Running with Americans. Boring conversations due to lack of knowledge

oh right... wrote:

BoA wrote:

They don't have completely different histories. The Dutch and English have been involved in wars and politics for centuries. They even had the same king at one point.

oh right....then I guess that makes that makes them petty much like states in the same country that have nearly the same culture, a nearly unbroken history of a shared national politcal system, a shared language, the same passport, the same laws, the same education system, the same TV shows, the same movies, the same books, the same postal system, a connected highway system, and the nearly the same chains of businesses .

If you are trying to argue that Americans aren't ignorant and self-centered, you're doing a poor job.......

then again......they do have Chinese restaurants.....

It's 2019. The language barrier is non-existent since most Dutch, especially young Dutch, know English. They have easy access to English media, especially now with the internet, and have constant contact with English people. They are in the same political union (for now) which provides easy movement of people and capital. Many of the same businesses that dominate the UK are also popular in the Nederlands. Yes, they are basically like states at this point. Besides I think you're really understating how big of a difference there is between regions of the US. Go spend time in rural Georgia and tell me they're practically the same as people in urban Michigan.

I didn't say Chinese restaurants made Americans experts in Chinese culture. It was just an example of exposure Americans get from other cultures.

so wait, let me get this straight....You are trying to use the fact that most Dutch are fluent in a foreign language as an argument against Europeans NOT being more educated about other countries and cultures than the US?

I have lived in Georgia...and Minnesota...and California...and Pennsylvania ..and Washington.. The differences are pretty small when compared to the differences between European countries.

A higher percentage of Dutch people can speak our language than the percentage of Americans who can find Denmark on a map.

You know this true.

math it out wrote:

A higher percentage of Dutch people can speak our language than the percentage of Americans who can find Denmark on a map.

You know this true.

80% of American posters on here won't even get the joke.

This person would never spend time in the rural US in any state. I'm a US citizen and I haven't done that yet they presume to know the country.

Good Lord how many times are you going to self-own? I was born in alaska....that rural enough for you? I currently live in a town of 300 people.

lol, map man wrote:

math it out wrote:

A higher percentage of Dutch people can speak our language than the percentage of Americans who can find Denmark on a map.

You know this true.

80% of American posters on here won't even get the joke.

okay, I pulled up a map of europe without the names listed and.... I picked Denmark out.

Honestly, i had little idea but i knew it was close to the Scandanavian countries and had something going on about reclaiming a lot of land from the ocean. So I picked up a land mass close to Finland and Norway, and which was surrounded by water.

Go ahead, ask me another!

seattle prattle wrote:

lol, map man wrote:

80% of American posters on here won't even get the joke.

okay, I pulled up a map of europe without the names listed and.... I picked Denmark out.

Honestly, i had little idea but i knew it was close to the Scandanavian countries and had something going on about reclaiming a lot of land from the ocean. So I picked up a land mass close to Finland and Norway, and which was surrounded by water.

Go ahead, ask me another!

Where do they speak Dutch?

question # 2 wrote:

seattle prattle wrote:

okay, I pulled up a map of europe without the names listed and.... I picked Denmark out.

Honestly, i had little idea but i knew it was close to the Scandanavian countries and had something going on about reclaiming a lot of land from the ocean. So I picked up a land mass close to Finland and Norway, and which was surrounded by water.

Go ahead, ask me another!

Where do they speak Dutch?

Denmark. Is Coopenhagen there?

this is a timed quiz

sure........ wrote:

so wait, let me get this straight....You are trying to use the fact that most Dutch are fluent in a foreign language as an argument against Europeans NOT being more educated about other countries and cultures than the US?

I have lived in Georgia...and Minnesota...and California...and Pennsylvania ..and Washington.. The differences are pretty small when compared to the differences between European countries.

No. Sharing the same language is not the point and it's not a competition about who's more educated. It's not an us versus them. Also living in Atlanta in Georgia is clearly not the same as living in Spokane Washington or living in Lehigh Pennsylvania. The people are not the same and the demographics are different as well. If you told someone from Philly that they're the same as someone from Atlanta they'd likely spit on you.

seattle prattle wrote:

question # 2 wrote:

Where do they speak Dutch?

Denmark. Is Coopenhagen there?

Do you realize this is incorrect?

point made

Question # 3 wrote:

seattle prattle wrote:

Denmark. Is Coopenhagen there?

Do you realize this is incorrect?

point made

How would i know?

sure........ wrote:

so wait, let me get this straight....You are trying to use the fact that most Dutch are fluent in a foreign language as an argument against Europeans NOT being more educated about other countries and cultures than the US?

I have lived in Georgia...and Minnesota...and California...and Pennsylvania ..and Washington.. The differences are pretty small when compared to the differences between European countries.

English isn't a foreign language in the Nederlands anymore. They learn it as little kids. It's practically a first language for them.

My point was how much knowledge of cultures outside a society's national border is a bad metric to use for how insular a society is because it gives an unfair advantage to people from small countries. I used the Dutch knowledge of English culture as an example and it spiraled from there.

I agree that cultural differences between regions of the USA are smaller than cultural differences between European countries. Though I think globalization is very quickly making that less and less true.

Takinadump wrote:

sure........ wrote:

so wait, let me get this straight....You are trying to use the fact that most Dutch are fluent in a foreign language as an argument against Europeans NOT being more educated about other countries and cultures than the US?

I have lived in Georgia...and Minnesota...and California...and Pennsylvania ..and Washington.. The differences are pretty small when compared to the differences between European countries.

No. Sharing the same language is not the point and it's not a competition about who's more educated. It's not an us versus them. Also living in Atlanta in Georgia is clearly not the same as living in Spokane Washington or living in Lehigh Pennsylvania. The people are not the same and the demographics are different as well. If you told someone from Philly that they're the same as someone from Atlanta they'd likely spit on you.

i'm not sure you even know the point you are trying to make.

the topic : Conversations with Americans boring due to lack of knowledge.

you: "it's not a competition about who's more educated."

actually...it kind of is.

that's 3 self-owns. You're out.

And the countries in Europe are on average closer in size to eastern US states which are much smaller than western US states.

I agree 100% to everything in bold. thanks for playing, i'm going to bed.

get some sleep wrote:

Takinadump wrote:

No. Sharing the same language is not the point and it's not a competition about who's more educated. It's not an us versus them. Also living in Atlanta in Georgia is clearly not the same as living in Spokane Washington or living in Lehigh Pennsylvania. The people are not the same and the demographics are different as well. If you told someone from Philly that they're the same as someone from Atlanta they'd likely spit on you.

i'm not sure you even know the point you are trying to make.

the topic : Conversations with Americans boring due to lack of knowledge.

you: "it's not a competition about who's more educated."

actually...it kind of is.

that's 3 self-owns. You're out.

Dude you're an idiot. The OP stated that conversation with US people in his extremely limited experience with runners at a camp sucks because they don't know anything. I stated that it's because US runners are not social people in general and won't be inclined to talk about things that aren't superficial.

Takinadump wrote:

BoA wrote:

English isn't a foreign language in the Nederlands anymore. They learn it as little kids. It's practically a first language for them.

My point was how much knowledge of cultures outside a society's national border is a bad metric to use for how insular a society is because it gives an unfair advantage to people from small countries. I used the Dutch knowledge of English culture as an example and it spiraled from there.

I agree that cultural differences between regions of the USA are smaller than cultural differences between European countries. Though I think globalization is very quickly making that less and less true.

And the countries in Europe are on average closer in size to eastern US states which are much smaller than western US states.

except for a few minor exceptions like: France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway , Finland, Poland, UK, Italy, Ukraine, , Romania.........