Med weed is legal in this part of the state as well, we have plenty of dispensaries. I believe he was referring to legal recreational use.
I'm from the island of Malta, most Americans wouldn't have heard of us, so I'll give you time to google it. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
You don't have to be a card-carrying republican to be happy or accepted here. Like most places, you only hear about the people with extreme views and most of the extremists in Texas tend to be conservative in nature but that does not mean that everyone here is like that. Most of my friends and I would probably be classed as liberals. We even got a solid pocket of hippies in Austin and far west Texas tends to lean in the democrat direction because of the Hispanic population. I was born in far west Texas and lived there until I left for college in the DFW area. I can probably answer questions about those areas.
I have lived in Ontario, Canada's very own nothing culture vortex my entire life. Question about Russia: in Russia, do you watch television, or does television watch you?
Though I'm in North Carolina now, I spent about two and a half years living in Japan during my time in the Navy. I'm no expert on the country, but I may be able to answer some questions people have about the place. Everyone has questions about those crazy Japanese bastards.
Shit, this turned out really long, I put it in spoiler tags for people who couldn't care less reading about Switzerland. Spoiler No worries about the political stuff, I'll keep my own sentiments out of it and just explain the situation here. - If you're conscripted, your gear is given to you by the army. Very few exceptions (like gloves and stuff). You can't bring your own gun and frankly very few people would be interested, as the chances of actually using any of the equipment in anger are naught. - When you're 19, you're drafted - a majority into the army. You have to prove a deficiency (mental or physical) to serve in the army, then you're put in civil service which mainly consists of checking bunkers, maintaining paths in the woods, helping out in old people's homes etc. A third option has been made available recently because they realized how fucking expensive maintaining an army of that size is: you can work for accredited NGOs at home and abroad. This possibility really rules, but it's rather difficult to get in, it's basically engineers or other students who get in most of the time. - In school, you learn at least two of the official languages and English. In the German speaking part you learn German, French and English, in the French part French, German & English and in the Italian part Italian, German & English. This rocks because you can hold at least a half-decent conversation in three languages - in public schools. - Talk of joining the EU flared up when everyone was squeezing us for anti tax-evasion reasons last year but VERY quickly died down when the extent of truly how fucked the EU is became apparent again with the whole Greece/ PIIGS situation. Germany is A LOT more dilapidated with MUCH higher taxes than Switzerland - very few people want to go down that path unless forced. - As with many countries, the noisiest, most vocal and crass things make news. The minaret ban was really really fucked and I'm ashamed of it to no end. What happened was that every other party was too smug and thought "no one could possibly so stupid as to vote for that moronic (and illegal) piece of legislation". But because we have referenda that any 7 adults can conjure up with (I think) 50'000 signatures, this took shape and got passed. Since then, France passed a Burqa ban and it didn't make a fraction of the stir. - I painted a far too negative picture in my original post, I mean: the alps. They are absolutely beautiful. EVERYTHING is pristine. Unbelievably clean, the water, the air, everything. Trains run on time, if they're 15-20 minutes late because of some fault it makes the news. Salaries are off the hook. Switzerland's expensive, but in relation to the salaries, it's great. The political system and the core values of the system. What you call socialist, we have and it works. Of course it's because we're so small, but it works. But all this comes at a price. Everything is pretty regulated, we're like a giant gated community - no risk, as much privacy as possible, little spontaneity. Young Swiss travellers will often complain about this and how great it is in countries where you can just approach and talk to strangers without coming off as weird or intrusive (at bars etc.). It's done here too, but we're quite reserved towards other Swiss people. We're very polite & hospitable, which is why foreigners often have a completely different picture of Swiss people, but amongst ourselves we kind of keep to ourselves too.
While not being 100% on point, I'm from Chicago. I grew up in Chicago, work down town, and now live just north west in one of the multiple NW suburbs near O'Hare. Government Corruption? Yes, more than you can imagine. Is former governor Blagojevic guilty? Don't know what the jury verdict will be, but know for a fact that he lost his innocence a long time ago. Do you guys really sound like the Super-Fans and say "Da Bears?" Yes, and the thickness of a person's Chicago (area) accent depends on how far south you go. By the time you get to Joliet, you might as well be speaking Polish. We also pronounce doors and stairs in the same way. Do we pronounce sausage "Saw-Sage?" Isn't that how it's pronounced?
This is one thing Texans do that I have never understood. Why in the hell would you call it Old Mexico? What are your colloquial names for the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico? I think I know why y'all do this, but I want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.
Television is pretty crappy. Back when I lived there, there were only about 3-4 channels, all with a good deal of government control. There are more now that the USSR has collapsed, but lots of it is Italian soap operas, Russian soap operas (the absolute worst; makes English and Mexican soaps seem like masterpieces by comparison), endless pop concerts, awful and pointless "documentaries", and really bad Russian films. On the bright side, people there are very energetic in pirating foreign films, sometimes before they even come out in theaters. (!) Thus, there are some good English and other foreign films playing on free national television right around the time they come out on DVD or HBO everywhere else.
Edinburgh, Scotland. The only city in the country worth visiting. Currently in the midde of the Edinburgh Festival, which is awesome because the population doubles and drinking establishments are all open until 5am.
It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht t' nicht Born in Canada to Scottish parents. Have been to Scotland 20+ times in my 25 years on this planet, so fairly well versed in the area. MON THE GERS!!! CMH, if you cannae dae the bouncy your a tim. Rangers v Celtic! Also try and not look like this to avoid getting acosted in the pub: NSFW NSFW or this: NSFW
Im in Australia (specifically Western Australia), i grew up in a very small outback town but have lived in 'the big smoke' since i was about 10. There's plenty of misconceptions about good ole Aussie land and i'm happy to answer any questions. P.S. Drop Bears are real and they will fuck your shit up. True story.
I'm from Tasmania, AUS, I've lived here all my life. The population of the island only hit 500k recently so it's pretty relaxed. Also has some of the most beautiful geography and untouched wildernes on the planet. The below picture is of a beach thats about 90 minutes drive from Hobart (capital city, right at the bottom of the island), It's called Wine Glass Bay and its a bit nice
Either Discovery Channel has been lying to me, or nearly every animal on the continent can kill you in one horrifying way or another. I don't know how else to conceive of that shit. I mean, I don't particularly like pigeons or squirrels, but I know if I encounter one that I won't be shitting my face out of my butt inside of an hour.
Besides that post which was intended for humorous reasons, I have never actually called this city Old Mexico, but around here you do hear a lot of people call this place Old Mexico or Juarez Jr. It's really just the culture and certain people's perspective. I wouldn't know any other names for New Mexico or Mexico. But people also call this city "El Chuco" because of the Pachuco style which originated here. Oh, and like other places some do call this city by the area code. "The 915."
Rural Minnesota. Scandinavian accents, 120+ degree temperature range, lakes, ice fishing, rednecks who look and act just like southern rednecks but have Scandinavian accents, and 4 out of 5 people have a Norwegian heritage.
A guy was killed by a shark just this morning. Even the harmless looking platypus has a poisonous spur on its leg which apparently causes such incredible pain cutting your own arm off with a hatchet is preferable. So don't pick those little bastards up. It's really a case of be alert but not alarmed when in the bush.
Admittedly there are a lot of nasty creatures in this great land but to be honest its not something I even really consider on a day to day basis. Out of the top 10 nasties in Australia ive only come into close contact with 6 (bolded) in the wild and never been stung/bitten/attacked, and im probably a big exception given i grew up in the outback so had way more opportunity to come into contact with these than most Aussies do. A bit of common sense and being aware of your surroundings goes a long way. 1. The Box Jellyfish 2. Irukandji - Stung a friend of mine while swimming up north 3. Salt Water Crocodile - My father used to trap these for the local authorities and i got to tag along on a couple of trips 4. Blue Ring Octopus 5. Stone Fish - Stepped on by a friend, i was standing right next to him so could have easily been me 6. Red Back Spider - I kill these all the time around my house, they wont kill an healthy adult anyway just make you very sick 7. Brown Snake - Used to get these coming into our house all the time up north, got a photo of my old man somewhere with a 3 metre King Brown that slithered through his legs while he was sitting at his home office desk (he didn't move until it was through his legs and then grabbed a handy star picket and smashed it over the head) 8. Tiger Snake These are more common where i live now but all up ive only come across 2 in the last 15 years, just leave them the fuck alone and call a Ranger. 9. Great White Shark 10. Funnel Web Spider EDIT: The Taipan should also be on that list in place of the Irukandji (never had contact with it though)