Alec's Tavern : The Frost Blast
- Thread starter Alec Walter Conway
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Yeah pretty amazing, so much for the Copenhagen meeting.
the most boring thing is that we weren't prepared for this cold.
usually is gets colder day after day when you enter winter, and your body slowly gets used to it, but this year, it has been spring till 15 days ago, and then suddently polar cold.... brrrrr
one day you could go outside wearing only a sweater and the day after you needed jacket, hat and scarf all together to not freeze
i was speaking of cities! i don't like modern cities/architecture. i don't have any particular interest about seeing modern cities, like new york or all those cities with skyscrapers, towers and stuff. i know there's more than big new metropolis in the USA (but surely it's the first thing that comes to my mind when i think to your country) , some people are really fascinated by this kind of things..... but i'm not
regarding nature instead, US must be very beautiful.
OOOOOooo I see. Well, hmm. I've been to a lot of ugly large cities here (hello Dallas, Texas, the ugliest metropolis in the world) . Now, smaller cities, there's plenty of pretty ones. In fact, the one I live in, Ithaca, is really pretty! Princeton is posh as hell, but also very pretty, and as far as the bigger cities go, San Francisco is simply amazing.
Now, you're right about the modern element. There's nothing like Paris, Rome, Monaco, London in the United States. San Francisco is probably the closest thing we have to an architecturally really intense city, and even then, it's barely 150, 160 years old.
But this is the way I look at it: since the cities are "new," it makes them historically interesting for different reasons than European cities. Generally the cities and towns, their locations, have a background relating to American expansion in the 19th century. If you drive around the country, the cities themselves make a really neat interconnecting story of how the country grew into what it is today. Some of that history is really sad; in the Midwest, especially, it was directly related to the expropriation and extermination of Native Americans. But New York City, for example, basically became the financial capital of the world because Governor Clinton (DeWitt, not Bill) signed on some crazy plan to build a canal from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic through New York (in the early 1800s!).
So instead of the cities themselves being a story (like, how in Rome just by looking at the architecture you can see the passage of time), American cities are like, a string of stories. I guess that makes them inherently less interesting to look at, but I'm a geek who travels a lot. I was in Abilene, Kansas the other day, and I was like, OOOooOOoo Wild Bill was Marshall of this town!
Qu Appelle
Tree hugger
Tsk tsk. So, what should we call ourselves instead?
The country is officially called 'The United States of America'. Consequently, citizens of the USA are called Americans.
And while I understand the hostility towards us calling ourselves 'Americans' when there are two continents called North and South America, I don't know what a good substitute name would be to indicate their nationality. This is a genuine question. If we're not 'Americans', what are we? I've heard this point raised many times, yet no good substitute or alternate name for citizens of the USA to replace the problematic term.
I'm open to suggestions.
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
That's awesome, quite true what you say I guess. Doesn't Chicago have old buildings and stuff too?
WTF do you mean by two continents ?
Well everyone in Latin America pretty much call you Gringos (which in C.R. is not a pejorative name anymore, don't know about other countries though). Maybe 'citizens of the U.S.', which is obviously too long, or 'Usonians'. I know I know, until the country is destroyed or something you'll call yourself 'Americans', which in a certain way, you are, but not in the way you mean. I will continue to flame with this issue until I die
.
Qu Appelle
Tree hugger
That's awesome, quite true what you say I guess. Doesn't Chicago have old buildings and stuff too?
WTF do you mean by two continents…?
Well everyone in Latin America pretty much call you Gringos (which in C.R. is not a pejorative name anymore, don't know about other countries though). Maybe 'citizens of the U.S.', which is obviously too long, or 'Usonians'. I know I know, until the country is destroyed or something you'll call yourself 'Americans', which in a certain way, you are, but not in the way you mean. I will continue to flame with this issue until I die
Thanks for the answer!
1. Chicago has some old buildings, but a large chunk of the city was destroyed in 1871, in the Great Fire of Chicago. So, most of the buildings have been built in the 1900's onward. So, I guess it depends on your definition of 'old'
The oldest building I've visited in the USA was a church in Massachusetts built in the late 1600's.2. I've heard 'USAians' thrown around, but that's clunky. But yeah - I guess we stay 'Americans'. Sorry!
We're Americans. From the United States of America. If we were the United States of India, we'd be Indians, not USAins.
And gringo is pejorative. Don't know how you say it's not. I've had it snarled at me plenty of times, and the next moment people will be super nice once I say I'm Puerto Rican.
Like, I understand people don't like Americans. But it's still xenophobia, and it gets old.
And gringo is pejorative. Don't know how you say it's not. I've had it snarled at me plenty of times, and the next moment people will be super nice once I say I'm Puerto Rican.
Like, I understand people don't like Americans. But it's still xenophobia, and it gets old.
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Thanks for the answer!
1. Chicago has some old buildings, but a large chunk of the city was destroyed in 1871, in the Great Fire of Chicago. So, most of the buildings have been built in the 1900's onward. So, I guess it depends on your definition of 'old'
2. I've heard 'USAians' thrown around, but that's clunky. But yeah - I guess we stay 'Americans'. Sorry!
Yeah I know of the great fire, I guess there really aren't many buildings left from before that.
Ah crap!
Oh well I'll still call you Gringos, in a non-pejorative way! As I said before, in Costa Rica gringo is not pejorative. Nope, it's not xenophobia, I just hate that you call yourself 'Americans'. Even if you're Puerto Rican, home of the hideous thing called regetón (along with Panamá), you're still a Gringo
.
Qu Appelle
Tree hugger
Yeah I know of the great fire, I guess there really aren't many buildings left from before that.
Ah crap!
As I said before, in Costa Rica gringo is not pejorative. Nope, it's not xenophobia, I just hate that you call yourself 'Americans'. Even if you're Puerto Rican, home of the hideous thing called regetón (along with Panamá), you're still a Gringo
So, I have another question.
Is this view on US citizens calling themselves 'Americans' common in Costa Rica? Or is it a personal view? Or is it a mix of both? Thanks!
AND...I discovered a term on a completely different forum*, which was, ironically enough, discussing some of the same issues here. The term they used? "US American". It acknowledges that more than one country is under the umbrella of 'the Americas', yet it makes it clear what country they're talking about. And it's not a clunky phrase. I think it's a good compromise. Ideas?
* This is the forum in question - it's actually on Dreamwidth: http://noracharles.dreamwidth.org/181913.html?format=light
Vampyrian
Vault Dweller
It's snowing here as well and I HATE IT. Fucking winter. It's cold as fuck too.:/ I cannot wait for this thing to be over it but it's only December, still some horrible months to go.=( AIYA!
well...in a long period i understand it can be very annoying. but here it's an epic event!
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Yeah it's a pretty common thing, not only here but also in Latin America, and especially in Central America. This kind of 'hate' towards Gringos is mainly due to the military interventions the U.S. has done in Central America. I'm sure that most people are ignorant of what has really happened, but the general feeling is of dislike towards people from the U.S. I try to have an objective view, I hate many things of the U.S., but I am a lot more opened minded than before and I 'think' I understand the country better (this based on more interaction with Gringos here and on my reviewing of my trips to the States).
U.S. Americans is an excellent term! Maybe I should start using it instead of 'Gringos' (at least in an international forum like this), since some people may get offended (Naglfar *cof cof*
).But how cold is it there? You're not that up north .
I'm going to Montréal which can get down to -40C, yeah!!!!!
:Smokin: As you can tell, I love cold weather and to have my balls frozen. I love the feeling of them getting warm again, it's kind of like an orgasm. Just kidding.still snowing...
yeaaaaah i'm happy!!!!!
Is the snow wet enough that you can make a snowman?
Qu Appelle
Tree hugger
U.S. Americans is an excellent term! Maybe I should start using it instead of 'Gringos' (at least in an international forum like this), since some people may get offended (Naglfar *cof cof*
Awesome!
Haha I don't get offended at anything, man! I don't believe in taboo. I'm just saying, gringo is a pejorative term. You call an American a gringo, they don't particularly like it. Reverse the roles; what if Americans decided that spic wasn't a racist term, magically, anymore. Latinos would get pissed off if every American started calling them spics and trying to argue it wasn't a pejorative term. It's interesting because every so often you get racist white people trying to argue the same for nigga / my pals, using the argument that because some black people use it colloquially, it no longer means what it used to. That ignores the history of the word!
Tu sabes bien que esa palabra, "gringo," contiene una historia de resentimiento contra los norteamericanos. Y aunque todo el mundo en las américas, hasta los mismos norteamericanos, entiende que ese resentimiento es válido, no significa que esa palabra no es maliciosa. Yo nunca he viajado a Costa Rica, pero te aseguro que decir que gringo en tu país significa algo diferente que en el resto de latinoamérica es un "tall tale," como decimos acá, de tu parte. =) I know you're just needling Americans by saying that, but when you become casual about disliking a whole group of people, that's the first step towards xenophobia. Even if you don't fashion yourself a xenophobe.
Tu sabes bien que esa palabra, "gringo," contiene una historia de resentimiento contra los norteamericanos. Y aunque todo el mundo en las américas, hasta los mismos norteamericanos, entiende que ese resentimiento es válido, no significa que esa palabra no es maliciosa. Yo nunca he viajado a Costa Rica, pero te aseguro que decir que gringo en tu país significa algo diferente que en el resto de latinoamérica es un "tall tale," como decimos acá, de tu parte. =) I know you're just needling Americans by saying that, but when you become casual about disliking a whole group of people, that's the first step towards xenophobia. Even if you don't fashion yourself a xenophobe.
Vampyrian
Vault Dweller
well...in a long period i understand it can be very annoying. but here it's an epic event!
Well I'm glad you're having fun.:/ It's not snowing anymore here, but it is -18 degrees Celsius.:S *crai crai*
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Hehe yeah I know 'gringo' is in general a pejorative term, I'm kind of teasing you too
.
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Wahoo I just got the tickets to Canada! I'm very excited, I'll start buying tickets for concerts now!!!
Ohhhh Canadaaaaaaaaa!
Ohhhh Canadaaaaaaaaa! 
Thidrek
Dichter (und) Denker
I wish everyone of you a merry christmas (or Yule/Jule for all the heathens out there )!
In Europe we are already enjoying our holidays
)! In Europe we are already enjoying our holidays
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