OT - Why is it good to be in the US?

[Melissa]

I would seriously stop breathing if I saw a spider that big, WOW

I'm sure you'd have no trouble finding CPR volunteers. It's the ones that look like Borat that put you right back to square one when you regain consciousness.

[Voyager]

University of California, Berkeley campus.....

So come on, sell this to me. What's the good stuff?

You answered your own question.

Do it. You will never want to leave California.

[SF-Dano]

Well below is a little clip that illustrates some of the natural beauty and diversity that can be found in the state of California alone. You may have seen this before. It is from a ride at Disney's California Adventure theme park. The quality is not great but good enough to get the just of it. The actual fillms starts just after the 3min mark and it looks alot better in full screen mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c7RfVYh4cQ

[Enigma869]

1. The US has the best universities in the world. This is one of the few places we can still claim global superiority unflinchingly. UC Berkeley ranks #2,3, or 4 in the WORLD, depending on which set of rankings one looks at. Only Oxford, Cambridge, and Tokoyo crack the top twenty from the rest of the globe. Most people never get a chance to attend such a place; you've been given a gift.

I don't doubt that UC Berkeley is a great school, because it's always ranked high on the annual US News top colleges list. That said, I'm not sure how it can possibly be the only American college to "crack the top twenty from the rest of the globe", if I'm reading your post correctly. I'm not sure that I've ever even seen Berkeley rank in the top 3 in the U.S. The top three seem to always be Harvard, Stanford, and M.I.T. Although, this list does rank Berkely as the 4th best in the world:

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm

[Arianddu]

1. The US has the best universities in the world. This is one of the few places we can still claim global superiority unflinchingly. UC Berkeley ranks #2,3, or 4 in the WORLD, depending on which set of rankings one looks at. Only Oxford, Cambridge, and Tokoyo crack the top twenty from the rest of the globe. Most people never get a chance to attend such a place; you've been given a gift.

I don't doubt that UC Berkeley is a great school, because it's always ranked high on the annual US News top colleges list. That said, I'm not sure how it can possibly be the only American college to "crack the top twenty from the rest of the globe", if I'm reading your post correctly. I'm not sure that I've ever even seen Berkeley rank in the top 3 in the U.S. The top three seem to always be Harvard, Stanford, and M.I.T. Although, this list does rank Berkely as the 4th best in the world:

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm

As I read it, Linda is saying of the international top 20 Universities, only the three named are not US institutions.

[Don]

I don't really see any need to sell coming here to the U.S. For every person who decides not to come, there are 10 other people waiting to get in. It's not vanity or arrogance, it's just the facts. I can't tell you how many people I met just walking down the street, over the years in Japan or Korea who wanted to have me proofread a letter they wrote asking for their their teenager to be accepted at a U.S. college. Oregon, Hawaii, UCLA, there are so many overseas applicants it's unbelievable. If we need to continue to sell it to you, then it's obvious that your heart's not in it. So don't come. Give someone else the opportunity.

[bluejeangirl76]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

[Saint John]

Berkeley would be a great spot for an errant M.O.A.B.

[Ehwmatt]

Berkeley would be a great spot for an errant M.O.A.B.

lol

[whirlwind]

Because American is every country rolled up into one and contains the cream of the crop of culture and intellect from around the world.

[Arianddu]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

Lucky Charms

[Voyager]

So have you decided yet?

[Rick]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

Lucky Charms

They're magically delicious.

[Arianddu]

I don't really see any need to sell coming here to the U.S. For every person who decides not to come, there are 10 other people waiting to get in. It's not vanity or arrogance, it's just the facts. I can't tell you how many people I met just walking down the street, over the years in Japan or Korea who wanted to have me proofread a letter they wrote asking for their their teenager to be accepted at a U.S. college. Oregon, Hawaii, UCLA, there are so many overseas applicants it's unbelievable. If we need to continue to sell it to you, then it's obvious that your heart's not in it. So don't come. Give someone else the opportunity.

Fair enough. I have my reasons for choosing Berkeley, and I'm actually pretty committed to it; what really makes my choice for me now is finances and whether I get one of the exchange places.

My feeling was there have been quite a few depressing threads lately that seem to portray the US as a not-so-great place to be. Everyone's kind of been down about it all - politics, economics, the weather; it's all been a bit doom-and-gloom. Which is kind of daunting when I'm about to commit a year of my life and around six years of debt to being there.

I want to know what can I have to look forward to; what of your country do you want to tell me about, what do you recommend, what is the stuff you love and enjoy that you think I should try out? Because guide books aren't going to tell me about that sort of fun stuff.

[Arianddu]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

Lucky Charms

They're magically delicious.

They scare me!

[bluejeangirl76]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

Lucky Charms

We are NOT pulling your leg. Any cereals with marshmallows have crunchy ones.
They're basically just preserved faux marshallow things, but yes, they ARE crunchy.

And tasty!! I pick them out and save them for last!

[Arianddu]

(Oh yeah - I forgot one:

* proving that Rhi and BJG are pulling my leg about the crunchy marshmallows. )

Refresh me. In what context did we tell you about crunchy marshmallows?

Lucky Charms

We are NOT pulling your leg. Any cereals with marshmallows have crunchy ones.
They're basically just preserved faux marshallow things, but yes, they ARE crunchy.

And tasty!! I pick them out and save them for last!

But surely crunchy marshmallows are meringues!

Ok, I'll confess, Lucky Charms are actually on my list of things I need to experience whilst in the States.

[bluejeangirl76]

But surely crunchy marshmallows are meringues!

Ok, I'll confess, Lucky Charms are actually on my list of things I need to experience whilst in the States.

Not quite meringues, but close enough description.

And yes you must experience Lucky Charms. They are their own food group.

[Don]

Cereal marshmallows are just regular marshmallows that have been freezed dried so they don't go bad from sitting on the shelf in those boxes. Go freeze a bag of mini marshmallows and then let them thaw out. It's the same thing.

[whirlwind]

Cereal marshmallows are just regular marshmallows that have been freezed dried so they don't go bad from sitting on the shelf in those boxes. Go freeze a bag of mini marshmallows and then let them thaw out. It's the same thing.

Damn! Another great reason why America is so great.