From Europe to Silicon Valley - things I do/don't like about USA

http://filipmolcan.com/blog/2012/12/17/from-europe-to-silicon-valley-20-things-i-dodont-like-about-usa

by evahenson • 13 years ago

68 110 13 years ago

filipmolcan.com

nano1112• 13 years ago

I wish I could down-vote...

mmanfrin• 13 years ago

Don't worry, I'll happily give you one for your pointless no-content snark.

nano1112• 13 years ago

thanks

fierycatnet• 13 years ago

As non American living in US, I can agree with most points.

kylec• 13 years ago

The USA is so vast and so diverse that it's very hard to make general statements that apply to all of it. While the author of this post claims to have seen quite a bit of America, a lot of what he says doesn't mesh with my experience on the east coast. I have never paid half price for food if I'm kept waiting, for example, and the weather here is humid and hot in the summer and bitter cold in the winter. Most roads are OK in urban areas but I've seen some truly dreadful roads in more rural areas. Most houses (excluding condos) here aren't glued together, either.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but things aren't quite as rosy here as they are on the west coast, especially in the Valley.

BlobbleBlab2• 13 years ago

Not true. Vast yes, but diverse, not so much, unless you're specifically referring to wildlife and not to people. Coast to coast you'll find the same language, the same religion, the same sports, chains, food, traditions, holidays, it's all the same. To you, the differences between a Texan and a New Yorker may be huge, but to outsiders they're the same thing.

Travel the same distance in any direction in the old world and you'll find dozens or even hundreds of languages, completely unrelated cultures, cuisines, traditions.

hondje• 13 years ago

I wonder why Europeans feel physically unsafe here while simultaneously finding us extremely friendly. Is it just a normal reaction to being a stranger in a strange land?

cclogg• 13 years ago

Maybe they came from a smaller European town and then proceeded into a big city here in North America?

I've been to many parts of Czech and a few parts of Germany, and it is very nice there. Never saw anything like we have here in Vancouver with the downtown east-side (ie SF Tenderloin), but maybe I just haven't seen everything.

nikatwork2• 13 years ago

Ozzie here. It's not just being a stranger in a strange land, your country has some dangerous edges. My experience in California:

* The police are like military. I saw a couple of incidents, and concluded that if the police pull you up, it's best to drop to the ground and obey. Pretty scary.

* I didn't realise that nobody walks when I first arrived. It's pretty easy to end up in the wrong neighbourhood if you go for a long walk. Ie, packs of young rugged looking dudes eyeing you off.

* Bums in San Fran. I've never seen first world poverty like that. Very confronting.

* The missus visited LA, turned off one exit too early and ended up in Inglewood. Her descriptions of the neighbourhood were... colourful.

On the plus side, the nightlife was really safe. In Australia I'm used to constant fistfights and violence around clubs/pubs. On the flipside, I got the feeling that everyone was being so polite and respectful because ya never know who's got a gun. That's not really a relaxing feeling.

dyno123453• 13 years ago

I wouldn't worry about people carrying guns in bars... not something I've ever seen happen. I've spent a good deal of time in Oz and the bar brawling culture there is just not something we have here. It happens sometimes, but usually when it looks like something's going to break out a half dozen people spring up and try to diffuse the situation. 98% of the time it never gets past the shouting-of-threats stage. In Oz it always went from zero to bloodspray in short order.

mitchty3• 13 years ago

So just as a counterpoint as a native, also in an area with legalized carry, I've never had the feeling everyone was polite and respectful because you don't know if they have a gun. I think that is a bit of projection, never heard anyone say anything similar.

digitalengineer6• 13 years ago

What do Americans do when they get pulled over? Open the window and hold your hands on the wheel and dashboard? The police in New Orleans took a shot at tourists because when they pulled over their car, the person next to the driver reached over and grabbed a (silver colered) photocamera... Policeman thought it was a gun and shot. I feel European people need a 'How To Interact with the Police' course. Made us very jumpy whenever there was a policecar around.

javert• 13 years ago

Open the window and hold your hands on the wheel and dashboard?

Yeah, they teach you to do that, and if you don't, normally the cop will tell you to do something like that next time you get pulled over.

I think it's a good system. The cop doesn't know if you have a gun. The chance is probably 1 in 1,000 or less, but still kinda scary.

As a sidenote, America is in many ways more like a 3rd world country than most of Europe. The bad guys will have guns no matter what [1], and it's much safer for us all if the good guys have guns, too.

[1] Well, we could change this in a few decades if we ended the drug war and eradicated endemic poverty. But the government is too busy spying on us and planning to invade Syria, to think about making other changes.

jmduke• 13 years ago

I think one of the big points that this article misses (I love these kinds of posts, though) is that the United States are crazy diverse. The post talks about it a little with regards to safety on the streets, but I mean in a broader context: Silicon Valley is hardly a microcosm of the entire country. States, regions, and cities have broadly differing cultures and atmospheres, sometimes even to the same extent as going from one country to the other (especially when it comes to climate.)

Given that the author said he had spent time in a great number of states, I was quite surprised by a lot of his points being seemingly so specific. I think that's one of the US's biggest advantages: five years in one city will leave you a different person than five years in another.

(Also, if you think people are friendly in SF, spend a weekend in South Carolina. You'll forget how not to smile.)

stephengillie• 13 years ago

I wish the weather were so nice, and the people so friendly in Seattle. And only beer snobs are concerned about the head on their beers, as most people are drinking domestics and cheap microbrews directly from can or bottle.

I used to think it rude of baristas or burger clerks to check their phone while prepping my order, but instead now I check my phone at the same time. I think the key to it not being rude is to synchronize, so we all pop in and out of the conversation at the same time.

cesarbs3• 13 years ago

I've been living on the Eastside for almost half a year now, and I find people in the area extremely friendly. Also in Seattle.

I guess it's a matter of what we're comparing to. Compared to most southern Brazilian people, Seattleites are very, very friendly.

dfc3• 13 years ago

"Given that the author said he had spent time in a great number of states"

After reading some of the items I could not help but think that "spent time in a lot of states" was an exaggeration. That being said the problem with making generalizations about the US is one of my favorite things about the US; remarkable diversity of environment/culture/weather/architecture/etc.

Everybody talks to everybody, people are very friendly to each other...

Dont get me wrong I like NYC but you cant spend much time in Manhattan and continue to hold this belief.

It is almost always sunny. You don't need any forecast, it will be sunny and between 20-25 degrees Celsius. Every day. Great!

I live in Syracuse, NY, we compete with Seattle for least amount of sunny days in the continental US. The big difference from Seattle is that instead of rain we usually get 100+ inches of snow in winter. I want to move because of the weather in Syracuse.

Can somebody explain to me why most of the houses are almost glued together so that I can reach my neighbour's wall?

Never visited the suburbs or any city in the midwest.

Even local side roads look like our highways. All other roads are in great condition. Traffic is fluent, drivers are more respectful and chilled out.

Road condition: Never drove/rode on a highway in Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Traffic: Never drove in Boston or Manhattan or inside the beltway.

snogglethorpe5• 13 years ago

> Everybody talks to everybody, people are very friendly to each other...
Dont get me wrong I like NYC but you cant spend much time in Manhattan and continue to hold this belief.

Eh?! I think people in Manhattan are very friendly, probably more so than any other American city I've been to.

They're also often extremely blunt, of course, and won't hesitate to tell you if they think you're full of it, and if they're busy, well, they'll tell you that too, but in general New Yorkers seem quite outgoing and social. I've never talked to so many strangers in so many settings in such a short time as I have when visiting Manhattan. This was true everywhere, on the street, in cafes, in restaurants, on the phone (receptionist offers her opinion), waiting for the subway, on the subway, ...

I found the combination of bluntness and sociability pretty refreshing, especially compared to the constant "plastic smile" one finds in many other cities.

[A favorite incident: walking down the street in Manhattan on a hot summer's night, talking with my GF about a book I read. She reacts strongly (it was a scary scene)... two girls walking the other way jump in out of the blue: "Yo, what's up, what's wrong?!" ... "It's this book I read, she got scared" ... "What happened in it?" ... <describe scene> ... [girl 1:] "is that it?" [girl 2:] "No, no, actually that was kinda scary... what was that author's name? Have you read <other book>??" <etc etc>]

baby3• 13 years ago

That's pretty true, a lot of his points are specific to some cities only. The only good point he makes, while not really making it, is that Americans are very religious, anywhere you go, even in the most civilized cities. Which is the thing I understand the less.

jganetsk4• 13 years ago

America was settled by people who got kicked out of their countries for being too religious.

Svip2• 13 years ago

I also think it is a bit unfair to the Czech Republic to be compared to such a large country.

When he talks about the traffic lights being placed across the intersection, he should come visit Denmark; that's how we do it here! And it's not that far from Czech Republic, and we also like good beer (unlike the Americans who just drink flavoured water).

dagw2• 13 years ago

unlike the Americans who just drink flavoured water

Or beer that is hopped to up to crazy levels without any consideration for things like flavor balance and finesse.

newnewnew2• 13 years ago

California has one of the best beer scenes in the world. There is no kind of beer you can't find locally and lots of novel experimentation with the craft. Don't judge the US on Budweiser alone.

Stop by the Stone brewery or Russian River brewery if you want a mind-expanding beer experience. Although I find Europeans don't like as much variety in their beer as Americans.

jganetsk4• 13 years ago

In America, one can get many kinds of beer. One can get shitty American beer, beer that is crazy hopped up (as posted below), good American beer... and also the same exact beer you drink in Europe. We import too, you know.

danmaz743• 13 years ago

"most of my time I had spent in California, therefore I will relate all my conclusions to it."

davidw2• 13 years ago

Europe is pretty diverse too: look at how many languages are spoken there, and how many different cultures there are. Thinking about the US, in some ways, it's pretty strange to consider that people across such a large swath of land speak the same language. Even the regional accents are quite a bit less varied than Italy's dialects and languages.

jasonjei• 13 years ago

I'm Chinese American. My parents are from Taiwan. I was born in Phoenix. Among all the places I've traveled, I've found California and New York's racial diversity unmatched by any other part of the world. There is no other part in the world where you'll find Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Persians, Israelis, French, Mexican, Irish and so forth on the same road. I haven't seen it on the scale as it happens in Cal or NYC.

Dewie• 13 years ago

States, regions, and cities have broadly differing cultures and atmospheres, sometimes even to the same extent as going from one country to the other (especially when it comes to climate.)

OT: I find it funny that as soon as a foreigner talks about "how the US is", Americans are all too eager to point out how diverse the US is and how it is hard to paint it in broad strokes. Meanwhile, Americans are all too glad to visit two European countries and relay their experiences by refering to the places they were as "Europe" and the people there as "Europeans". Europe, a continent that is in a whole other league then USA the country when it comes to diversity.

mturmon4• 13 years ago

Europeans often comment on flimsy US house construction. Perhaps it's because of the relative newness of most US housing stock. And also the propensity of Americans to tear it down and start over. There's less reason to build for forever in this case.

Another factor is seismic conditions (the OP was clearly most influenced by the Bay Area). Masonry or stone construction is incompatible with earthquakes.

anigbrowl• 13 years ago

Masonry or stone construction is incompatible with earthquakes

There's more to quality construction than building out of brick (although I think brick houses will ride out an earthquake a lot better than you imagine, as some of the oldest houses around the Bay Area are made out of brick). It's other things like the fact that you build houses with Tyvek instead of insulating them properly, crappy aliminum windows, and so on. People here tend to tear their houses down and start over because a lot of houses are so poorly built that they're not worth repairing, rather than out of any aesthetic impulse.

dyno123453• 13 years ago

Many houses in the Bay Area are about as well insulated as a wooden shed, frankly. People seem comfortable to let it get 50° inside.

vacri6• 13 years ago

I once asked a Scot if they had any wooden houses back in his homeland. He replied "Yes, we keep our lawnmowers in them"...

vacri6• 13 years ago

I had a friend in Charlotte show me the panelling on his house - you could remove it with your hands (he pushed it right in with a mild press), pick out the insulation, and punch through the plasterboard inside. I've never before been in a house where you could break through a wall with your bare hands.

yardie• 13 years ago

I don't think that house is up to code. At the very least there should be cement board behind the panelling.

But, I don't know anything. I grew up in Miami. A hurricane (Andrew) turned an entire town to kindling because the houses were so poorly constructed. Some of them had nothing but gravity holding the roof down.

One thing I do know is the next house I buy I'm building myself. I've rented far too many places that were so poorly constructed; it's indescribable. My last apartment was on 2 floors. Just walking around felt like there were giants over my head. The beams were so far apart you could feel the floor shift under your weight.

henrikschroder• 13 years ago

Perhaps it's because of the relative newness of most US housing stock.

No, brand new houses and apartment buildings in at least the Bay Area are of shoddy quality compared to brand new houses built to Northern European standards. Same goes for older houses. Doesn't matter if it's brick or wood or concrete, there's just a huge quality gap.

Some of it is explained by the climate, it always amuses me to see housing ads proudly proclaiming "double glazing!". Meanwhile, over here, triple glazing has been the legal minimum for decades, and older houses were required to retrofit it.

Some of it is explained by the british heritage, they can't build houses on the british isles either.

The rest, I don't know how to explain. I guess people simply don't know how good houses they could be having, and therefore don't crave it?

sk00byd00• 13 years ago

As a British person in Sweden I just had a chuckle out loud with my morning coffee reading your comment. Good stuff (I couldn't disagree more but good stuff nonetheless).

jganetsk4• 13 years ago

Double glazing is huge in the UK. I never actually heard about it in the US.

mturmon4• 13 years ago

Maybe lowering the cost of construction by setting the quality bar lower is one of the factors behind the higher rate of home ownership in the US?

(I have relatives who, last I heard, live in trailers, err, manufactured homes, which I believe are pretty much unheard of as dwellings in northern Europe.)

flyinRyan• 13 years ago

Houses in the US are flimsy. Even brick homes are actually just 2x4s spaces 1.5 feet apart with insulation in between. The brick is just stack up on the outside with an air gap between. In Europe that entire space will often be completely solid.

I heard of a guy who built a German standard home in a hurricane zone in Florida (must have been insanely expensive). When the next hurricane did come the only damage to his house came from the shrapnel of broken apart american-style houses.

killermonkeys2• 13 years ago

It's a difference in approach that is tied to time: suburban American houses were mostly built after forced air central heating, and in that kind of heating insulation is "less" important (the air mass is mixed and heated thoroughly, not the structure). Europeans still use radiators which means insulation is more important (a radiator next to an outside wall is radiating half of its heat toward the outside wall). But fundamentally it seems like a US apathy toward waste more than an improvement.

SF has historically shoddy construction due to the gold rush, mail order housing bought sight unseen, and a mild climate.

If I built a house in the US I would have it designed by a European.

Gormo4• 13 years ago

Housing is one of those things that varies regionally. In Florida, no one builds with wood anymore - the next hurricane will knock your wooden house over. Almost all the buildings here have solid concrete or concrete block exterior walls.

mcrider• 13 years ago

Not sure why you'd want head on your beer, thats just wasted space...

agilebyte• 13 years ago

:) It dissipates after a while and some of it turns into liquid so if done properly you should get the "liquid amount" ordered up to the little needle mark on the glass. A different culture. Here in the UK I always get an ale that spills on my fingers when I carry it as it is 100% full...

killermonkeys2• 13 years ago

Amount of head on lager varies from country to country but it is hard to argue with a Czech given that they invented Pilsen lager. A good head has a different taste and adds a different texture to the beer and makes the carbonation (high in a lager) more smooth and less bitter.

gcb0• 13 years ago

Wow, if he likes the corn tasting steaks from usa... I'm sorry for the cows in Europe.

hackerboos• 13 years ago

Steak is great in Europe it's just expensive.

nnq• 13 years ago

In central and eastern Europe (I mean outside France, Germany, UK) beef tastes like shit, no matter how the steak is prepared, unless you're happy to end up in a place with "american (style) steaks" (that are usually made from beef imported from UK or USA) or good French cuisine. It's basically a whole different animal, not a metaphor: the cattle are never the famous and tasty american Back Angus or anything similar, their meat has a totally different texture and flavor, and by different I mean horrible (usually... I'm sure a French cook can make a dead rotten rat taste divine with all those marinading and sauces, but that's a different story...).

...now about lamb and pork steaks, it's different story, but beef steak in any "non beef loving country" is always crap.

vetinari2• 13 years ago

The cattle in Central and Eastern Europe is grown for the milk, not for the meat. That is the reason, why it tastes like shit. If you want a good steak there, get an Argentinian.

Of course, there are exceptions. In Prague, you can have good Czech-grown steak from cattle-frown-for-meat (go to Cestr).

vacri6• 13 years ago

I am able to accept that there might be wolves in woods but not that I will be robed on street.

Some typos are too good to pass up.

ww520• 13 years ago

Weather - always sunny. I think OP spending too much time in the SF Bay Area. Bay Area is among a few places in the world that has the best weather year round.

rvschuilenburg• 13 years ago

This has always been confusing to me: "I have to drink my beer from a paper bag, so there is nothing to be seen. What do you think everybody drinks from their paper bags? Coca-cola?"

Gormo4• 13 years ago

That's another thing that varies from state to state. In some states, like Nevada and Louisiana, public consumption of alcohol is quite legal, and often commonplace.

ixacto• 13 years ago

So you are a straight European dude in your 20s-30s in one of the most lucrative and in-demand industries in the USA in SV/SF. This might give you a slight case of rose colored glasses. You might have seen in your travels to other parts of the country that many Americans do not have this standard of living. To be blunt, it is likely that minority women in the deep south would have a slightly different expierence.

The realitiy of living in the USA is : 1. Don't get sick. We don't want to pay for you to go see the doctor, even if it would save $millions in medical bills for diabetes/cancer/chronic disease. There is the legal obligation for any emergency room to stabilize you, but then they kick you out if you can't pay.

2. Don't have kids. Kids cost a fuckton, and the governmnet doesn't really want to pay for it, but they partially do through a clusterfuck of programs (WIC/CHIP et al). There is no legally-mandated Parental leave or anything, that is for those lazy Frenchmen.

3. Don't be a woman. People will make rape jokes about you all the time (hello microsoft, E3) and that would be just the start of it. Never mind access to affordible healthcare like cancer screening and abortion.

4. Be christian, or if that isn't possible be Jewish. Just don't be Athiest/Muslim/Hindu/Bhuddist/....

If you aren't Protestat Christian there is no chance you will be president, JFK excepted.

5. Belive that USA = #1. Keep that flag flying and that coolaid flowing.

Disclaimer: I'm just a white guy trying to get a PHD/marketable skills so I can leave this country and move 140 miles north to Vancouver. Yes I know Vancouver has a bit of a heroin/prostitution/housing problem, but it's better than the current situation.

wybo2• 13 years ago

I'd like to add a few points from my own experience:

Cars: In America/Golden Gate Park, people take their car into the park! They even park it right there, right next to where they have their picnic. Odd but understandable. In Europe cars are antithetical to nature and relaxation, something industrial you hide out of sight, while in the US they are (apparently) integral to it.

Hours. In the US/SF people 'like' to be in the office. It is practically their home when they are not commuting or sleeping. While on the weekends they go on trips to be away from home/the office (I could not imagine raising, rather than merely producing, a family in the US).

(all you say about the weather is true, unless you live in West SF. National parks are fabulous indeed!)

Poverty. Without being a Republican who believes the poor / racial minorities are to blame for their own d*mned fate, it is not possible to enjoy central San Francisco. Never seen so many homeless people in such horrible states of existence (and I am not a Republican but a social democrat, so I was not comfortable with US society...).

(the US is this odd mix between rich and modern and a 3rd world country... also with regard to infrastructure)

Traffic lights (and a lot of traffic) at almost every corner in the city. Perhaps nice if you are driving, but very annoying when you want to enjoy an uninterrupted walk.

Grid-pattern (mostly responsible for the former). Cities look like they were built on a chess-board. Nice if you want to go straight, but not good when you want to go diagonal (in Paris they solved this with diagonal avenues). And forget building diversity or atmosphere, especially in the suburbs (which are 97% of the city).

Houses are indeed quite flimsy. But in East SF there are at least some lovely pre-war houses that have atmosphere (I lived in a room in one, loved it...).

Business / startup opportunities; indeed, nothing beats California (never seen so many things bordering on the silly, fully funded...).

On balance, after a year in the US, I chose to go back to the old world when a great opportunity came up there. I'm a European again :)

Gormo4• 13 years ago

How do traffic lights hinder your walk?

wybo2• 13 years ago

By being red at least 50% of the time (and making cars drive past fast & and making it an offence to cross the street even if there is no traffic (so in addition to watching the traffic one needs to scan the street for police...)).

Also, in many older (& also modern Dutch & UK inner cities) we have a thing called Woonerf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woonerf), which means a ~15 miles per hour maximum speed off the main roads inside residential areas, so pedestrians and kids can actually enjoy/play on the roads...

From Europe to Silicon Valley - things I do/don't like about USA

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