r/AskAnAmerican

I'm from Ireland, where you can travel a fairly short distance and notice differences in accents, landscape and local culture. With the US being so enormous, I'm curious what gives you that same feeling while travelling within your own country.

I'm less interested in how different one state is from another. Its more about that subjective moment when you personally felt like you're away from home, despite still being in the same country. What tends to trigger that feeling?

Probably a dumb question. The yellow bus is in every American film and show to the point where I assumed it just collected everybody.

Then a neighbour mentioned her son doesn’t ride one at all. He goes to a school in a different district and somebody drives him there separately, and she says the district pays for it. That surprised me and she seemed surprised I was surprised.

So now I’m curious. Do districts usually run something themselves for that or do they pay an outside company? And is it wildly different depending on the state, like most things seem to be?

I don't mean a small cafe or being a plumber, nor some big IT outfit. I am interested in a company that would employ say 3/4 people in an small industrial unit. If you wanted to borrow money, how easy is it? do the banks want your house as collateral? Are there loads of licencing hoops to jump? Problems renting somewhere, money up front etc?

How strong is Mark Twain's influence upon American culture? Apart from Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn being classics? How much of his wit and phrases you use in your daily life? In which states he's more read or less read?

In my country, it's something like "The subscriber you have dialed is switched off, or out of coverage.". I need to know what do they say in your country (I'm making a song and and want to sample this).

EDIT: thanks everyone for your help! I appreciate that

I'm curious because I'm watching from YouTube and other sources that many americans have big problems paying their loans and that many live on debt and on paycheck to paycheck.

And I am really curious about whether it is that bad or not, so that's why I'm asking here from southern europe.

I've seen this expression a lot in American novels, but on YouTube and places like that, couples use "Honey," "Darling," or "Baby," so I don't think I've ever seen them call each other "My Love." Do you use it often in everyday life?

I’m curious whether Americans generally prefer running outdoors—such as in parks or around their neighborhoods—or using treadmills at the gym.

Where I live in Asia, incline treadmill walking is extremely popular. Many people go to the gym just to set the treadmill to a steep incline and walk for a long time. Is that common in the US too, or is it more of an Asian fitness trend?

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with running. While I’m doing it, I feel like I’m fighting for my life and questioning every decision that brought me there. But once I finish, I suddenly feel like the most disciplined person alive, as if I’ve completely taken control of my life.

Where do you prefer to run, and do you ever do incline walking?

Does anyone read anything by Jack London apart from White Fang and Call of The Wild? Sometimes it seems that he's more popular in Russia and Turkey than America.

Does anyone ever read anything by Jack London apart from White Fang and Call of The Wild? Did anyone read Martin Eden, Iron Heel, People of The Abyss, Star Rover etc? People who like Socialism today more, are The Iron Heel or People of The Abyss being read?

If both parents are practicing physicians in a HCOL state?

i’m referring to the measurement of temperature, which I had somehow never heard of before taking first year engineering. I guess it makes sense that someone would try to make something for fahrenheit like what kelvin is to celcius, but I sort of figured that if you wanted to be more scientific you’d just switch to kelvin.

this could sound like an INCREDIBLY stupid question but i’m curious.

Hi everyone, when I’m watching movies, I often notice people spending a lot of time at work. They’re working late into the night, socializing with colleagues at a bar after work, and then heading home to sleep before starting the next day. Is that really how it is? Do you find yourself spending most of your time at work? And do people work even when they’re not on the clock? I sometimes watch those law TV series or crime shows where lawyers are at work almost all the time, and police officers are working on cases even at night and at home. What’s the real story?

Asking because there was an interesting debate about what rural means on a post I saw. It called a house in Switzerland 15 miles from a city "very rural", which many commenters thought was ludicrous. Someone from Italy mentioned that there "rural" is anything not in a city.

Here I feel like rural is defined by distance to services/a city, but then there's a weird gap in the terminology with places that are fairly close to a city (<20-30 mins) but aren't actually in any organized settlement.

For those who don't know, german big cities have 4 major Types of public transportation. There are Buses, Trams, U-Bahn (Subway) and S-Bahn (Suburban Rail). An S-Bahn usually serves to purposes. Driving through the City and connecting the most frequently used train Stations and connecting the City with the most important suburbs. Do you have something like this in america too and if so, how do you call that?

And if in your experience it varies by field or college or prestige etc, I'd love to know!

I'm genuinely curious about this. Where I'm from, if you live near a cornfield, grabbing a few ears just to boil for dinner is pretty normal. Farmers don't really care as long as it's a small amount for personal use.