May I have a quick rant please?

[Carwash]

On a positive note, I've been chatting to a really nice Taiwanese girl who's working up there too, and am enjoying hearing about all the little cultural differences between us, helping her with English words etc.

Mmmmm... *dog*....

 

[domtyler]

On a positive note, I've been chatting to a really nice Taiwanese girl who's working up there too, and am enjoying hearing about all the little cultural differences between us, helping her with English words etc.

Ooh, she sounds quite cute already, can you get a piccy please?

 

[Arch]

Mmmmm... *dog*....

Yeah, food is a big difference! We had a coffee together the other day, overlooking the park, and she was asking, "Do English people eat squirrels?". I explained that a few did, but mostly British people (especially in cities) only ate what they saw in the supermarket, and that was mostly pork, beef, lamb and chicken. And that a lot of people thought of squirrels as rats. To which she said "yeah, and we eat rats!" Then she asked about duck and goose - she was amazed that so many ducks and geese hang about by the river without ending up on the dinner table. Which got me thinking about how little most of us use wild resources... There must be such a large proportion of the population that only ever eat 3 or 4 sorts of meat.

 

[Arch]

Ooh, she sounds quite cute already, can you get a piccy please?

Hmm. "Hi Showna, can I take a picture of you? It's for a man on the internet..."

Think she might run away....

 

[Fnaar]

Hmm. "Hi Showna, can I take a picture of you? It's for a man on the internet..."

Think she might run away....

Showna? Are you sure she ain't from Compton?
I have Taiwanese/Chinese students from time to time... they do choose some odd names.... currently I have a Nigel, Shock and Tweety

 

[papercorn2000]

Not in the office!

It's your bloody office, surely you can close the door!
Don't you ever get bored, nothing much to do...I know, I'll crack one off...?

 

[Fnaar]

It's your bloody office, surely you can close the door!
Don't you ever get bored, nothing much to do...I know, I'll crack one off...?

...bash one out on a piece of A4... no, the office has a big window in the door, even if I did feel the urge!

 

[Canrider]

But I think it is pertinant, when someone complains about how much they've spent and the upheaval of moving over here, and then complains about things being crap...

This thread's pretty pathetic all around, hey, let's trot out that one time an American trod on my toe, burn all dem bastids!!

Five years in this country, and I'm still finding things that are crap. (My current ones: 'mixer taps' that aren't, and a slavish devotion to having everything marked twice, and then again by an external marker) Perhaps you've noted some British people also finding that things are crap.

I'll interject that Arch's nemesis is a truly unpleasant person. However, this has more to do with her being unpleasant than being American.

As to being a foreign student in the UK, well, this person's had time to adapt, at the same time, it was round about my third year that I realised that I wasn't just paying for 100% of the cost of my education in the UK, I was actually paying for all of myself and a bit of a UK student as well! Nice feeling to realise your university is milking you so some other kid can fall asleep in class..

 

[girofan]

Perhaps the best thing to be done, is to inform MI5 that you think she is a Muslim bomber and that extraordinary rendition may be necessary to remove the threat she poses.

 

[asterix]

This thread's pretty pathetic all around, hey, let's trot out that one time an American trod on my toe, burn all dem bastids!!

Hey, this ain't about Canadians y'know.. They're not Americans at all, it's almost as good as being a Brit, Canadian is..

Anyway, if this is a 'quick' rant, what's a long rant take?

 

[Andy in Sig]

Canadians are generally alright and they've even thrown Canrider, their own one man loony left, into exile!

FWIW from my experience I reckon about 20% of Americans are capable of reasonable, intelligent conversation (as opposed to trading slogans) and the rest are just very American.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

At the risk of generalising I've found that Brits in their home country are typically very nice and helpful and patient. When "abroad" they seem to develop that stereo typical a-hole British behaviour. I'm guessing it's an insecurity they have from being so parochial at home.

But then I'm generalising....

Bloody Brits too eh..................

 

[simoncc]

I don't get this topic at all. So someone works with a person who gets on their nerves. That is not a rare thing. Work isn't meant to be enjoyable, that's why it is called work, and why people stop doing it if they win the lottery. If work was enjoyable, you'd be charged for doing it instead of being paid for doing it. If you enjoy your work, that's a bonus, but if you don't, for reasons including obnoxious colleagues, then that's no reason to gripe.

 

[Chuffy]

I don't get this topic at all. So someone works with a person who gets on their nerves. That is not a rare thing. Work isn't meant to be enjoyable, that's why it is called work, and why people stop doing it if they win the lottery. If work was enjoyable, you'd be charged for doing it instead of being paid for doing it. If you enjoy your work, that's a bonus, but if you don't, for reasons including obnoxious colleagues, then that's no reason to gripe.

I'm sure your colleagues love you dearly, you little ray of sunshine you.

 

[punkypossum]

I'm still finding things that are crap. (My current ones: 'mixer taps' that aren't, and a slavish devotion to having everything marked twice, and then again by an external marker)

Have to agree with the mixer taps - why do they never actually mix anything in this country? Instead of warm water, all you seem to end up with is two separate streams, boiling hot at the back and icy cold at the front or vice versa. Why do mixer taps seem to work perfectly well outside the UK???