40 Ways to Spot an American Abroad

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Whether it's a question of day-to-day conversational volume or shouting across a room to get someone's attention, Americans haven't quite nailed the "inside voice" thing just yet. If the accent you speak with doesn't give you away, your volume will. Why are people so loud in America? It's a mystery.

Loudness

Maybe they just haven't found their volume controls yet. But everyone talks as loudly as possible so the whole world can hear their conversation as if anyone actually cares. You don't have to whisper but assume that other people also want to be heard and don't talk over them with your projected volume.

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Did you know...

  • Even though it is spread across five time zones, the entire country of China is set to Beijing time. Having a single time zone in the United States would certainly make things easier. Currently, the USA is spread across six, but a single time zone would make things a little wonky in Alaska and Hawai'i.
  • The longest flight in the world is between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey. Depending on which way you're flying, it takes around 18.5 hours to complete the 9,534 miles of the journey. The flight is so long that it doesn't even have an economy class. Only first-class and business-class arrangements are offered.
  • The surface area of Pluto is just under 6.5 million square miles. The CIA Factbook lists the area of Russia to be just over 6.6 million square miles. That makes Russia bigger than Pluto (and much closer to visit). Are you still very upset that Pluto isn’t a planet anymore?
  • You've heard of the phrase "wanderlust," but do you know the German word "fernweh"? It means "far sickness" or an intensely strong urge to travel. The next time you feel the need to head out on a road trip, you've got a case of fernweh. And the only cure is to travel somewhere new!
  • The largest pool in the world can be found at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile. It has 66 million gallons (enough water to fill 100 Olympic-sized pools). It's 3,323 feet in length, over twice the length of the next biggest pool. At a cost of $3,000,000, that sounds like a pretty good deal.