You can get sick from the concentrated ingredients if you have too much. But really, I was exaggerating. I've just heard many stories of Americans slapping it on thickly and getting sick or at the very least hating the taste and warning people to avoid it. Also, as a child, I tried to be clever by spreading Vegemite and butter on one side of my toast and honey on the other. Needless to say the honey ran into the Vegemite and it was one of the worst tasting surprises I've ever had. Ha!

(I'm a Canadian currently going to school in England, before I jump in and confuse everyone Sorry that most of this is referring to pages back; I don't have regular internet access right now.)

What is one of the best kind of places to eat in England?

What are the best museums to go to?

If I where to go to England right now what are the best things to go see as in plays, ballets, any cool buildings anything like that?

1. Tesco, Sainsbury's....ok, that's only if you're a strapped-for-cash student like me

2. I second Shantih's recommandation for the Imperial War Museum--I could happily spend days there. A ton of museums are government-funded and therefore free which is awesome (for tourists at least!).

3. Les Miserables is fantastic no matter where you are. [/shamelessplugformyfavouritemusicalEVER]

I had a question for any Canadians - obviously from this discussion we've talked about all the different US and UK accents, but I'm wondering how much variation there is in the Canadian accent? I've heard that often near the US border the difference is accent isn't that noticeable, but are there any stronger regional ones, that sort of thing? I wondered if it was that there actually isn't a lot of variation, or there's just not much knowledge floating around about the differences.

It's true, and almost everyone IS near the border, so... Newfoundland has its own, very distinct accent--other than that, and Quebec, we sound pretty similar to the States. In BC, where I come from, we sound a little less Midwest/standard American than Ontario and provinces further east do--a hint closer to English I'm guessing? It's hard for me to tell because I'm so used to it, but American friends of mine have commented on it. Either way it's not a huge difference.

Random differences I've noticed, living in the UK:
-We dress far less fashionably and formally...or maybe this is a Pacific Northwest thing, where hoodies and jeans are the norm for all (ok, most) occasions. (Which is maybe why they actually use umbrellas here, at home people mostly just put up their hoods and go about slightly damp )
-People in general seem a bit more more cultured and educated (and well-travelled, but they get no bonus points for that ).
-Some swear words that are terrible in NA aren't here, and vice versa...this has led to some interesting situations
-Most people don't bother with pressing the button and waiting for the go-ahead when they cross the street--they just dash across and nimbly dodge vehicles.
-Floors don't go first, second, third, but ground, first, second. I KNOW this but I constantly forget it and end up in a state of confusion

My school has quite a few Americans and the biggest cultural difference I've noticed there is that they dump sugar on absolutely EVERYTHING (Large amounts of them also have an irritating habit of calling Canada Canadia. Don't. )

I was wondering what the term is for certain races/skin tones in other countries. I mean, here in the U.S. we say "African-American", "Asian-American", etc. but I guess you can't say that if you're not in America. What are the terms in other places?

~Riella

Yes, Vegemite is awesome but my American friends, you must be conscious of how much you spread on your bread. Just a touch with a good dose of butter. That's all you need. I've heard too many horror stories.

no it is gross!!!. All have there own taste but i don't like it 1 bit.

For Irishmen: Does everyone really have red hair?

Not everyone, but it is common. Except for the odd blonde or black hair person pretty much everyone in my family has red hair (My family is Irish, I'm the first generation to be born in England). In fact, my mother used to be blonde (like me) but her hair had become redder as she got older, so I might one day join the ranks of red haired relatives

Do you call tennis shoes "trainer's shoes"? And do you call a driveway a "freeway"?

Close, we just call them 'trainers'. But we call driveways driveways, or just 'the drive'.

Outlier, I thought 'Fawkes' was pronounces as 'f-or-x' (forks). Did it really sound like 'fox'?

You're right, it is 'forx', I've never anyone say it 'fox'.

How mixed are other countries??? Because in America we're known as the "melting pot" (well that's what I was taught in school... aparently their now teaching children that we're a tossed salad) with immigrants from many countries. But are other countries just as diverse as us??

In England it depends - in more rural areas it tends to be most people with British ancestry, but in more populated areas there's a lot more diversity. London is actually one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and even in the smaller city where I now live there's people from all over the world.

I've tried Vegemite and didn't particularly like it. But if you're talking about its British cousin Marmite, then we're in business It's a bit stronger than Vegemite and also very love it or hate it. I love it perhaps a little too much, I sometimes eat it straight out the jar

-Most people don't bother with pressing the button and waiting for the go-ahead when they cross the street--they just dash across and nimbly dodge vehicles.

Very true, upon my first visit to the US I had to be informed that this isn't the custom over there because I kept just strolling out into the road In London especially, the crossings are hardly worth considering, it's easier just crossing at any point in the road. The traffic's rarely going fast enough to cause any real damage anyway

I was wondering what the term is for certain races/skin tones in other countries. I mean, here in the U.S. we say "African-American", "Asian-American", etc. but I guess you can't say that if you're not in America. What are the terms in other places?

Generally you would just say asian, african, etc. One thing I've noticed which both this question and the one further up about multiculturalism reminds me of is that here it's much less common to ask someone about their heritage, or be so clued up on your own (like I see people saying "I'm one eighth Irish, one eighth German, a quarter this or that...and so on). And a lot of the time, if you were born in England, you generally just consider yourself English, unless you have very close ties to another culture (for example, my family, and both my parents, are Irish, but I was born in England and have lived here all my life so it's never crossed my mind to call myself Irish).

In the Anglican church, as in most protestant churches, priests/ministers can be married or single. Some whose views are closer to Catholicism ("High Church") may prefer to be single/have single priests.

Thanks

Fire Fairy wrote:
I'm guessing you don't mean as a snack, otherwise the answer would be no

Yes, I didn't mean as a snack, but more like everyone once in a while during a meal we eat the two together

Fire Fairy wrote:
Which makes me curious...what's a typical breakfast like for those of you outside the U.S.? Is it similar, or different?

A typical breakfast in Russia would be cereal (usually oats or cemolina, but mila, rice, buckwheat and cracked wheat are also very popular) with milk, then an egg (cooked in various ways) and sandwhiches with cheese and/or ham, then tea and hot chocalet, sometime we do without the seconds, but cereal is the most typical and common breakfast food, we have a saying 'щи да каша, пища наша' (shi da kasha, pisha nasha) shi is a Russian soup and kasha is the Russian word for cereal, so translated it means 'soup and cereal, this is our food' soup is the most popular food for lunch (in fact lunch isn't really lunch without soup) and cereal is the most popular food for breakfast, although usually for both breakfast and lunch there is seconds, and always tea in the end

Aslanisthebest wrote:
In Russia, is the story of Princess Anastasia popular?
What are normal traditions for Russian Christmases?

If you mean the story that princess Anastasia ran away from Russian didn't die, then no it isn't popular because it isn't true, her remains were found and identified and she is buried with the rest of the royal family

about normal Russian Christmas traditions

narnian_at_heart wrote:
I know that they have what's called a starring celebration. Much like
caroling, a group of people go about from house to house and sing
traditional songs but they carry with them a star on a handle which is
spun while they sing. One of the songs that is sung is called Mno Gaya
Leyta (I think I spelled it right). It's a very pretty song.
They exchange gifts like we do on Christmas. A lot of the people here
celebrate regular Christmas as well.

wild rose, I hope this is accurate and I'm not muddying the waters. This
the way Russian Orthodox people here celebrate Russian Christmas. It could
be different actually in Russia.

you have said everything quite right narnian_at_heart, only I don't quite think we have the star on a handle thing, at least I have never seen it done, but perhaps it is, Russia is very large after all (only it's spelled Mnogaya Leyto, mnogaya is one word 'многая', it's sung on other occasions, not only Christmas, at least if that is the mnogaya leyto I think you are talking about (I have not heard of any others)
another popular thing to do while caroling (here it's called "kaledovat'") is to through grain (usually milo) and coins, and you always give candy to the people who are caroling. Usually there is a special dinner, and people usually go to church on Christmas day, and some people stay at Church during all of Christmas Eve. Gifts are given to friends and family members, but this is usually only done if you are a Christian, if you're not one, the people usually don't really do anything special for Christmas

Lucy of Narnia wrote:
do they wear those tall hats, and is dance really important?

Tall hats? I'm not to sure what you are talking about, if you mean those big fur hats that are usually shown in Hollywood movies, then some people wear them in the winter, other than that, not really, seriously, styles these days don't really differ from styles in the U.S.
Dancing is a lot of fun and we all really like to dance, but I don't really understand what you mean by 'really important'

ceppault wrote:
Your favorite food that mom makes for you when you are feeling sick?

Is this a question? If it is then I don't have one, when I am sick I eat what everyone else eats, just usually in my bed.

Well this is an interesting thread! I love getting to know about other countries and cultures and things like that.

I have a question for the Brits:
Where I live, in US, there are crazy amount of posters for coffee. Everywhere! And being born in a Britsh Baby, I drink tea. My family drinks tea everyday, hehe, can't live without it. (It's more like chai, but it's still tea) Do you have the same kind of thing for tea (like posters and whatnot) or coffee, or nothing really?

Another question: Do you have a big Cadbury shop nearby?

And now, I have a question for the Australians: Where I live, we have squirrels and racoons, and things like that, but what would be a common animal in Australia? (I'm not going to ask a stupid question like: Do kangaroos raid your garbage bins at night?!)

And lastly, I have a question for the Russians: Is ballet pretty popular? Or not really?

~CSLN

Thanks for the responses, narnian_at_heart and wild rose!

The Russian traditions for Christmas sound so wonderful! Something is just so picturesque of going out caroling with candles.
So, wild rose, in Russia, if your not Christian, then you don't celebrate Christmas? That's interesting.

My school has quite a few Americans and the biggest cultural difference I've noticed there is that they dump sugar on absolutely EVERYTHING

To the British: Do you have a piece of the Berlin Wall/a U Submarine somewhere in England?

Aslanisthebest wrote:
In Russia, is the story of Princess Anastasia popular?
What are normal traditions for Russian Christmases?

about normal Russian Christmas traditions

narnian_at_heart wrote:
I know that they have what's called a starring celebration. Much like
caroling, a group of people go about from house to house and sing
traditional songs but they carry with them a star on a handle which is
spun while they sing. One of the songs that is sung is called Mno Gaya
Leyta (I think I spelled it right). It's a very pretty song.
They exchange gifts like we do on Christmas. A lot of the people here
celebrate regular Christmas as well.

wild rose, I hope this is accurate and I'm not muddying the waters. This
the way Russian Orthodox people here celebrate Russian Christmas. It could
be different actually in Russia.

you have said everything quite right narnian_at_heart, only I don't quite think we have the star on a handle thing, at least I have never seen it done, but perhaps it is, Russia is very large after all (only it's spelled Mnogaya Leyto, mnogaya is one word 'многая', it's sung on other occasions, not only Christmas, at least if that is the mnogaya leyto I think you are talking about (I have not heard of any others)
another popular thing to do while caroling (here it's called "kaledovat'") is to through grain (usually milo) and coins, and you always give candy to the people who are caroling. Usually there is a special dinner, and people usually go to church on Christmas day, and some people stay at Church during all of Christmas Eve. Gifts are given to friends and family members, but this is usually only done if you are a Christian, if you're not one, the people usually don't really do anything special for Christmas

Yes, it's the same song. My piano teacher was the first person to tell me about the song and she said it's sung all the time as well. About the star, maybe it's just the church thing. It's a very large star (three or four feet across) with ... eight points, I think. I'm actually not sure if it's on a handle. I just assumed it was because it's spun fairly fast while singing and it seems like it'd be hard to spin without a handle of some sort on the back.

Going back a few pages......

And do you have Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday)? As well as church services, we get to make a ton of pancakes, it's great

Sounds delicious! Though again I'm not familiar with this custom. In fact, Shrove Tuesday isn't really observed much here in the northern US (to my knowledge). In some parts of this country it is better known as Mardi Gras - though that is celebrated quite differently, methinks.

Actually, Shrove Tuesday is observed in some places, particularly in areas with people of Polish descent. Nothing really special occurs except for the making of bismarks (a cake-like doughnut with jelly or lemon inside, they're sooooo good!). And in some areas it is common to have pancakes for dinner. I don't think it's very widely celebrated though. Mardi Gras is more popular.

I remember reading about Guy Fawkes Day in one of the Mary Poppins books. I thought it sounded like fun and wished we could set off fireworks in November.

Okay, that's just scary!

So I have a question for you, narnian_at_heart: What are the differences that living in Alaska make for you, vs living in a warmer area?

Lu

It's not that scary. I mean, when you've grown up with them, you just deal with it. Yea, they're dangerous but if you don't do anything stupid, you'll be fine. You just have to give them space. If you act like a tourist ("ooh, I want a close up picture!" "I want to feed it!" "Try to get me in that shot with it" "How close can we get to it"), then you might be in trouble.

Differences: well first off, all of Alaska isn't as cold as people think it is. Where I'm going to college in two weeks, yea, it's -40 Farenheit sometimes. Where I live right now, it gets down to 15 above zero sometimes in the winter but no colder. And during the summer, it can actually be quite hot. Where I live, it's in the 60s or 70s in the summer. In interior Alaska, it can get up in the 80s and 90s in the summer.

Basically, you just have to get a good coat and boots and you'll be fine. Also, (not here, but in places where it gets down to 0 and below) you have to have either a garage or an extension cord so you can plug your car in at night otherwise you can't start it in the mornings.

Oh, I thought of something else. People always talk about how dark it is in Alaska and how can we stand living where it's so dark. I always say, "well, yea, it's dark in the winter but in the summer, it's light all the time!" Where I live, it's not dark all day or light all day (I'm not far enough north for that). It's more normal but the daylight hours are definetly shorter than other places. My family takes Vitamin D supplements because we're defficient in that vitamin. In other places in Alaska, where it's dark all day in the winter, I know that the people there have to sit in front of a sun lamp for awhile each day to get the neccessary Vitamin D.

Oh, wow! So in some places it is the dark all winter, light all summer? I heard something about that before, wow!

BTW, what I meant about 'is dance really important in Russia?' is like, is it a staple in your culture, like everybody learns to dance, passed on by families, etc.?

Lu

Oh, wow! So in some places it is the dark all winter, light all summer? I heard something about that before, wow!

I think Antarctica is like that but I'm sure other places have that too though.

C.S.LewisNarnia,
I live in the city suburbs of an Australian capital city. Here, there are many types of animal and bird life (moreso birds). We often see blue-tongued lizards and skinks, the occasional possum or koala and various birds (from rainbow lorikeets, magpies and New Holland honey-eaters, all the way up to the occasional ibis and hawk). We also have feral animals - rabbits (often), mynah birds (often) and the very occasional fox. If anything messes up our bins during the night, the culprit is most likely a possum.

Of course kangaroos and wallabies are plentiful but they're more confined to the bush and mountainous areas (although the occasional kangaroo or wallaby will roam into the suburbs).

I think Antarctica is like that but I'm sure other places have that too though.

Anywhere near the poles is like that. Any latitude above 66.5 degrees north latitude or below 66.5 degrees south latitude, will experience twenty four hours of darkness in the winter, and twenty four hours of daylight in the summer.

I would love to go to Norway for a year, and experience these dramatic changes, but alas, airfare is expensive, and time is even more pricey.