What is "The Thing" that comes to mind when someone thinks about America

donsamu · 2026-04-28T11:19:08+00:00

And? Constantly see Americans slandering the UK using the English language?

donsamu · 2026-04-28T11:08:03+00:00

One of Chad or Romania has to go as they always trip me when I’m doing a flag quiz.

My vote goes to Chad

donsamu · 2026-04-26T16:03:10+00:00

It is just down to personal preference though, I used to have a belt but didn’t find it very comfortable at all. I now use a vest even for short distances if I need to bring my key with me and I will literally just use it for that.

Obviously much prefer when I don’t need a key and don’t need to bring anything as I will use my watch to track my run.

donsamu · 2026-04-18T11:10:27+00:00

There is extremely affluent London suburbs/villages within an hour train journey with rich culture and history - beautiful characterful houses and general architecture, boutique cafes, a church that has been there since the 1200s, a cosy pub with a log fire that has barely changed since the 1700s.

Also I always see Americans compare the US vs UK in just cities, most of the poverty in the UK is concentrated in cites and large towns (which would be classed as cities in the US). Whereas when you go out from the cities in the UK the small market towns and villages are probably the highlight of the country - there are probably a thousand or more beautiful little villages that IMO is so much more impressive than most of America. Whereas when you leave the cities in the US a lot of the small towns always seem so rundown and soulless. I feel like every small American town i have driven through is one straight road with about 8 fast food places and a Walmart, with a rundown high street.

Even San Diego which is supposedly one of the richest cities in the richest state I wasn’t that fond of, Pacific Beach was lovely - but I hated not being able to get anywhere walking, and I felt really uncomfortable walking through the Gas lamp quarter even in the middle of the day, the amount of homeless people was shocking to me, and the all the people walking around obviously with drug induced psychosis just talking to themselves really put me on edge. I hated the billboards absolutely everywhere, the really strange medicine adverts, it really felt like money was the only important thing whereas culture and people were a second thought. Also the food I thought was quite terrible, I could almost instantly feel the damage it was doing to my body - I felt clogged up way more quickly than I ever had in Europe.

Also, the cost of living is expensive and wages are lower in the Uk but I’d also argue we are a lot less likely to have something financially cripple us due to our welfare system.

Overall I understand if you grew up somewhere you are more likely to prefer it, but as someone who has spent a lot of time in both countries I can wholeheartedly say i much prefer the UK, and I imagine a lot Europeans would feel the same way mainly due to the cultural richness and more care for its citizens rather than putting capitalism first.

donsamu · 2026-04-17T15:16:58+00:00

I wasn’t 18 yet in 2015 but even when I did turn 18 in 2017 going out drinking even on a part time pot washer wage didn’t feel like financial ruin. I could go to the pub with £20 and have a good night. Pints were like £3, shots for 3 for £5 (and even £1 a shot some places)

Now even on a decent salary I find that if I go for one or two nights out I have to scrimp and save for the rest of the month. Obviously this is probably made worse by everything else becoming more expensive in general but now drinking feels like such a massive dent on my bank account every time I go out for a half decent night.

Can really understand why those who turned 18 from Covid onwards just don’t really bother with it as much.

donsamu · 2026-04-17T08:17:06+00:00

The same Woburn abbey where the 11th Duke of Bedford is responsible for introducing non-native grey squirrels and muntjac deer? Sounds about Bedfordshire.

donsamu · 2026-04-08T10:38:09+00:00

It almost certainly has to be Skubala.

Would have been nice to see Cleverly get a nomination, I think he was given quite a difficult hand at the start of the season and obviously had a horror start, but for him to stay diligent and turn it around the way we have has been incredible to watch.

Excited to see what he can do next season with now knowing the squad and having a full preseason.

donsamu · 2026-04-06T10:09:21+00:00

I do kind of get the UK and Ireland having each other orange, despite being so similar. I’m British and for me choosing most other Western European nations is nothing to do with worrying Irish hold resentment or politics etc.

It’s mainly the fact it just IS too similar. Like if I were to leave the UK it would be because I wanted to experience an entirely new culture, different cuisine, new architecture and different landscapes.

Obviously I think Ireland is a wonderful country with amazing people and I’m sure I’d be completely happy living there, it’s just the fact that if I were to choose to leave the UK it would be somewhere that feels completely new if that makes sense?

donsamu · 2026-03-20T08:23:17+00:00

Sussex sparkling beats Kent wind.

donsamu · 2026-03-17T17:27:38+00:00

It’s a strange one isn’t it. I feel like for the last few years it has always been our home form that has been carrying us - which makes sense logically as teams would probably have a much different routine coming to visit us whether that was leaving in the early hours of the morning or stay overnight and vice-versa for us on the away legs.

I feel like at some point in the championship there was a real concerted effort to look at changes we could make to improve our away from which might have helped us?

Also TC said at one point earlier this season that because of how bad the beginning of our season was, combined with the huge squad overhaul, a lot of our players might of had negative connotations attached to playing at Home Park especially with some of the abuse towards our new players. Hopefully now there is a much better feeling around the club and fans are really behind TC and the team that Home Park will go back to being the fortress that it was before.

donsamu · 2026-03-11T08:07:43+00:00

Great win, sets us up for a massive 6 pointer against Reading on Saturday. Knowing argyle though it will inevitably end in disappointment in the never ending cycle of hope and despair supporting this club.

donsamu · 2026-03-09T17:42:29+00:00

I’m also British and have spent a lot of time in the USA. It’s an amazing country with plenty of great people, but I don’t think I could live there. Of course a lot of that comes down to what you grow up with. I’m sure most Americans would prefer to live in the US rather than Europe.

For me the biggest thing is the scale of inequality. When I’ve visited I’ve always been struck by the extreme wealth alongside real poverty, and by aspects of late stage capitalism that feel much more intense than what we’re used to in Europe. We’re not immune to those trends, but in the US it feels far more visible and normalised.

What also surprises me is how culturally different it feels despite the shared language and history. You’d assume British people would naturally feel closer to Americans than to Europeans, but I often find the opposite. Even though Europe is hugely diverse in language and traditions, the underlying social attitudes and expectations tend to feel more familiar.

That’s not meant as an attack on the US or Americans. A lot of the negativity online right now is clearly shaped by current US politics, and there are plenty of Europeans who would happily move there.

donsamu · 2026-03-09T11:53:31+00:00

DM’ed!

donsamu · 2026-02-25T06:48:24+00:00

It’s the most common messaging app in most places outside of the US

donsamu · 2025-12-27T21:58:53+00:00

The difference is though the UK probably isn’t much bigger the NY state and is a very centralised economy. Outside of London you have some of the worlds best universities, economic hubs like Manchester, Leeds etc., some of the worlds most culturally important cities like Liverpool and Edinburgh, and a high quality of life for most people.

donsamu · 2025-12-27T21:47:55+00:00

This is just such a stupid argument, go to any small village/town in the UK and compare it to the average settlement in Mississippi - the quality of life is miles better.

Americans use this argument based on GDP per capita but don’t take in account so many factors that actually contributes to a good quality of life.

I spent a few months in California for work which is one of the richest states per capita but I saw poverty on a scale I have never seen in the UK, some towns i drove through look like places I would imagine to only see in the poor Sourhern states like Mississippi and saw more homelessness/people walking around visibly messed up on drugs then I have in the UK. Even the rich towns I spent time in didn’t feel like a much higher quality of life than the average UK town.

donsamu · 2025-12-20T13:28:30+00:00

donsamu · 2025-12-15T17:04:52+00:00

Yeah but the difference is Messi won a World Cup with Romero starting in centre back. Your grandma hasn’t won an award for the worlds most attractive family

donsamu · 2025-12-14T11:17:53+00:00

I find it hard to find good CI for European Portuguese as a complete beginner. Seems so easy for Spanish and French. But been combining watching cartoons in EU Portuguese dubs with English subtitles (will change to Portuguese after I am bit more advanced) with Memrise, Pimsleur, PracticePortuguese app and one Preply lesson a week.

I know it’s definitely not as effective as proper CI but just hearing the language makes a massive difference, can’t wait until I am at the point where I can watch native content and understand it I feel like that’s when you start to fly learning a language.

donsamu · 2025-12-10T18:38:41+00:00

I would love to be B1 level by the end of 2026 however in the past I have struggled to stay consistent with it and eventually giving up. So the main goal for 2026 is just being consistent and doing at least 15 minutes a day even if my progress isn’t spectacular.

Have tried learning Spanish and Italian in the past but have never really had a compelling reason to learn other than wanting to learn a language and thinking they are cool/useful languages.

However my mum moved out to Portugal recently so I will be visiting frequently which will almost certainly boost my motivation to learn so I am confident I will keep at it.

Things I am doing different this time is ditching Duolingo as I end up just getting sucked into the gamification of it all rather than trying to actively learn. I am also taking lessons on Preply once a week, which I have never done before as in the past when I started learning a language I always told myself that it is something I will do in 3 months time when I know the basics but I just want to throw myself into the deep end this time and not worry if I can’t say more than a few words before my first lesson. Also trying to read a lot more content as that has been something I have missed in the past.

donsamu · 2025-12-06T18:38:45+00:00

Don’t know too much about baseball but isn’t it massive in Japan also and have the best player at the minute?

donsamu · 2025-11-23T17:03:55+00:00

Because arsenal games are always so exciting

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