Brown, Jon Brow
25th June 2016, 19:45
So a few weeks ago I spent two amazing weeks in the USA for my mates stag (bachelor party) and wedding to an American girl. Here are a few things I learned from my time across the pond.
The first weekend was in New York City. Despite a cock up with our accommodation in Manhattan (airBnb didn't show up) our party of 5 were able to find somewhere to stay in Jersey City instead. After our first visit to a nightclub, which was on a boat on the Hudson, it becomes obvious that American girls like talking to English guys!
Another observation comes from Irish bars. Obviously coming from Britain I encounter many Irish people at home, but the accent of the 'Irish' in New York is like nothing I've heard before.
Our next location was Chicago. We only spent one day there and despite being a beautiful city, for a city of its size there is very little going on. It seemed to me like a big version of Birmingham.
Next up was a the beginning of the road trip. Stage one was a 200 mile drive on the IS65 to Indianapolis. A state capital but had the feeling of a big suburb. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of American Ales, lots of wheat beer, Newcastle Brown on tap and a British take called 'Bugger Off' .
I'd previously driven in the USA before but not done much city driving over there. But the grid system in the cities makes it quite simple. The only thing I had to concentrate on was turning left.
Phase 2 was 300 miles south to Nashville. Drove through Kentucky without seeing a single KFC, so we stopped for at a diner where the change of accent becomes apparent 'Ya wanna top up on ya soda, sugar?'. But what was waiting for us in Nashville was unexpected. The CMA Awards were in town. I know very little about country music but I'm sad I didn't have any cowboy boots. It was a great experience.
Phase 3 was 200 miles along the 40 to Memphis. The best thing about Memphis? BBQ ribs at Rendezvous. One of the best things I've ever tasted. One observation from driving on the Interstate is the reluctance of people to keep right when not overtaking.
Next up was a long drive across Arkansas to meet up with the wedding party. We were in a fairly remote area with one store in a 30 mile radius (called Backwoods :laugh:). An interesting moment came when we were asked for ID buying beer by the lady in Backwoods. I don't suppose she'd ever seen a none American ID before so we had to explain where the date of birth was shown on an English driving license. Y'all a long way from home boys aren't ya'
Over the wedding weekend I really enjoyed my time talking to the brides American family and friends. The southern accent is a pleasure to the ears and everyone was really friendly, even they didn't understand our English half of the time.
I did try and get some of you to say certain words correctly:
Twitter not 'twidder'
Water not 'wader'
Toyota not 'Toyoda'
Condom not 'Cand'm' :erm:
We watched the England v Russia game in a quiet bar in Fayeteville, Arkansas after we asked if they could change the channel from Baseball. When Eric Diers free-kick hit the back of the net and we all roared, the Americans were stunned into silence asking 'what happened??'. They were probably worried an English Soccer riot was about to happen. Hopefully the Americans wanted the English to beat the Russians....
We had another night in New York before our flight back. Maybe I was tired but the after being in the south the New York accent just seemed annoying. New York has a similar feeling to London in that everyone is busy all the time and quite rude, but I feel once you've seen the main attractions it has less to offer to other global cities like London or Paris. I'm also not a fan of the NY Subway in comparison to other underground railways I've used. Stations aren't clearly called out when on the train and buying a ticket is a long drawn out affair. How is a foreign tourist supposed to use a credit card to buy a ticket when we are asked for a zip code?
Overall, thank you America for an incredible few weeks. :beer:
I'd really like to check out the west coast next time.
The first weekend was in New York City. Despite a cock up with our accommodation in Manhattan (airBnb didn't show up) our party of 5 were able to find somewhere to stay in Jersey City instead. After our first visit to a nightclub, which was on a boat on the Hudson, it becomes obvious that American girls like talking to English guys!
Another observation comes from Irish bars. Obviously coming from Britain I encounter many Irish people at home, but the accent of the 'Irish' in New York is like nothing I've heard before.
Our next location was Chicago. We only spent one day there and despite being a beautiful city, for a city of its size there is very little going on. It seemed to me like a big version of Birmingham.
Next up was a the beginning of the road trip. Stage one was a 200 mile drive on the IS65 to Indianapolis. A state capital but had the feeling of a big suburb. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of American Ales, lots of wheat beer, Newcastle Brown on tap and a British take called 'Bugger Off' .
I'd previously driven in the USA before but not done much city driving over there. But the grid system in the cities makes it quite simple. The only thing I had to concentrate on was turning left.
Phase 2 was 300 miles south to Nashville. Drove through Kentucky without seeing a single KFC, so we stopped for at a diner where the change of accent becomes apparent 'Ya wanna top up on ya soda, sugar?'. But what was waiting for us in Nashville was unexpected. The CMA Awards were in town. I know very little about country music but I'm sad I didn't have any cowboy boots. It was a great experience.
Phase 3 was 200 miles along the 40 to Memphis. The best thing about Memphis? BBQ ribs at Rendezvous. One of the best things I've ever tasted. One observation from driving on the Interstate is the reluctance of people to keep right when not overtaking.
Next up was a long drive across Arkansas to meet up with the wedding party. We were in a fairly remote area with one store in a 30 mile radius (called Backwoods :laugh:). An interesting moment came when we were asked for ID buying beer by the lady in Backwoods. I don't suppose she'd ever seen a none American ID before so we had to explain where the date of birth was shown on an English driving license. Y'all a long way from home boys aren't ya'
Over the wedding weekend I really enjoyed my time talking to the brides American family and friends. The southern accent is a pleasure to the ears and everyone was really friendly, even they didn't understand our English half of the time.
I did try and get some of you to say certain words correctly:
Twitter not 'twidder'
Water not 'wader'
Toyota not 'Toyoda'
Condom not 'Cand'm' :erm:
We watched the England v Russia game in a quiet bar in Fayeteville, Arkansas after we asked if they could change the channel from Baseball. When Eric Diers free-kick hit the back of the net and we all roared, the Americans were stunned into silence asking 'what happened??'. They were probably worried an English Soccer riot was about to happen. Hopefully the Americans wanted the English to beat the Russians....
We had another night in New York before our flight back. Maybe I was tired but the after being in the south the New York accent just seemed annoying. New York has a similar feeling to London in that everyone is busy all the time and quite rude, but I feel once you've seen the main attractions it has less to offer to other global cities like London or Paris. I'm also not a fan of the NY Subway in comparison to other underground railways I've used. Stations aren't clearly called out when on the train and buying a ticket is a long drawn out affair. How is a foreign tourist supposed to use a credit card to buy a ticket when we are asked for a zip code?
Overall, thank you America for an incredible few weeks. :beer:
I'd really like to check out the west coast next time.