<p>We could learn to stop using chemical coloring in our foods, like with orange drink/sodas. Theirs are refreshingly clear. And don’t get me started on our disgusting blue foods…</p>
<p>I’ll just write about nations in which I’ve lived awhile:</p>
<p>from Canada (not abroad, I know) - consensus building, conflict resolution within organizations/institutions/workplaces</p>
<p>from Italy - take your time when eating a meal; taste the food, enjoy the company</p>
<p>I wish we had more singing like in Germany. People sing in bars, in town squares. Groups of students sing as they hike. I love singing and it is looked upon as odd here, at least in those sorts of settings.</p>
<p>But I did not like the tolerance of public drunkenness. This was particularly true in Scandinavia. Young people stumbling drunk down the streets, a sad sight.</p>
<p>“Only 4% of the US population is any kind of Asian”</p>
<p>-this is definitely regional. At some schools in NYC, Asians are over 50%, creating extremely competitive environment down at elementary school level…and the same is at some top Medical schools…be prepared, here they come and they are very smart and very hard working and competitive, having overcome great difficulties in many aspects of their lives, so they are very strong as human beings also…very prepared to fight for their rightful place…we can either consider their awesome examples or we can ignore (to our peril), but everybody is free to choose…</p>
<p>Perhaps the EU could learn from US in a few aspects of educational culture. I know a French family that seemed somewhat surprised and alarmed that D was going to enter college without a firm major in mind, and that the school didn’t actually require one at that stage. They also seemed puzzled that an English major who had all the prerequisite courses could apply to and actually get into medical school and become a doctor, as in “how is that even possible?”</p>
<p>We are the land of second chances, where you can try, fail, try again, fail again, change course and then succeed while on a new path, with no stigma attached. I have the impression that things are much more regimented in Europe and beyond. For all our supposed shortcomings, our universities seem to attract a huge number of students from other countries. If we are so deficient, I might ask, echoing the above “how is this even possible?”.</p>
<p>everybody is free to choose.</p>
<p>Good point. In the case of many, many people in the USA, they made the choice to live * here.*:)</p>
<p>Miamidap,
All of those Asian students you describe must have an outstanding grasp of the English language so I don’t see how it bolsters an argument in favor of all Americans learning Mandarin.</p>
<p>“I wish we had more singing like in Germany.”</p>
<p>And just about everywhere else including Asia and South America. Festivals and the arts are much more prevalent in places other than the US.</p>
<p>Oh IDK. we have lots of festivals & celebrations not perhaps on the scale of Holi in India, but I prefer my hysteria a little more subdued anyway. ;)</p>
<p>[Holi</a> Festival India](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Didn’t we just have Fat Tuesday?</p>
<p>[New</a> Orleans Mardi Gras 2012 | News, Photos, Videos, & More - NOLA.com](<a href=“http://www.nola.com/mardigras/]New”>Mardi Gras | NOLA.com)</p>
<p>Plus, this year we have Leap day!
[Nothing that happens on Leap Day counts. Real life is for March](<a href=“'30 Rock': Jim Carrey Stars In The Holiday Classic Movie 'Leap Dave Williams' (VIDEO) | HuffPost Entertainment”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost)</p>
<p>Will vote for singing everywhere, and slow, conversational family meals that appreciate the fruits of the land and sea as in France.</p>
<p>Bay,
"All of those Asian students you describe must have an outstanding grasp of the English "</p>
<p>-Not at all, I heard some of them…but still their English is better than their parents’ so they have a burden (or honor in their culture) to take care of their parents and still excell at school, some of these parents are not even driving…many huge obstacles which just make them stronger, they never compain…I am sure there are some exceptions, I am talking about general majority who considered at many very selective places as ORMs (over represented minority, another obstacle to overcome).</p>
<p>"the fruits of the land and sea as in France. ".
…but we eat twice as much as in France, if we start eating dinner every day…oh boy, our health care will have to double to match the size of our waists…we migh end up in very very sad place…but today is Friday, let’s not talk about sad places, can we agree on that?</p>
<p>[Festivals</a> in France](<a href=“http://www.eurofestivals.co.uk/festivals-in-france/]Festivals”>http://www.eurofestivals.co.uk/festivals-in-france/)</p>
<p>[Rick</a> Steves’ Europe: Festivals in Italy](<a href=“http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/italfest.htm]Rick”>http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/italfest.htm)</p>
<p>[Festivals</a> in Germany](<a href=“Germany Travel Guide - Travel to Germany”>Festivals in Germany)</p>
<p>[Germany</a> Festivals](<a href=“http://www.2camels.com/festivals/germany.php]Germany”>http://www.2camels.com/festivals/germany.php)</p>
<p>[Spanish</a> Festivals - What’s on in Spain this year?](<a href=“http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/]Spanish”>http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/Festivals%20and%20Fairs%20in%20Israel[/url]”>http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/Festivals%20and%20Fairs%20in%20Israel</a></p>
<p>“Cultural geographers point out that in modern times, festivals have filled purposes beyond fun and entertainment, serving to one degree or another a mixture of economic interests and cultural politics. They act as a tribal mechanism of “we-ness” promoting social cohesion while at the same time fueling economic aims. Even the five-week Salzburg Festival, “father of the modern festival,” founded in 1918, and the renowned Edinburgh Festival, initiated in 1947, both served as vehicles for national definition as well as fulfilling economic goals.”</p>
<p>[Eating</a> 3 Meals a Day Helps to Keep You in Shape](<a href=“http://ezinearticles.com/?Eating-3-Meals-a-Day-Helps-to-Keep-You-in-Shape&id=1554214]Eating”>http://ezinearticles.com/?Eating-3-Meals-a-Day-Helps-to-Keep-You-in-Shape&id=1554214)</p>
<p>Americans who become overweight tend to eat fewer but larger meals.</p>
<p>“everybody is free to choose.”</p>
<p>Not to inbreed!</p>
<p>I don’t know…most of my relatives live in northern Europe. I guess we could learn how to take all the holidays they take…seems like every time I turn around they are on “holiday”! I like how slowly most Europeans eat…Americans tend to gobble. I’m first gen, but my husband and kids are done with their dinner while I’ve just stated. I like how reserved most northern Europeans are…Americans tend to want to be your best friend or at least know your history 5 minutes after meeting you. I love the US for how vast and large it is and how different it is culturally and geographically from north to south and east to west. I love how you can be in flatlands or mountains or cities where you can barely see the sky without having to know a different language. I could be happy in any of the northern European countries, but I’m very happy I was born here in the US. I know many, many people (Americans) who speak and/or read more than one language but also English is the language of business so the need to learn another language for business is diminished.</p>
<p>I think enjoying time with family is a big one. Some of us are so into our technology that we don’t even talk to the people standing infront of us. When I go to visit my family in Greece, there’s NEVER a cellphone in sight, we sit at the table for hours talking and laughing. I go to restaurants here in America and it seems like the waiters rush you to leave.</p>
<p>Also, I think Americans glorify alcohol too much. In Greece, a glass of wine is normal and you drink it casually and slowely as you talk with friends. Here, young people go crazy at the sight of alcohol and drink to get drunk instead of just enjoying the taste like a price of chocolate.</p>
<p>lol, Mango - at whose expense?</p>
<p>I used to think Americans were just lazy about the whole learning another language thing. However, after living in Germany for several years, it dawned on me that we really would have no place to practice it and it is very easy to live your whole life in the U.S. and never need to speak another language. In fact, during the years I spent in Germany, there were very few times where I wished I could speak German. </p>
<p>What I miss about Germany are the city market places where you could shop in privately owned stores that carried a wonderful selection of products. And even the smallest villages would have a bakery and guest house (restaurant). Laws there protected the small business owner where here the small businesses have been driven out in most cities and towns.</p>
<p>^^I agree I’m weary of the pavement and the strip malls and the Big Box stores. Now the developers are trying to make the strip malls LOOK like villages. Only in America. But I imagine that retailers world wide have followed this trend…maybe not.</p>