Tourism on Bleeding4Metal - Pt.2: USA

[shadowman]

Wow !
That is already an impressive list there Ryan !
Thanks for the reaction so far !
You really live by that 'born to live, live to ride' - feeling right ?

Could you tell us what part of the country you are from ?

[This Dying Soul]

well i am origionally from the state of Washington which is in the northwest corner of the continental united states, but have lived in alaska, oregon, california, florida, north carolina ohio and now indiana.

in all the states i have viewed and wittnessed many diferences from one state to the other, but at the same time i see alot of the same things, just sometimes in different manors.. also being a truck driver and an avid motorcyclis I also get to see alot of the country from a personal view and aspect of things. ranging from a wide variety of people, talents, ways of living, culteral atmosphere do to geographical location and such. all in all I see that americans are all about the same in alot of aspects though depending on what part of the country you are from ways of living and values are alot different. no matter where you go in this country you will never escape hatred. though there are places where there are nicer people and such depending on communitees their will never be an end to hatred here. and that is the true miss unfortion of my country you always see me so proud of. if it isnt due to rasicm, it is politicts, power, money, religion, slefishness and uncarring....

all in all though I am very proud of who I am my enviroment and where I stand in life and in this country.. truly I am a country man and all and yes, I do believe in the saying "ride to live and live to ride" its a thing of pride. because their is only three things in this country that makes me feel true freedom. well four but one i dont need to mention lmao.. 1.riding my motor cycle, driving semi truck, and running down the quarter mile as fast as I can make my car run.....

[shadowman]

well i am origionally from the state of Washington which is in the northwest corner of the continental united states, but have lived in alaska, oregon, california, florida, north carolina ohio and now indiana.

..

Impressive !
Is this an American thing as well ?
Moving so much ?

[This Dying Soul]

lol.. nah it isnt.. i jsut like to be on the move.. thoughi am getting ready to finally settle down i think.. it was more of i was looking for the right place to actually call my home and I figured that the only way to do so was to check out a few states that I actually liked.. and well I think i have found that place.. I am going to be going back to NC soon.. better then any other place to be.. very homy, people are AWSOME with a capitol A and it is jsut plumb sexy their....... so no it isnt an american thing so much as it is a "ME" thing....

[Metalmaiden]

Route 66.

There even was a route 666!
Unfortunately it was renamed this year.
:(

Greetz,

Tex

Is that true ??

 :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:

He's absolutely right!



They have this system for numbering highways here and it just sort of happened. That was 1926,  it was named that as an offshoot road of Route 66. They finally remaine it in 2003 Route 491.

[Metalmaiden]

Been away for a few days so I haven't  fully digested (no pun intended here) all that was said here but  one thing struck me from  all your comments. ....Yes this is a very vast country so areas are different from each other but I think the image, repeated by most of  BIG, BIGGER , BIGGEST, IS  totally accurate!! America is  oversized everything. "Super sized".  We are unashamed and  unrepenting overconsumers of everything. We're overweight and just plain FAT! From North to South, from sea to shining sea! (And I think, I hope at least,  we are just beginning to understand  the error of our ways.)

[This Dying Soul]

 We are unashamed and  unrepenting overconsumers of everything.

hey mom welcome back, but speak for yourself.. I didnt get this biker fluffy ass, billy "BIG" rigger belly for nothing.. that was alot of hard work doing them bad ass "super sized" meals from the Mickey D's menu  :lol2:    :insane:  :mrgreen:  :laugh:

[evilshell]

I've kind of been waiting to see what everyone said before I chimed in here.

I'm an American expat, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, spent 12 years (my 20s and early 30s) in the NYC area and moved to Switzerland two years ago.  

Yep, americans are overweight. I should know, I'm one of them However, the Germans are also overweight, as are the Brits and many French (at least here in the Alsace region). It is a global problem, except that it partially started in the States and its fetish for everything being bigger - including the meal portions.  Bigger is better - but while that is the prevailing attitude and the population size is getting larger by the day, there is still a tremendous amount of discrimination against overweight people. Hell, discrimination against anything and anyone that doesn't fit the "norm". And that is America - a country of dichotomies.

When I think of America, I think of how the country is perceived in the world. There was an article in a local free newspaper yesterday about how the presidential election is more like rock star antics than about politics. That is pretty global for the entire country.

America is a beautiful country. Some of the people are wonderful. But it is a country of extremes. Extreme poverty sitting next to extreme wealth. Extreme intelligence and creativity next to ignorance and illiteracy.

After my last trip back, I described it as being the place of "plastic people in plastic homes with plastic lives". I'm sure that's going to offend a lot of other Americans - but that's how I felt after being away from the country for just over a year (at the time of that visit). Of course, not everyone is like that , but we are talking stereotypes here  - and that was mine

[This Dying Soul]

I feel so betrayed.... HATER!!!!!!!!

LOL sorry shelly just joking with ya.. I dont really hate youf ro what you said.. even though you left us to be with out you and went to switz your still all american to me babe and you have like any one else your right to opinion here right.. just read my posts I am sure there are people who arent happy with me bacue of certain things that I said and well who gives a shit I am not here to make every one happy.. just the ones who aggree with me eh.. lmao.. love ya all....

[evilshell]

I feel so betrayed.... HATER!!!!!!!!

LOL sorry shelly just joking with ya.. I dont really hate youf ro what you said.. even though you left us to be with out you and went to switz your still all american to me babe and you have like any one else your right to opinion here right.. just read my posts I am sure there are people who arent happy with me bacue of certain things that I said and well who gives a shit I am not here to make every one happy.. just the ones who aggree with me eh.. lmao.. love ya all....

Oh - don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater! Although some call me a traitor simply because I left, but that's different.

I may be American by birth, but I've not been American by mind (at least not completely, there are some things which are so undeniably American about me that they hurt! ) since I was a teenager.

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion - and just because they're different doesn't make them any less valid. I liked seeing what you said about the States - you've given me a view of our country that I can't ever see.

Edited to fix a silly word typo

[shadowman]

Splendid description Evilshell.
This is more or less a confirmation of the thoughts I have about tte USA.

I must admit, I' ve never been over the great ocean to visit your -as Ryan says- undeniable beautiful country. Isn't it striking that us Europeans never talk about the richness and the beauty of the country when we talk about America. I pleed guilty as well I'm afraid.  :oops:

Things in Amerika's recent history  have undoubtably changed the way non US citizens talk about -and look at - America and I am afraid not for the better... :cry:

Isn't it so that America displays itself in a twisted way to the rest of the world ? Just look at tv shows, movies etc... So many negative aspects of the American society are repeated constantly, homicide, rape, drugs, organized crime, overpopulated prisons... Believe me, many Europeans are simply afraid to make a trip to the States.

 :cry:

[TexJoachim]

Things in Amerika's recent history  have undoubtably changed the way non US citizens talk about -and look at - America and I am afraid not for the better... :cry:

How right you are.
:(

Believe me, many Europeans are simply afraid to make a trip to the States.

Wouldn't say that. I'd rather say that losts of Europeans don't want to visit a country that unfortunately turns more and more into a police state.
Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against America or Americans. I have worked for US compainies, met nice US citizens...

But seeing that the DMCA is actually used against people voicing their opinion, seeing that foreigners are photographed and have to leave a fingerprint when crossing the border and that foreigner's information has to be released by flight companies in advance makes me sick. No one gets told where or how long this information is stored, what it is used for and who will get into contact with it.
Coming from a country that once was a totalitarian state (Nazi Germany) and just reunited with a state that was a totalitarian state merely 15 years ago (GDR) this makes me angry.

I'd love to experience the Indian Summer, but I'll never share my personal data without knowing what will happen to it...
:(

Greetz,

Tex

[The Metal RN]

Hello, time for me to chirp in with my two cents!

Things in Amerika's recent history  have undoubtably changed the way non US citizens talk about -and look at - America and I am afraid not for the better... :cry:

This is undeniably true.

From my perspective, I have seen/felt this. This is an election year for our President to be elected, and there has been so much negative campaigning going around,you can not escape it. What happened on 9/11/2001 was frightening, confusing, and unsettling. What is going on in Iraq and Afghanistan is frightening, confusing and unsettleing. i was really starting to feel anger and sadness for what I felt this country was becoming. The media are constantly focusing on the negative, all you see is what is wrong.

I had a chance to go to my nations capitol in September. i had never been there, and it was awesome. I felt a real surge of patriotism. Here we have wonderful monuments to great leaders in our past, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR (Roosevelt), and there are memorials to great atrocities (war and the holocaust).  There are numerous museums and exhibits, free to the public that showcase great accomplishments and achievments. It was unbeleivable. I think that when most foreigners visit the USA, they visit New York, but this only serves to perpetuate the stereotype of bigger is better. We are a country of diverse states. I live in the Northeast section of the US, known for its wonderful Autumn foliage color changes. I have been lucky enough to go to Hawaii, the opposite end of the country, ahhhhhh..... paradise. We have the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, and great national parks such as Yellowstone.

As has been pointed out we are a country of contradiction we have some of the richest rich and the poorest poor. But we are also a very diverse country, we were founded by immigrants from other countries, the melting pot (as I beleive Horus stated 8)  ). we have had a turbulent history. The war for Independence, the Civil war, Civil rights movement. That creates a opportunity for a great exchange of ideas and philosophies, I only hope that we can use it to our advantage and learn from our mistakes, even the ones we make today.

[AngelOfMusic]

Metalmaiden prodded me to join in the discussion here, so here I am.

Whatever gave you the idea I was from the midwest?  It couldn't be something over to the left under my user picture, could it?  


Well, as an American, when I think if my country I think of fields full of beans and corn, cattle roaming around (hey, they ARE fenced in. :D) and people who LOVE Europeans.  I kid you not.  People in this country are so enchanted by anyone who visits from a foriegn land, especially if you're from Europe.  We're especically crazy for accents.  If you've ever seen Love Actually, you know the scene where Collin gets to the US and the three girls are so amused and enchanted by his accent?  That's not filmmaker fancy, that's seriously how alot of people act when they meet someone from outside of the US.  

[Metalmaiden]

*Cattle.Prod. hehe*

Thanks for joining in AngelofMusic. Great to hear your views.

And about the love of accents  (& Europeans in general) -- I am definitely guilty as charged.

 oh, and @Horus-Nikopol I thought your list  was   very  good!