In the U.S. the customer is always right---i really missed that.

Now having lived elsewhere allows me to appreciate at its fullest cultural diversity and understanding/appreciating it...

I so much enjoy meeting people of diverse nationalities, i actually thrive on it.
Kind of like having lived abroad and taking it all in.

by the way is there anyone out there who has lived in Saudi Arabia?

I spent seven years of my adolescence in Jeddah and love the goat dish in the Bedouin tent...the meal was spread out on a blanket covering the entire length of the tent and we ate with our fingers. The tongue was succulent.
Salamaleikhem!
Nomad

My wife lived in Riyadh for 3 years:1983 - 1986 and my father-in-law was in both Riyadh and Jeddah for about 10 years and they both shared the same experience as you. We all travel a lot and always enjoy the what we see as "controlled chaos" in the US from rush hour traffic that is silent rather than constant beeping, animals and noise in Egypt or cows, people, rickshaws and bikes in the street in India. And busy stores in the US have organized lines and everyone has personal space opposed to pushing and shoving. We see the good and bad of all places but those are a few observations we enjoy when we get back to the US. There is no place like home, but 'Enshallah' we will continue to travel and enjoy it all..good and bad!

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by choctawmicmac

What my experience of Mexico being "good" was, was that I didn't get treated like a foreigner on my own native continent like in Canada and the more redneck racist parts of the USA.

How you are treated by everyone you encounter on a daily basis is part of the consideration of whether life is "good" or "tolerable" or not.

In Mexico no one treated me like I didn't belong on "their" land or should go back to where I came from - those things I never heard, even with my limited California-Spanglish understanding.

Mexico never treated me like I was "lying" about being Native American and like a liar and everything else seems to flow from that.

Yes, I agree with you though racism does exist in Mexico.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by tomben

I also hear that as you drive through the first town in Mexico you will get stopped and asked for a donation to the ambulance or fire service, sound shady to me.

It is not shady. You can just say no.

[wwax]

I am staying in the good old Mid West of the US at the moment and I find it surprisingly different to the coasts. Having assumed for years what everyone said about the midwest was said in humour. I find the midwestern manners and friendliness to be a pleasant surprise and one I could get used too. And that is coming from Australia where people are pretty friendly to start with. Around here people just seem less brash and in your face. Which if people had told me I'd say that about yanks when I moved here I'd have laughed but it has turned out to be true and I rather like it.

But I dislike the whole fixation people have around here on always wanting bigger better and shiner things or job tiring or just the way people around here just buy things for something to do.

I can't convince my friends or US family that I have a job I like and no I am not working for a promotion or overtime or the next payrise but just to pay my bills, but they are so damn sweet and polite and confused about it I can't get mad.