The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXVIII

[sophie]

There are a few actual Germans as well. And how else might I conceal my American-ness? I just want to blend in, and life generally goes better for people if others are unaware that they're American before they really get to know them. True, my mannerisms, accent, and lack of fluent German skills would be a giveaway that I'm a foreigner, but last time I was there some Germans I met were convinced I was Russian. They claimed I looked and acted Russian and spoke German with a Russian accent. So I might be able to slip by unnoticed for a time.

Personally I feel like trying to come off as genuinely German from the start is probably not a good idea. In my experience Europeans often dislike America the country, but love Americans as a people. The point is to learn about Germany through cultural exchange, not pretend to be German from day 1, right? Just be yourself. Eventually you'll find yourself assimilating into the mass.

tldr (nsfw):

Spoiler :

Link to video.

 

[The_J]

There are a few actual Germans as well. And how else might I conceal my American-ness? I just want to blend in, and life generally goes better for people if others are unaware that they're American before they really get to know them.

On a second thought:
Might be better to ask foreigners, because they're more likely to see typical things in a country, which are different from their home country (had to think hard, but could even say something about the Netherlands...although colourfull trousers aren't exactly exiting).
But you might not necessarily want to blend it.
Germans aren't that open, and I'd guess that the likelyhood of being seen as a foreigner and being approached by a foreigner is higher than being seen as a German and being approached by a German. And even in the latter case, it's at first not that likely that you'll directly make friends, because natives don't in general have a high motivation to deal with foreigners (because there are just many natives; in contrast to foreigners; people tend to cluster, and the first clustering is natives/foreigners).

 

[Antilogic]

Wear lederhosen and yodel a lot while drunk.

 

[bhsup]

Hell no, we're not American! Can't you see from our clothing?

 

[Takhisis]

Is that Chevy Chase?

 

[bhsup]

Yep. European Vacation.

 

[Borachio]

I have a theory that European Vacation wasn't filmed in Europe at all, but at Disneyland. Or was it Las Vegas?

How good a theory is it, do you think?

 

[bhsup]

Probably pretty good. Then again, I don't know. It's always amazed me how much of the world looks like Southern California or British Columbia. Incredibly convenient.

 

[Borachio]

Link to video.

Out of the films I can remember seeing, this is possibly my least favourite. I mean, "harmless" seems to damn it quite nicely.

 

[bhsup]

I have made my hatred for roundabouts and/or traffic circles known many times in the past. I will not revisit that beyond a quick "they suck and should have stayed on the other side of the pond."

 

[Borachio]

They're in fact a highly efficient way of getting traffic to keep moving at an intersection.

Even the continentals have been convinced enough to adopt them. If the French can get the hang of them, I'm sure the Americans could if they chose.

Still, you keep to stopping at every single intersection at a red light* if that's what takes your fancy.

*I exaggerate.

 

[sophie]

I have made my hatred for roundabouts and/or traffic circles known many times in the past. I will not revisit that beyond a quick "they suck and should have stayed on the other side of the pond."

I actually quite like them. They're extremely sensible. Santa Cruz converted a particularly disgusting and confused intersection (5 streets and a parking lot converge on a single point) into a roundabout and getting through it, once a nightmare to be avoided at all costs, is now a smooth and easygoing affair.

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.964...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sk0RdE5LN72Ewi4WHhuk3ew!2e0

 

[Farm Boy]

There are places that they work. Particularly in areas that have particularly horribly designed intersections to sort out. It's kinda like, this is designed so massively crappily that it takes a roundabout to make it anything better than what it is.

 

[Zelig]

I like single-lane traffic circles to replace 4 way stops.

Actually I just hate 4-way stops, if they can't be made into traffic circles they should just be turned into 4-way yields.

Actually, I just hate stop signs, let's just get rid of them for any reason.

 

[GinandTonic]

There are almost no stop signs in the UK, all give way. When I did my test my instructor took me to both the stop lines within a fifteen minute drive of the local test centre.

If you only come across a stop line every three or four hours of normal driving, you dam well stop. If you only put stop signs where they are really needed they are useful.

 

[Borachio]

That's true. I hadn't thought of it before, but STOP signs really are quite uncommon in the UK.

(Though I think, technically speaking, the solid white line across the half-lane at a traffic light counts as a stop sign of a kind. But that's quibbling.)

 

[warpus]

Roundabouts are awesome - they make everything more efficient. Traffic moves faster, there's less accidents.. what else could you want?

 

[GinandTonic]

Also no electricity use or light pollution and way less maintenance costs. Not to mention better fuel efficiency.

 

[Borachio]

And... and... even if you have a roundabout, you can still have traffic lights. What's not to like?

People get fascinated by roundabout configurations. There's one at Hemel Hempstead which consists of one huge one with 6 or 7 satellite ones dotted round it. Does that make sense? You can go round the huge roundabout in either direction, treating the satellite ones in the normal way as you meet them.

There're even roundabouts you can drive straight across!

 

[Zelig]

Roundabouts are awesome - they make everything more efficient. Traffic moves faster, there's less accidents.. what else could you want?

Well, residential neighborhoods here have started using them as traffic control mechanisms, replacing intersections that would otherwise be 2-way yields with 4-way traffic circles, since the NIMBY crowd doesn't want anyone driving over 20 km/h in their neighborhoods.