<p>from Israel, based on what my cousins tell me:
<p>'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>I was under the impression that medical school in the UK did not require an undergraduate education as we think of it in the US. Is that not so?</p>
<p>The meat to eat: goat!</p>
<p>Most eaten animal in the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Both my BIL, and my uncle raise goats for meat. My husband, from Jamaica, is less of a fan.</p>
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<p>Yes and no. It’s true that in the British system of medical education you enroll in medical school right out of high school, but in the end the education comes out about the same. Over here it’s three or four years of pre-med/college followed by four years of medical school. Over there it’s seven years of medical school, and the first three years consists of much of the same pre-med/college curriculum that you would get iin the US.</p>
<p>^I see. And what about residencies and fellowships? I was also under the impression that the whole thing didn’t take as long. And it’s called a “bachelors” of medicine, right?</p>
<p>I found this</p>
<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_(United_Kingdom)[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_(United_Kingdom)</a></p>
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<p>Agreed. Judging by his inexplicable belief that " the tri-state area I am from (metroNY with main office in NYC) uses no other language than English", I’m wondering how much of a good observer he could be of foreign cultures/practices when he seemed to be oblivious about some pretty obvious things in the metroNY area like its multi-ethnic/multi-lingual nature…especially within most the 5 boroughs. </p>
<p>And I’m not talking strictly about ethnic neighborhoods…but also the long-standing official use of multiple languages covering the multi-ethnic immigrant populations in the NYC area dating back at least 2 decades. </p>
<p>Heck, just last week…I used a bit of my high school French in passing conversation with the apparent parents of two newly moved in neighbors. Surprisingly, they were quite pleased which is amazing…considering it was my worst subject in high school.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess I could chillax a bit, but I was/am annoyed. I’m not a frequent reader of forums. I don’t normally have the time for this. The reason I’m here is I have a High School Junior and want to learn as much as I can about the system from other’s experiences. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, in doing so, I’ve read a series of anti-American rants/comments and Newstudentmom’s comments finally boiled me over. Believe it or not, it was the eating while walking comment. That was the straw that broke my back.</p>
<p>I have to take the insulting stuff and be silent when I’m abroad, but now I also have to be subjected to it in my living room? Sorry, but it was hard to swallow in my own living room.<br>
Americans are arrogant.
Americans are stupid.
Americans are rude.
Americans don’t eat right.
American kids aren’t good students.
American Universities are taking advantage of foreign students.
Americans don’t give their seats to pregnant women.
Americans eat while they walk.
- Eating while walking? Seriously?! How far are they going to take this?!</p>
<p>Doesn’t this bother anyone else? Where does it end? When does someone stand up and say the act of saying these things about us is just as arrogant and just as rude as the things we are being accused of? … even the act of, G-d forbid, eating while walking. </p>
<p>Seriously, how much of this stuff do we need to swallow before we say “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” 
I’m probably much more sensitive to this than others due to the amount of time I spend in the EU and how much I’m exposed to it. I guess I’ve stayed silent about it for so long that it boiled over when I got exposed to it in my “safe haven”, my own living room.</p>
<p>As for my statement about English in the metoNY area. Yes, there are immigrant populations in the metro area that have trouble with English. And yes, if you open a business in Chinatown, it would behoove you to know a Chinese dialect or two.</p>
<p>The context of what I was saying revolved around the claim that Americans are rude abroad, especially the EU. I sincerely doubt Newstudentmom was accusing these English-as-a-second-language Americans of eating while walking in the EU.</p>
<p>Lastly, as a New Yorker, I disagree that these populations are so pervasive that a typical New Yorker needs to be bilingual to live and work in NYC. I speak four languages, including Spanish. I don’t need a lick of Spanish to get by in my day-to-day… not a lick. I do indeed speak it to be polite to immigrants clearly having trouble with their English, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for anyone living, working, or visiting NYC to speak Spanish or Chinese. </p>
<p>Anyone could go to any big city and find pockets of little to no English. C’mon now. This isn’t Los Angeles, and it could be argued you don’t need Spanish there either (although it is quite helpful). NYC is an English speaking city.</p>
<p>Over there it’s seven years of medical school, and the first three years consists of much of the same pre-med/college curriculum that you would get iin the US</p>
<p>Actually - the first three years you are studying medicine! No gen ed, no distrbution requirements. Medicine, and related subjects. That’s it. It’s the same for all English universities - you only study the subject you apply for as your major (In Scotland, you can study 2-3 subjects in 1st and 2nd year, then focus on one in 3rd and 4th year for your major. It is nowhere near as flexible as the US system)</p>
<p>You can read through the curriculum for the Manchester University School of Medicine as an example</p>
<p>[Medicine</a> (5 years) <a href=“School%20of%20Medicine%20-%20University%20of%20Manchester”>MBChB</a>](<a href=“http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/medicine/coursedetails/?code=01428&pg=2]Medicine”>http://www.medicine.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/medicine/coursedetails/?code=01428&pg=2)</p>
<p>I spent a couple of weeks in Germany, and three things struck me as being really good:</p>
<p>Public transportation was clean, safe, convenient, and easy to use.<br>
The streets, sidewalks, all outdoor spaces were clean, clean, CLEAN.<br>
Almost all stores were closed from 1:00 to 3:00.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap - I am sure there is not a large population of Americans eating goat meat. I understand South Africa eats a lot of goat products and Norway as well as elsewhere.</p>
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<p>Hyperbole much?</p>
<p>Discussing our shortcomings and how we can learn from others is not rude, and it’s certainly not “anti-American.” Sheesh.</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for people of other cultures to think that eating while walking is rude, its sort of a “dont do” thing.</p>
<p>Japan:</p>
<p>How about helping one another out without needing to be reinbursed for it?
Keeping things clean!
Making students clean the school buildings instead of hiring someone.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about anti-American sentiment. </p>
<p>We don’t have enough money to keep intervening in other cultures and soon will simply be seen to have our eccentricities, like the French, who “hate” every one, or the British, who used to have bad teeth, or the sausage eating Germans.</p>
<p>I really appreciate, in Europe, the appreciation for the arts, though the museums in NYC are every bit as good, and I used to love the quiet life of the Greeks, but I guess they haven’t stayed that way, lately. The friendliness of Australians makes Americans look like reserved Brits, imho, and some of the food in Japan is stunning, though some of it is NOT food, also JMO, and I don’t want anything to do with it. The food in Vietnam, that cross of French and Vietanamese, is really good.</p>
<p>One thing I think the rest of the world could learn from the US, and I don’t mean this in a small way, but in a massively huge, ruin your country for me, way, is how to treat women. Even visiting a country as a woman, you will simply not have the same experience as a man. In the US, this is not the case.</p>
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<p>Which shows that Europeans know just as little about America as we know about them. I love how everyone paints a picture of the cultured, sophisticated European as a norm – a lot of times, that isn’t the case.</p>
<p>Maikai, I’m with you. Especially on this:</p>
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<p>At the majority of European schools (save for LSE or the like), if you pay in full and you’re a foreigner, you’re in.</p>
<p>How to enforce immigration laws.</p>
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<p>Hey, I resemble that remark :)</p>
<p>Thankfully in my case the culture and sophistication fairy skipped a generation and my kids got it… What drives a lot of us Elbonian-Americans crazy with Elbonia tho is the ‘formality’ of it all… A lot of ‘this is how it is’ type stuff, i.e. why nothing is open on Sunday… </p>
<p>The trick is to use what’s available… One of my sayings is that “Happiness is: food from Asia (none of that foi gras, hamburger, or British meat pie stuff); drinks from Europe (none of that plum flavored stuff, medicinal alcohol raki stuff, and the like) and desserts from America (none of them postage stamp sized French pastries and the like :))”</p>
<p>In essence, America’s adaptability is what others can learn from America… At the people level - at the country level, we’re nowhere as adaptable as we need to be, but I don’t think anyone has nailed that down to a science outside America either…</p>
<p>What others could learn from America:</p>
<p>Chicken fried steak with cream gravy, mashed potatoes (also w/cream gravy), and fried okra.</p>
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My town probably learned this from Europe!</p>
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<p>Hey, I love a good shepherd’s pie!</p>
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<p>That’s true; very true.</p>
<p>How about some levity. We Americans sure could learn that fútbol is indeed THE sport.</p>