Visiting the USA

So what do you specifically want to know about America?

edited 24th Aug '13 9:37:16 PM by DeviantBraeburn

Speaking from personal experience, southerners like to have enough sugar in their tea to kill a small large animal elephant.

Well, I wasn't looking for anything specific, just some general advice and a fun conversation.

Well, part of the problem is that general advice is really hard to hit. But a couple things I find that help:

• Always carry cash. Nothing's more embarrassing than pulling out plastic to pay for something only to find out they don't take it. Also, I am reliably informed that it's better to tip in cash as opposed to adding it to the bill charge. This is totally for reasons other than cash being hard to track, meaning that the waitstaff can not report it on their income taxes.
• If you're driving, try to keep your tank at least half-full. Given the continental US's relative sizes in geography and population, there's a lot of empty space, especially in the western Central and Mountain time zones. (Personal anecdote: the first time I drove through North Dakota, I saw a road sign I'd never encountered before- "No services.") By the same token, keep jumper cables, a tire iron, a jack, and a serviceable spare with you at all times. Ideally, a spare should be full-sized, not the half-assed donut variety, since those usually impose speed restrictions.
• If you smoke, do a little research beforehand to figure out the best deals. Many rural areas are fairly relaxed about it, but in some urban areas "smoker" is below "Nazi medical researcher" in terms of respectability, with sin taxes on cigs to match. Sometimes you'll actually save money by jumping a county line or two to buy cartons.
• If you drink, remember that the minimum age for drinking is 21. Also, a lot of states have local variations on when/where you can buy alcohol: Minnesota has government-owned liquor stores, North Dakota has privately-owned liquor stores that must be separate from grocery stores, Illinois has liquor in grocery stores that can't be bought before noon on Sundays, and Louisiana has mixed drinks that can be bought from a goddamn drive-thru.

edited 26th Aug '13 2:57:44 AM by edgewalker22

benneb was not asking for "general advice" though, specifically we were told "summer camp couneller".

A lot seems superfluous but if benneb appreciates it I guess there is no problem.

Pfft. Lightweights. My blood content is 35% pure cane sugar. And I only put about 2 cups of sugar into every gallon of sweet tea.

For the tourist explorator to the US, talking about videogames can be a good icebreaker in conversations with people your own age and younger. If nothing else you can always be sure that you and the other person can start talking about Mario and transition into some other game you both have experience with. Might help with any kids that are obviously less than thrilled to be at a summer camp with a lack of electronics.

I know that the tea I drink has more in common with syrup than water.

Cane fields... they have a lot to answer for... <shudders>

Like those bloody cane toads (grumble grumble)

And a shame I missed out on the tea discussion. I was gonna make a snarky comment of how it's not that hard to find a nice packet of loose leaf, boil up a billy, and serve with a bit of milk on top. How people can drink the crap that is Liptons (Twinings for Teabags, Dilmah for Loose Leaf in my house) is beyond me >_>

Iced Tea, for me at least, has it's place as a summertime afternoon thing that is no replacement for a good cuppa tea (All Year, Ever Day)

Why in the world would you drink hot tea in the summer is beyond me.

Same reason you eat chilli or curry: to get a sweat on to help cool down with. It's the same reason why you take a shower and feel cooler coming out of it than you did going in. <shrugs>

British were drinking tea in Sudan, India and (of course) Australia. Brits (And their tea-lovin' Commonwealth breatheren) dun care the location as long as they can get their fix.

Even if it's, like 46oC outside.

edited 27th Aug '13 3:58:02 PM by PippingFool

It just means the kettle takes less time to boil.

Tea IS my beverage of choice during the Aussie summer. Because nothing quite beats a good cuppa tea in the morning.

It's always a good idea to boil water anyway to kill of germs and such. Not so much a problem in the US or any western nation anymore but annother reason why this might have caught on in the past.

You may already be familiar with the Fahrenheit scale, but I'll give you the lowdown just in case.

First off, don't bother trying with mathematical conversions. It's a waste of time. Give yourself new reference points instead:

• 0 = really fucking cold. Schools for small children are often canceled if it gets this cold.
• 10 = still balls-ass cold, but nothing's gonna be canceled for it. However, in snowy areas, it's very likely you'll be "snowed in" — i.e., unable to go anywhere because snow blocks your way everywhere.
• 20 = Really cold, but generally bearable. You can expect a lot of snow at this temperature in snowy areas.
• 30 = One temperature where conversions are useful — this is basically 0 C. Cold but not unbearable.
• 40 = Fridge temperature.
• 50 = Jacket weather; chilly, but you can still have a great time outside.
• 60 = Cool but nice. Here's where you might see people in shorts.
• 70 = Generally held to be bona fide "perfect weather." If someone refers to a place as being "70 degrees every day," it's generally understood to mean "the weather is always agreeable."
• 80 = Hot but nice. Old people might not like it, but younger folks are still outside having a blast.
• 90 = Hot. Generally where it starts getting unpleasant again. You might see warnings of heat waves if it gets much above this.
• 100 = Stay inside and put the AC on full blast.
• 110 = This only feasibly happens in areas like Nevada or Arizona; deserts, in other words. It's unpleasantly hot even without high humidity.

And with US being as big as it is, average temperature in a given season varies immensely. Locals will often be able to tell that you're "not from around here" when the temperature reaches extremes. (Minnesotans are active at far lower temperatures than Floridians, for example, while Floridians can tell a snowbird who can't handle their muggy summer temps and humidity.)

Don't buy your wardrobe until you find out where you'll be stationed—you'll want to adjust for average temperature and humidity, and likelihood of severe weather.

Exactly, 80 degrees in Arizona is beautiful because Arizona has little humidity. Here in Arkansas it was 108 Degrees F but it felt even worse because we have about 70% humidity compared to Arizona, making the heat index feel like 113ish.

Rain, wind, and other elements are also different depending where you are. Flooding and Tornadoes are normal occurrences down here. But there are places just an hour a way that have never seen a twister before, and you go in an hour in another direction and you can see what happens when forest fires go.

Just a hint, most of Europe can fit into America: that's a lot of land and people to experience and enjoy. You can find whatever you're looking for here. Just know what you're wanting so a native can direct you to the best place to experience it.

Indeed. Humidity is a huge factor. I grew up in the mojave desert, where it's all dry heat and no humidity, although it's a very intense dry heat. When I went to the middle east, I felt right at home weather wise, it really wasn't that different. Other folks were suffering from the heat quite a bit, and I was kicking back in a lawn chair outside while people ran for the nearest AC.

Now when we went to Guam for a training exercise? I wanted to die. I cannot deal with humidity as a result, it takes me a long time to adapt.

Altitude too, we have the gambit of that too.

Athletes in Colorado, such as the Denver Broncos often are accused of cheating because Colorado has such a high altitude their cardio is amazing.

Then you have places like New Orleans and most of the Mississippi flood plain which is below sea level and loosing land every second.

That reminds me. If your are stuck in the south eastern part of the country you should know they have swamp rate, with iron teeth, which are literally eating that part of the continent. The simple act of removing them from the wild is considered a good deed so you might have to get used to eating roasted rodent. I saw it on the TV.

There are also invasions of Asiatic carp and lampreys, don't know if anyone actually eats the latter but when I mentioned hand fishing you probably will not be fishing for lamprey that way. As far as fish you cannot eat go, be wary of sturgeon. People like to eat their caviar or something and they are endangered.

Cider, "I saw it on TV" is a great way to get misinformation. There are no rodents "with iron teeth which are literally eating that part of the continent." And while nutria (which is probably what you heard about,) are a pest and can be killed as vermin, roasted rodent is not a typical menu item anywhere.

Please stop contributing nonsense as fact.

I'd seriously hate to be a first time visitor to this country with only this thread as advice.

'If you go to America, be prepared to eat rat.'

Kayyyyyyyyyyyy.

Edgewalker is right on about Louisiana's attitude towards alcohol, though.

I'd admonish you for that, but anyone who can't see it's a joke deserves to feel silly.

What you can find sprinkled throughout the US are restaurants and grocery stores that deal in authentic foodstuffs from around the world. We have lots of immigrants and they like to bring their food along. You may have to do a bit of searching to find the one little shop but it's a good way to find snacks and meals from places and cultures you've never experienced before.

I'm in upstate South Carolina and I was amazed to find a Chinese grocer/importer less than an hour from my house. So yeah, you can find just about anything almost anywhere here.

edited 28th Aug '13 11:33:05 AM by AnSTH

I guess I should throw out Texas' liquor laws, or what I know of them.

You can't buy liquor between the hours of midnight and 6am on Monday through Saturday mornings, and 1 am and noon on Sunday mornings (this can be a hassle for any american football fans whose games start at noon on a Sunday, gotta buy it on Saturday folks!)

Along with that, you can't buy hard-liquor anywhere except for specialty liquor stores, but you can buy regular beer and wine anywhere that has a liquor license.

On the weather note, if you are stationed near the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, you will want to keep an eye out on weather forcasts for hurricanes (what we call cyclones). We don't get them year round (only between June and November), but if one hits they can be a doozy, especially considering a lot of people aren't prepared for them.

Only one has hit North America (the recent Tropical Storm Fernand, which hit central Mexico), but it's only a matter of time...