Macdoc wrote:No he doesn't but the difference is that multi-culturalism is national policy in Canada ..not an accident of history and demographics.

What has that got to do, in any way whatsoever, with James not getting to see multicultural communities while he’s in Toronto? He can see them any time he likes without flying across the Atlantic, and -now this might be a shock- in many places living peacefully alongside each other, ‘accident’ or not.

Cito di Pense wrote:

jamest wrote:I'm in Philly now. Picked up my hire car earlier this evening - a 7-seater Dodge wotsit. First impressions, quite pleased. Looking forward to getting out of the city tomorrow in the general direction of Lancaster, perhaps. It's short notice, but any tips for wandering around the PA countryside welcome.

Ramble down the interstate to a lovely town known as Intercourse, in the heart of Amish country. it's just up the road from Blue Ball. How are you adapting to driving on the wrong side of the road?

We were in that area for several hours today, including a visit to the/a Amish House/Farm and a 90 minute guided tour of the locality via mini-bus. We had the bus to ourselves and our driver/guide, a lady named Gail, never stopped talking such that we learnt a lot about The Amish people. Including the fact they're all German descendants, not Dutch! The confusion, apparently, has its origins in the fact that they speak Deutsch. They call everyone else The English too, including you. Probably an artefact of William Penn's time. An interesting way of life, for sure. We enjoyed the day.

Another big bonus of going over to that area was that we found a store called 'Dollar Tree' where we were able to stock up on supplies which had cost us three or four times the price in the cities we have visited. So, the city convenience stores will not be fleecing us any more!

As for driving on the wrong side of the road, that's not been a big problem. I've done it a few times over in Europe. The biggest concerns have been navigation (especially within Philly with its numerous one-way roads) and understanding road signs etc.. For instance, there's no right turn on red in the UK. Also, there's what we call 'zebra crossings' at every junction, where even whilst turning you have to watch/stop for pedestrians crossing the road. We don't use that system in the UK either. Our navigation system has failed us a few times today (or we have failed it)("recalculating route"), but by the end of the day today, I was more-or-less beginning to feel at home behind the wheel.

Fallible wrote:
Again, as I’ve said before, he doesn’t need to go to Tronno for multiculturalism, London has over 300 languages spoken. I do get an odd feeling to see James speaking about the city of my birth, though. Very odd. I have never been back. I probably wouldn’t recognise it.

Yes, the UK is very multicultural these days and so I've not come to North America to experience multiculturalism. I'm into history and wanted to learn something about the essence of the place, I guess. Of the three cities I've visited, I've found Philadelphia to be the most interesting wrt its origins and influence in creating 'America'. I was glad to get out of the cities today though, although I'm heading to Washington DC tomorrow for 3 days. Looking forward to seeing all of the usual sights though the kids are counting the days to Orlando, I suspect.

Not sure why you feel odd with me being in Toronto. I'm pretty sure you've been to Manchester!

Some of what you will learn in the history and present day reality of the US is why their "melting pot" theory doesn't work worth a damn. Minority cultures have no protection against suppression and bigotry and why Canada's mosaic is a planned approach to cultures getting along peacably and not being exploited. ( we're not saints in that but the lesson has been learned and legislation puts the protections in. )

It is a world of difference. The ancestors ( my ancestors ) left PA and before that Netherlands and England to be able to peacably practice their religion without oppression. There a bullet holes in the family farm from the Fenians.

They found a place in Canada that they could live peacably....many were also loyal the British crown and left for that reason.
The US left Britain as they were oppressed, taxation without representation ....... the Brits treated them as colonials, like second class citizens instead of citizens of the British Empire .....so they blew their chance.

So if you want your history ...pay attention to the various cultures that made it and the forces that drove them.

Multiculturalism does not mean just seeing a bunch of cultures pasted together.....any big city on the planet offers that.
It means those cultures are celebrated and valued and supported by the governments as a policy at many levels and protected from exploitation.

Now if we could just do it better with first nations....

That should be one of the Smithsonian museums you visit....maybe shed a tear too for the genocide undertaken.

We've been in D.C. since Saturday afternoon (I did manage to do a short visit to Gettysburg, which I enjoyed). Took the kids to the free zoo on Sunday and saw all of the sights today including a Potomac cruise plus the Natural History museum, but we're struggling with the heat - approaching the mid 30s Celsius (90+F). Apparently it's going to get worse as the week progresses.

Heading to Hampton near Norfolk in Virginia tomorrow. The heat may dictate what we do, but I'm considering visiting Colonial Williamsburg and/or Jamestown. Has anyone here visited those places? Are they worth our time/money?

Btw, I forgot to mention that The Amish make pies! However I didn't buy one as they were about $5 and it was the wrong time of day.

D.C. has the worst summers in the whole country, IMO. Orlando will be positively balmy in comparison.

The_Metatron wrote:

The_Piper wrote:

The_Metatron wrote:

The_Piper wrote:
I saw my first NYC cockroach this year.

Little sissy cockroaches.

You should see those fuckers on Oahu, in the tropics. They’re easily big enough to notice them moving alone, at night, from the other side of a street.


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That would be kinda cool to see.
The one I saw was at least 2 inches long, and perhaps an inch wide. We have wood roaches up here, they're really small.

You can get poison there, to kill all the bugs living in your lawn on the way to living in your house. It’s dry granular stuff that you first spread on the lawn. It gets mean when you hit it with water.

My fucking house looked like something out of a horror movie. Millions of bugs were escaping that shit. Probably half of them running away from my house, the other half running towards my house, and up the walls. They have some centipedes there over a foot long. Those things are the scariest.

Some things about the tropics aren’t so nice.

Only a tiny percentage of all creepy-crawlies are harmful to humans. When you poison them, you poison the environment. For instance, here in Australia you kill blue-tongue lizards if you poison snails because snails are their favourite food, and if they eat a poisoned snail it gets killed by the same poison pellets you fed the snails.

Glad you're having fun, James. Are you going to see the rocky mountains? They're pretty impressive and spiritually fulfilling. If you cross the whole country and end up in oregon, look me up.

He's staying on the east coast ...

Jamest US monuments and parks are pretty well done .....certainly a bright spot in the nation's accomplishments.

Where oh where in the world is Jamest.

Yeah where you at, james? Heading south yet?

Kidnapped by Amish no doubt.....or in an extended theology debate with them

Maybe he's helping raise a barn.

and of course no modern communications allowed....I think the best is a community teleephone for emergencies.

All's well. I clocked-up over 1000 miles driving today when we arrived in Charlotte NC around lunchtime. It's still hot. I keep seeing all manner of dire rain/flood forecasts on the TV but thus far we've not seen anything but a few short showers.
Visited the Levine Museum of the New South this afternoon. Quite interesting. I'm from Manchester England, so the cotton industry here heightened my curiosity. Lots of social/racial development history to absorb too of course. I also enjoyed listening to the music from these parts from the 1920s+. I heard much of the music from the 50s within some of it. Evolution.

Since I last posted we visited the Jamestown museum on Tuesday on the way to Hampton. I can highly recommend that place if you're in the area and you like your history. We learnt much about the development of Virginia from when the English arrived early in the 17th century. Fascinating stuff. Even the missus remarked that it's one of the best museums she's been to.

Spent the day on Virginia Beach on Wednesday, chilling out and enjoying the ocean. Saved myself about $20 renting an umbrella by resting under the shade of the fishing pier, though a pigeon did shit upon me at one point from its nest underneath the walkway. Bastard! Doesn't have the cliffs and coves of say Cornwall, but the ocean is pleasantly warm there and the sand fine. I even nodded off at one point stretched-out upon it. Chill factor 10, as I rarely sleep in the day except when ill.

Thursday we drove to Raleigh NC for one night but we didn't really do much of interest. A shame really, but there's only so much time in the day and so much energy within oneself. We did enjoy the hotel pool though.

Me and the missus both have sociohistorical reasons for wanting to visit the Billy Graham library tomorrow after our buggy tour of the city, and we are planning to do a bible-belt church service on Sunday for the same reason on the way to Charleston. After that there's only a place close to Savannah GA and then Jacksonville FL before we reach Orlando on Weds afternoon/evening.

Find you a big Pentecostal church, one where they heal people and speak in tongues. If you were a bit further west in North Carolina I'd point you to some snake handlers. Any church name with something like "Holy Blood" or "Blood of the Lamb" in it is a definite winner.

jamest wrote:We've been in D.C. since Saturday afternoon (I did manage to do a short visit to Gettysburg, which I enjoyed). Took the kids to the free zoo on Sunday and saw all of the sights today including a Potomac cruise plus the Natural History museum, but we're struggling with the heat - approaching the mid 30s Celsius (90+F). Apparently it's going to get worse as the week progresses.

Heading to Hampton near Norfolk in Virginia tomorrow. The heat may dictate what we do, but I'm considering visiting Colonial Williamsburg and/or Jamestown. Has anyone here visited those places? Are they worth our time/money?

Btw, I forgot to mention that The Amish make pies! However I didn't buy one as they were about $5 and it was the wrong time of day.

You saw some Amish too then! Had that BLT yet? Trust u and yours are having a blast. BTW I have moved house as advised by yourself and many others. Early days in this new neighbourhood but seems a vast improvement so far I dare tentatively remark.

If you're still south of the Mason Dixon line, get a piece of coconut cake. It's the only place that makes it the right way.

Key Lime Pie, but only if it's yellow, not the green shite.

Is that pronounced yeller?