Seven in the USA (27 Viewers)
- Thread starter Seven
- Start date
I was just kidding, I know you would have.
Driving was.. odd by the way. At one point I had to drive from Jasper (Canada) to Monument Valley and I bet I had cruise control on for 3/4 of the drive. Pretty new experience for me. I do hate the cars though. I understand that an automatic transmission and the ability to put on cruise control comes in handy when you make a lot of miles. But it completely destroys what driving is all about. I also find it very irritating when I want to change lanes on freeways, because with a manual transmission it is much easier to determine exactly how fast you are going and how quickly you want to accelerate. As for the American drivers.. Well.. The roads are better and much wider and less populated than in Europe. So I can understand that they are not particularly skilled when driving in the mountains. But they are much more careful and polite in traffic than European drivers and do make it all stressfree.
Driving was.. odd by the way. At one point I had to drive from Jasper (Canada) to Monument Valley and I bet I had cruise control on for 3/4 of the drive. Pretty new experience for me. I do hate the cars though. I understand that an automatic transmission and the ability to put on cruise control comes in handy when you make a lot of miles. But it completely destroys what driving is all about. I also find it very irritating when I want to change lanes on freeways, because with a manual transmission it is much easier to determine exactly how fast you are going and how quickly you want to accelerate. As for the American drivers.. Well.. The roads are better and much wider and less populated than in Europe. So I can understand that they are not particularly skilled when driving in the mountains. But they are much more careful and polite in traffic than European drivers and do make it all stressfree.
I second that re: El Gran Cañón.
That and asking Seven to squeal like a pig.
The thing I hate about American drivers is they mentally check out so easily, even in urban areas. They basically gravitate to the passing lane to avoid making decisions and clog it up, driving like a slow grandma.
I have much more respect for the drivers in Italy: they're lean-forward drivers, not lean-back drivers like the Americans. They have a responsibility and a job to get done. Americans drive like it's something to do while watching reruns of Seinfeld and eating a bag of Doritos.
That and asking Seven to squeal like a pig.
The thing I hate about American drivers is they mentally check out so easily, even in urban areas. They basically gravitate to the passing lane to avoid making decisions and clog it up, driving like a slow grandma.
I have much more respect for the drivers in Italy: they're lean-forward drivers, not lean-back drivers like the Americans. They have a responsibility and a job to get done. Americans drive like it's something to do while watching reruns of Seinfeld and eating a bag of Doritos.
Lol yeah. What I enjoyed less was going for gas in Montana. They weren't particularly kind at the gas station (the one gas station) and frankly looked like the kind of people who had never seen foreigners. What's hilarious on American freeways is the way the highway patrol is always lurking and going after drivers. I even saw a woman do exercises to show she wasn't drunk.
---------- Post added 26.07.2012 at 17:07 ----------
True. Americans seem to often drink coffee or eat in their cars. With a manual transmission that is not going to happen. Personally I like the European way of driving, but if you're in a foreign country, as I was, it's relaxing that everyone else is driving slower and less hurried than you. I have to admit that a lot of the time I was imagining how these guys would do in say Palermo though
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---------- Post added 26.07.2012 at 17:07 ----------
True. Americans seem to often drink coffee or eat in their cars. With a manual transmission that is not going to happen. Personally I like the European way of driving, but if you're in a foreign country, as I was, it's relaxing that everyone else is driving slower and less hurried than you. I have to admit that a lot of the time I was imagining how these guys would do in say Palermo though
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Well.. I had a lot of fun. I've seen a lot of great sights and met a lot of great people. Nevertheless.. I think I'd go insane if I lived there on a permanent basis. Keep in mind though that I mostly saw Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. And don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things in the US that we don't have over here. The obesity was less bad than I expected. It was bad, but I was prepared for it. What I wasn't prepared for was the obsession with health in supermarkets. Every product seems to be free of fat and full of vitamins, antioxidants and the new magic word 'protein'. It took me two weeks to find chocolate milk that wasn't fat free. When you couple this with the paradox that a lot of people are clearly not in good health it becomes very confusing.
And there was more that confused me. CNN, and to be fair most news networks, were almost ridiculous in their reporting of the James Holmes case. But then you also have a guy like the dad of Alex Teves, who comes with the most touching and intelligent plea to change social behaviour so that murderers do not get all the fame.
Most of all though it's a big, big country. And the differences between states and the people from them were bigger than I had imagined.
And there was more that confused me. CNN, and to be fair most news networks, were almost ridiculous in their reporting of the James Holmes case. But then you also have a guy like the dad of Alex Teves, who comes with the most touching and intelligent plea to change social behaviour so that murderers do not get all the fame.
Most of all though it's a big, big country. And the differences between states and the people from them were bigger than I had imagined.
