Wednesday, September 21, 2005
SA vs USA
Bonnie posted something about the similarities and differences between South Africa and America. I wrote some comments and thought they'd bear repeating here.
Someone commented that there aren't any "biscuits" in SA (she asked for one at KFC and got a roll instead) - and so begins my reply:
Actually there are many biscuits in South Africa, but they're non-American biscuits, not American "biscuits." Our "biscuits" are your "cookies" and our "cookies" are your "cupcakes." Fun, huh?!
Other differences? I've generally found Americans louder and more confident in themselves than South Africans...more self-assertive (that's a generalisation - spent most of my time in the North East).
American coffee - excellent. Can't find a French Vanilla here but in *every* petrol station (oh, right, "petrol" = "gas") you could get French Vanilla to go (or "take away"). Probably the thing I miss most about the States!
Shameless self-promotion and extremely cheesy ads - radio, tv, you name it. I love the medical advertisments which tell you how good the product is for you, and then the guy pretty much raps the side effects: "May cause sickness, diabetes, excessive sleep and death." Hilarious!
Someone commented that there aren't any "biscuits" in SA (she asked for one at KFC and got a roll instead) - and so begins my reply:
Actually there are many biscuits in South Africa, but they're non-American biscuits, not American "biscuits." Our "biscuits" are your "cookies" and our "cookies" are your "cupcakes." Fun, huh?!
Other differences? I've generally found Americans louder and more confident in themselves than South Africans...more self-assertive (that's a generalisation - spent most of my time in the North East).
American coffee - excellent. Can't find a French Vanilla here but in *every* petrol station (oh, right, "petrol" = "gas") you could get French Vanilla to go (or "take away"). Probably the thing I miss most about the States!
Shameless self-promotion and extremely cheesy ads - radio, tv, you name it. I love the medical advertisments which tell you how good the product is for you, and then the guy pretty much raps the side effects: "May cause sickness, diabetes, excessive sleep and death." Hilarious!
# posted by Roger Saner @ 12:52 am 
