Your City, Town, Country and People

[The Lithium]

Quote: (Originally Posted by WeatheredWoman)

LMAO!!!!!

"Can you take me higher...."


Well you know you have been in Sweden too long, when.... :

- you get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast.

- an outside temperature of 0 degrees Celsius in winter is mild.

- you associate Friday afternoon with a trip to "system bolaget"

- you have your own "innebandy-stick"

- "candles" are a permanent fixture on your weekly shoppinglist

- the first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is look for the queue number machine and you accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number

- you eat every thursday a meal of pancakes with soup


Tell us all about it Lith!! We're curious

If your "Too long in Sweden" stories was ment as jokes I did not laugh, not because I'm angry, but because that's just the way it is... So?? I really think it's better that you have system bolaget instead of Coffee shops! Eat that!

[Torn Signs]

heh, heh. It was already said. I wish I could move cuz it's too cold here and there is gettin' to be too many ppl and not enough rural land...need rural and need freedom from ppl...

[WeatheredWoman]

Quote: (Originally Posted by extreme_LITHIUM)

If your "Too long in Sweden" stories was ment as jokes I did not laugh, not because I'm angry, but because that's just the way it is... So?? I really think it's better that you have system bolaget instead of Coffee shops! Eat that!

Jokes?? No they weren't meant as jokes Lith... I thought they were some nice facts of your country! Did you joked about that "bread and drugs"-thing earlier??

Alcohol are drugs too Lith! Just for your information! I've lost 2 very good friends of mine on booze!! Never one on drugs though! Alcohol is so underrated!! So about that coffeeshop comment... you can better smoke one joint than drink yourself into a delirium on a friday and/or saturday! (what supposed to be normal in your country) Ask a doctor the difference!! Leaves me another question... how well are you informed on drugs?? What kind of drugs??

Now eat that!!!

[whitebird]

What is a bolaget?

[whitebird]

Torn Signs, I need rural land too. I could never be happy in a large city. If I couldn't walk barefoot in the grass, and see nature, I really believe it would be harmful to me.

[hotforscott]

There really isn't much to tell about my town. I live in North Little Rock, AR. It's about 20 minutes away from Little Rock, the capital. I live in an Apartment Complex about 5 minutes from the mall, shopping, etc. I work in Jacksonville, it's about 20 minutes away, the other direction, towards North East Arkansas. Daniel manages a Papa Johns 5 minutes away. He has been there around 10 years. The kids are in a Headstart program through the school district. They go to school from 7:35 to 2:25, she didn't turn 5 until after the kindergarten cut off so she will start school next year. They love it and are learning tons. Most people here are really nice, there are a lot of really southern people who are totally set in their ways. No one here can drive, that is something that drives me crazy. It's like they thinking turning signals are optional. Not really too much to say. I really like it here.

[whitebird]

hotforscott, it sounds nice, kind of peaceful. I know what you mean about southern drivers though, when I was down south visiting Florida a couple of years ago, it drove me crazy. I though it was "The Snowbirds" visiting from Minnesota though. (Snowbirds are retired people who leave the cold north, and go south for the winter, for those that don't understand our weird phrases. Many do not drive well.)

It sounds like you may not be from the south originally?

[hotforscott]

My father is a Col. in the Air Force and we moved around TONS. I had been in 10 schools by the time I graduated. I think it did a lot of good, I am very outgoing. I got to see a lot of places. We lived on Guam and one of our Plane changes coming back to the states for visits, was in Hawaii so I was like the only 7 year old that had been to Hawaii 6 times.....lol. One of the things I am determined is to have my children in the same school district throughout their education. That is one thing that I am totally set on. Lauren is 5 and Tyler will be 4 in June, so I am really trying to get things in order so I can buy a house, and get them where they are gonna be. I want them to grow up in the same house, because even though I wouldn't change anything about my life as a child, it means a lot to me, to be able to give them what I didn't have.

[The Lithium]

Quote: (Originally Posted by WeatheredWoman)

Jokes?? No they weren't meant as jokes Lith... I thought they were some nice facts of your country! Did you joked about that "bread and drugs"-thing earlier??

Alcohol are drugs too Lith! Just for your information! I've lost 2 very good friends of mine on booze!! Never one on drugs though! Alcohol is so underrated!! So about that coffeeshop comment... you can better smoke one joint than drink yourself into a delirium on a friday and/or saturday! (what supposed to be normal in your country) Ask a doctor the difference!! Leaves me another question... how well are you informed on drugs?? What kind of drugs??

Now eat that!!!

Listen... We have system bolaget and it's the only shop that is allowed to sell alchol in Sweden, except bars. And no one is ever allowed to sell drugs. If the cops see you with drugs you go in jail. And if you take drugs is just the same. We're doing our best. And you are not. When I was in the Netherlands people were smoking EVERYWHERE in EVERY age. (Not joints, but they were smoking). Sweden is so much better on this. Everybody knows that it's no good to smoke or drink. So why allow it?

[SCOTTSMYMAN]

Quote: (Originally Posted by hotforscott)

My father is a Col. in the Air Force and we moved around TONS. I had been in 10 schools by the time I graduated. I think it did a lot of good, I am very outgoing. I got to see a lot of places. We lived on Guam and one of our Plane changes coming back to the states for visits, was in Hawaii so I was like the only 7 year old that had been to Hawaii 6 times.....lol. One of the things I am determined is to have my children in the same school district throughout their education. That is one thing that I am totally set on. Lauren is 5 and Tyler will be 4 in June, so I am really trying to get things in order so I can buy a house, and get them where they are gonna be. I want them to grow up in the same house, because even though I wouldn't change anything about my life as a child, it means a lot to me, to be able to give them what I didn't have.

Hey, Carrie when Steve was in the Navy he was stationed in Guam. I had never even heard of it until he was sent there. He loved it there said it was beautiful.



Anyways, I live in Manahawkin, New Jersey. I'm about 30 minutes from Atlantic City. It's really nice here. I live in a very family oriented community. The school system is awesome. My daughter Amanda will have gone through 6 different schools by the time she gets to College but only because we are well populated here and they try and keep the classrooms down to no more than 25 kids. The hospital is right around the corner from house. Cops are kind of crooked in my part of town but I think that's a given in most places. People are generally nice around here. The only problem I have is that I live about 10 minutes from the ocean . There is a major tourist attraction here so the summertime is horrible as far as traffic and people coming from all over. Unfortunately, where I am is the only major vein to get there. It sucks but other than that I Love it here. My family is all very close too. I have a Aunt and cousin who live in the same development with me and my parents live about 5 minutes down the road.

[TeriB19]

I live in Mays Landing, NJ. Very very quiet little town, but very much like the old home towns you read about. We have fireworks by the lake in the summer, we have a Halloween parade and a Christmas parade down Main Street every year with firemen throwing candy off the trucks. We have a town square where we do a Christmas tree lighting every year. We have a lake that is a hot spot for locals to go swimming and gather for gossip. We, too, are located off a busy route to the shore, Rt. 40. It is a back road to get from Atlantic City to the Delaware Memorial Bridge so every summer it's bumper to bumper with the shoobies headed to the beach.

The development I live in is a very tight-knit group of families, and in the summer we all hang out together and barbecue, kids play in the pools or in each others' backyards. The kids are all around the same age, so we all usually carpool to sporting events, like soccer games every Saturday in the fall, baseball a few nights a week in the spring. We do the beach together as groups, have parties at each others' houses. It really is very nice here. This past Christmas, we all did polyannas for the kids and on the 23rd of December, we had a party at one of the houses and had Santa come on the firetruck for all the kids. We had wrapped little gifts and left them in a bag for Santa to bring in and give to each kid. It was a great time. I really enjoy living here in this area.

[whitebird]

Lithium, I used to have a friend that had moved to the U.S.A. from Sweden. She told me that when a couple has a child in Sweden, the father also receives maternity leave (time off after the baby is born) to help at home. Is this still true? If it is, perhaps your society is more considerate of family life than ours. I'm not even sure that some men in our country would do that, although, I'm sure that my husband would have if given the chance.


hotforscott, I have a friend that was raised as a child in the military. She has chosen to do the same thing that you are doing, raising her children in the same area and schools for many years. They like the stability.


SCOTTSMYMAN, 10 min. from the ocean? I'm sure like you I wouldn't like the crowds, but comming from a land locked person in Minnesota, who rarely gets to see an ocean, it sounds great. I always wanted to go scuba diving.

TeriB19, I've seen movies that have scenes like you discribed. Sounds wonderful. What a great place to raise kids.

WeatheredWoman, I have friends who's son just had a nose job. I have known this young man most of his life. It isn't something the parents really wanted to do, but people were so cruel to him, they couldn't stand the thought of their son having to live with the treatment he received from others. Yes, our society is more and more vain, and cruel to those who look different bacause of genetics, or injury. It's not something I'm proud of here in America.

[whitebird]

OK, there are many wonderful things about Minnesota, but there are also some very sad things that we have here in our society. Many people living here don't even realize they are happening.

We have homeless here in Minnesota, many are in the large cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis (The Twin Cities). In the winter when is is so very bitter cold, they seek out the homeless shelters and churches where people can stay the night. However there are not enough shelters, and way too many homeless, and they have to choose numbers to see who will be able to stay in the warmth and safety, and who will have to return to the danger of the cold, and the streets.

Minnesota is one of the biggest offenders of what are called puppy mills. Large dog breeding businesses, where somethimes hundreds of dogs are kept in shameless, dirty, and cruel conditions. These dogs are bred as much as possible for the puppies, and often killed when they are no longer able to have puppies. I have seen undercover movies of these places, that would break your heart. Little or nothing has been done to stop them, even when the police and proper authorities have been notified. Often the laws are set up to protect these businesses. They supply many of the puppies to large pet shops.

Shelters where women and children flee to seek help from abusive situations are often full. They leave often with no clothes, no food, and no money. There are wonderful places that help women and children, but simply not enough room or funding.

Large corporate farms are taking over the smaller farms, who just can't compete with the larger businesses. The corporate farms have such huge productions, that the runoff from the animals waste is polluting our rivers and streams. The use of chemicals from these farms is also hurting our environment. Government has set aside assistance for the farming industry, but the largest share of the money has sadly gone to the large and wealthy businesses, and the smaller family owned farms are going bankrupt.

Sex offenders, men who have raped women, and sexually abused children, are being let out of prison, even though it is known they will commit other crimes of this kind. We have a family here in Minnesota now, who is still looking for the body of their daughter, who was kidnaped and presumed killed by one of these men. The police have him in custody, but he has not admitted where she is. Hopes have been lost by the family that she may still be alive. They are searching rivers and rural areas for her body.

These are only some of the sad realities that we also have in our society. Wonderfully we also have many people who care, and are trying to change these shameful things. But it very difficult to have change, when people will look away, and pretend that these things do not exist.

[Mulletman]

My real name is Albert, i like to go as Al but you all know me as Mulletman. If you are curious to see what i look like, you can click here. I live here in Houston Texas, the biggest city that you've never heard of. Its a great city, ive been here like my entire life and i love it. Houston is the fourth largest in the US, it eight times bigger than Rhode Island, slightly smaller than Massachusetts but larger than New Jersey. Houston has a unique feature to it that no other Texas city has. Unlike Dallas/Ft Worth, Austin, San Antonio and El Paso... Houston is not land locked. Also those city i mentioned revolve around the big school there. We have 17 different colleges and universities so there is not the same kind of atmosphere here as in other Texas cities. I attend the University of Houston. If any of you all remember the super bowl half time show, our school marching band opened the half time show with Jessica Simpson and our drum corp did the Janet Jackson show (no nipple). Our summers average in the 100+ degrees with 100% humidity. Tornado season runs 24/7/365. In my opinion this city is at its greatest during the winter. the temp is down low, the nights are longer, the people seem to always be kinder, displaying that Texas Hospitality... it just seems really beautiful during this time. Unlike Minnesota, we dont have many lakes, but we do have a lot of bayous. so the city spends a lot of time cleaning them up so they look nice all the time. they are still not safe for people to swin in but durring the summers you usually find manitees and other sea animals that like to swim up the bayous into the city.

although ive lived my entire life here in houston, i was actually born in Mexico. i was born into big upper class, political family... which explains my 'godfather' complex. my fathers side was the political side, my mothers side was more artistic. her father was a big musician in mexico. when many people think about hispanic culture or hispanics in general they usually think of stereotypes and associations from american born hispanics. if anyone has ever had the chance to go to mexico and actually get to know someone there, you will find that the hispanics there are completely different than the ones we've all known and loved here.

the development i live in now is actually largely jewish, which makes christmas time rather interesting. you wont know its a large jewish neigborhood during christmas because somes of the jews do decorate thier homes, but they do it for the contests. theres really nothing else that needs to be said or that hasnt been said. we dont really socialize like terri's community, but then again this development is huge and no one really knows anyone past thier own neighbors.

i know theres more i wanted to share but it escapes me at the moment. i have been to minnesota, white bear lake to be exact. i used to enjoy going there. i do love MN's parks tho, the fact that ever park has a lake was just wonderful to me.

[Dogstar]

Wow, this is a really cool thread. Thanks, whitebird!

Mulletman...I will be in Houston for a seminar for four days (March 17-21)...Maybe we can hook up for dinner or something ... Any good concerts coming your way in that time period? I'd love to hit a concert or something...I have nights free ...

Anyway, on to the topic. I haved lived in Philadelphia, Pa., for almost four years now. This is my first big-city experience, and so far, I like it a lot. I'm on the outskirts of the city in a residential area that is almost burb-like. It still lies within the city limits, though. I believe it's the fifth-largest metro area in the country, with 5 million plus people in the city proper and suburbs combined. I think the city itself has more than a million people. It's very diverse population-wise: Asian, African American, whites, you name it, it's here, which makes things pretty interesting and tense at the same time.

Historically, it's been a Democratic town. In fact, it's been decades since it has had a Republican mayor. It suffers the same big-city problems as many other American cities, such as high crime, poverty, unemployment, drugs. At the paper at which I work, there are daily stories about drive-by shootings, gang shootings, that sort of thing.

On the plus side, it's a cultural gold mine, IMO. There are countless colleges, from the Ivy league to community colleges, to those that specialize in the arts. It is also a big medical research community. There are university hospitals and some of them have been ahead when it comes to research in lung and heart disease. It has one of the top art museums in the country and is home to a thriving music scene, many genres, including Blues, jazz, rock, pop, you name it...It's also a big sports town, at least for the home teams. I find that most sports fans here ignore the playoffs in the four majors once their team is out of it. They are nuts for their Eagles here, though. Basketball and boxing are also huge here. The Blue Horizon has been a boxing mecca for decades, and in boxing's heyday, all the greats boxed here. Philly is also known for its food.

There is a ton of really good ethnic eating in this city as well, all kinds. A few weeks ago, I ate in an Afghani restaurant. The food was outstanding! The people on the whole are pretty friendly, though I can't say that I know my neighbors in the apartment complex I live in because I work odd hours and don't see them very often. I'm far enough away from the concrete where there is grass and trees. I couldn't live downtown because it's just not green enough for me, hehe. I need my grass and trees. There is a very cool city park, though, which reminds me a lot of New Hampshire. It's hard to believe it sits in the middle of the concrete jungle. It's great, though.

I have made a lot of nice friends through work and all, and of course, all the Feeders in the area , you know who you are. I like the diversity here and the access to other parts of the country this location affords.