The permanent, eternal thingy inside us .. I assumed Spiny's uncle was a Christian.
Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Yes, it's an amazing area. I spent New Year up near the border. It's quite a drive!Saengnapha wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:20 pmA few years back, we drove up to Kanchanaburi and visited the monument and museum they built there. The bridge is right there in town. We then drove all the way up to 3 Pagoda Pass on the Myanmar border. This is a beautiful area, still very pristine. I thought about the travail these people must have encountered building this railway. Dense forest, mountainous terrain, malaria, and systematically being worked to death. Now, it is a very peaceful area and well worth a trip if you ever get out this way.
The movie The Railway Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Man_(film) is worth seeking out, the story having a basis in fact (Lomax and Takashi Nagase both wrote books about their experiences during and after the war, though the movie, inevitably, plays up some aspects for dramatic effect).
Mike
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Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
The novel 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North', by Richard Flanagan inspired me to go there. The book won some prizes, I believe.mikenz66 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:52 pmYes, it's an amazing area. I spent New Year up near the border. It's quite a drive!Saengnapha wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:20 pmA few years back, we drove up to Kanchanaburi and visited the monument and museum they built there. The bridge is right there in town. We then drove all the way up to 3 Pagoda Pass on the Myanmar border. This is a beautiful area, still very pristine. I thought about the travail these people must have encountered building this railway. Dense forest, mountainous terrain, malaria, and systematically being worked to death. Now, it is a very peaceful area and well worth a trip if you ever get out this way.
The movie The Railway Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Railway_Man_(film) is worth seeking out, the story having a basis in fact (Lomax and Takashi Nagase both wrote books about their experiences during and after the war, though the movie, inevitably, plays up some aspects for dramatic effect).
Mike
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Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
I think he was Church of England, and therefore not religious.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Wyoming, Arkansas, Bible Belt, Delaware, Ohio, Cape Cod MA, Spokane Washington
Add to the list Richmond.
Add to the list Richmond.
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
To answer your question...Americans will assume any ".com" domain is automatically American...(isn't it?) and will assume every other person is most likely American as well. ("Those foreign people have their own websites")
...and since, you know, we invented everything...
Hope it helps.
...and since, you know, we invented everything...
Hope it helps.
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Sigh.LostOne wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 1:27 am To answer your question...Americans will assume any ".com" domain is automatically American...(isn't it?) and will assume every other person is most likely American as well. ("Those foreign people have their own websites")
...and since, you know, we invented everything...
Hope it helps.
And they assume any religious person is Christian.
The funny thing is, Americans are not alone in any of this. We all assume that "we" are normal and that any undefined "other" is more or less like ourselves, until shown otherwise.
Also, of course, that "different" is almost synonymous with "inferior" or "wrong", as in "Those foreign people drive on the wrong side of the road!"
Kim
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Lots of Aussies died on the Burma Railway, too, so it was part of the WW2 history we learned in school.Saengnapha wrote: ↑Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:51 am The novel 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North', by Richard Flanagan inspired me to go there. The book won some prizes, I believe.
Flanagan is one of Australia's internationally-respected novelists. He's brilliant but most of his books are quite difficult, as in painful, to read - compelling but very dark. Here's an American review of the Narrow Road: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertai ... story.html
Kim
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Kim OHara wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 11:26 am The funny thing is, Americans are not alone in any of this. We all assume that "we" are normal and that any undefined "other" is more or less like ourselves, until shown otherwise.
Also, of course, that "different" is almost synonymous with "inferior" or "wrong", as in "Those foreign people drive on the wrong side of the road!"
Kim
Not to stir up controversy but Americans are quite alone in this.
Germans do not think rest of the world has beer with breakfast (okay shortly after breakfast but still very early by anyone else's standards), British do not assume rest of the world has pudding at end of a meal and so on.
Trust me .. if you ask 1,000 American kids tomorrow morning .. who won Eurovision song contest on Saturday .. they would not be able to answer. Let alone know about Asia or Australia .. they have no clue about Europe.
Ask them which US state has an ongoing emergency due to natural disaster and has requested federal assistance .. let me see how many of the 1,000 can answer. In my experience no more than 80.
They are completely insulated from rest of the world.
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus
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Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
The Aussies seemed to have pumped a bit of money into the museum and some monuments there. They certainly took a lot of losses along with all the SE Asian civiilians that were used as slaves.Kim OHara wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 11:41 amLots of Aussies died on the Burma Railway, too, so it was part of the WW2 history we learned in school.Saengnapha wrote: ↑Sat Mar 24, 2018 2:51 am The novel 'The Narrow Road To The Deep North', by Richard Flanagan inspired me to go there. The book won some prizes, I believe.
Flanagan is one of Australia's internationally-respected novelists. He's brilliant but most of his books are quite difficult, as in painful, to read - compelling but very dark. Here's an American review of the Narrow Road: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertai ... story.html
Kim
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Do you have any evidence to back this up or are you somehow able to make this observation through a screen? If you would have made this statement in 1999 I would have agreed with you, but don't sleep on the American youth these days, they are actually well informed --- perhaps a bit too intense, too dramatic and too leftist, but well informed nonetheless.
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
I am teaching them for 12 years including right now .. I talk with them.SDC wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 2:47 pmDo you have any evidence to back this up or are you somehow able to make this observation through a screen? If you would have made this statement in 1999 I would have agreed with you, but don't sleep on the American youth these days, they are actually well informed --- perhaps a bit too intense, too dramatic and too leftist, but well informed nonetheless.
Unless you are a teacher, I can confidently say I have greater interaction with them than you. They are random from all states (not Hawaii or Alaska though), all ethnicities, all income groups.
They love to talk to a friendly adult .. apparently we are more patient than adults they know. So I know.
No slur intended. Just an observation. Such as most Indians working in call centers have funny accent -- just an observation .. like that.
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Teaching them in India or in America? What age?No_Mind wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 2:56 pmI am teaching them for 12 years including right now .. I talk with them.SDC wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 2:47 pmDo you have any evidence to back this up or are you somehow able to make this observation through a screen? If you would have made this statement in 1999 I would have agreed with you, but don't sleep on the American youth these days, they are actually well informed --- perhaps a bit too intense, too dramatic and too leftist, but well informed nonetheless.
I apprentice people in their late teens/early 20's, I talk with them too. So...
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
Re: Why do Americans not have to announce which country they are from?
Of course not in India!! Almost fully high school students and few (say 10%) from community colleges, nursing school, exam prep to be a firefighter or ASVABSDC wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:43 pmTeaching them in India or in America? What age?No_Mind wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 2:56 pmI am teaching them for 12 years including right now .. I talk with them.SDC wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 2:47 pm
Do you have any evidence to back this up or are you somehow able to make this observation through a screen? If you would have made this statement in 1999 I would have agreed with you, but don't sleep on the American youth these days, they are actually well informed --- perhaps a bit too intense, too dramatic and too leftist, but well informed nonetheless.
I apprentice people in their late teens/early 20's, I talk with them too. So...
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”― Albert Camus