General Discussion Thread

[Eich]

Ohh nice! Hah, whenever I picture US universities, I keep thinking they're just like mine, and then I remember....they freaking huge O___O like, I can't even fathom how huge and crazy they are, they're like....regular universities who've had too much red cordial. O__o Whaaaaaat?!?!?? All that sport?!! And infrastructure and and the SCALE. Are they really all like that?

O____O *gets out notebook* Miss Sparky, we might have to ask you a few questions regarding where you were and who you were with at the time of the murder incident in the gallery last week..... *Poirot theme plays*

I live right about...  Here:

Old photo, but the place hasn't changed much in the last 40 years or so.  I'm off in the forests nearby, with the raccoons.

[potatobunny]

I'm off in the forests nearby, with the raccoons.

I mean, you are a tree and all.

[OrigamiOwl]

Old photo, but the place hasn't changed much in the last 40 years or so.  I'm off in the forests nearby, with the raccoons.

That's a cool amount of forest! I couldn't find any decent photos of my campuses, so here's the front of the art school~

Aaaaand a picture of the humanities and cafe area looking deserted and ~fancy~~~
It is usually neither.

I mean, you are a tree and all.

Now imagining that all the roommates are raccoons and wildlife and not actual students.... Which makes their meal plans and TV hogging kinda funny X'D hahaha

[Sunflower]

Thanks for the photos, OrigamiOwl.  How many people go to your uni?  Is it a 4-year college (awarding bachelor's degrees)? 

Here in the U.S., colleges come in all sizes and shapes.  The big ones that so astonish you tend to be state (public) universities, because the 50 states that run them have an interest in producing large numbers of educated people, and there are economies of scale.  They also tend to be larger because they have graduate divisions, medical/vet/dentistry schools, MBA programs, etc.  Some have more than 50,000 students!

For example, University of South Carolina - Columbia (so called to distinguish it from several other SC campuses) has about 24,000 undergrads and 7,500 graduate students.  (I'm not sure if this is Eich's alma mater or not.)

Private colleges tend to have fewer students and a lower student-to-teacher ratio.  My alma mater, Smith College, a women's college in New England, has 2,600 undergrads (plus about 100 grad students) -- large for a women's college, medium-sized for any private liberal-arts college.  The campus is so beautiful, especially in spring and fall; it's a real selling point for prospective students. 

Stanford, the most notable college near where I live, has about 7,000 undergrads, 9,000 grad students, and more money than most Third World nations. 
 

[OrigamiOwl]

Thanks for the photos, OrigamiOwl.  How many people go to your uni?  Is it a 4-year college (awarding bachelor's degrees)? 

Here in the U.S., colleges come in all sizes and shapes.  The big ones that so astonish you tend to be state (public) universities, because the 50 states that run them have an interest in producing large numbers of educated people, and there are economies of scale.  They also tend to be larger because they have graduate divisions, medical/vet/dentistry schools, MBA programs, etc.  Some have more than 50,000 students!

For example, University of South Carolina - Columbia (so called to distinguish it from several other SC campuses) has about 24,000 undergrads and 7,500 graduate students.  (I'm not sure if this is Eich's alma mater or not.)

Private colleges tend to have fewer students and a lower student-to-teacher ratio.  My alma mater, Smith College, a women's college in New England, has 2,600 undergrads (plus about 100 grad students) -- large for a women's college, medium-sized for any private liberal-arts college.  The campus is so beautiful, especially in spring and fall; it's a real selling point for prospective students. 

Stanford, the most notable college near where I live, has about 7,000 undergrads, 9,000 grad students, and more money than most Third World nations.

*whistles* I think there are around 20,000 students (according to the web) but t doesn't seem like it....

UTas is an all-rounder for subjects, but some of the different fields are located elsewhere: like the art school and 1/2 of Law is on the wharves, the Med school is in the city near the hospital, the marine and teaching school is in devonport, and the music school is in the city. Oddly, I have no idea where drama is O__O but all the rest are at the Sandy Bay campus.

Actually, I probably got some of that wrong, so just in case:
http://www.utas.edu.au/campuses/hobart-campus here's a page

Mine is a state university too....I think? It's the state's only university so I'm guessing soooo...?

But what i find weird is this kind of stuff:

That's sooooo huge! And full of people! Whaaaaaaaaa!!? How?! Huh?!

[Nimphy]

Italy:
- Trolls are loud, and thus easy to spot.
- Mountains to hide in, where it snows a lot.
- Many small villages
- Lots of old cities and castles surrounded by walls and that stood countless attacks to hide in

- People are also loud, and not very good at standing still and staying silent
- Not very cold in the south
- The small villages above mentioned can be near the cities and certainly are not completely isolated

[Sunflower]

... what i find weird is this kind of stuff:

That's sooooo huge! And full of people! Whaaaaaaaaa!!? How?! Huh?!

Feh.  That's American college football for you.  A better person than I will have to explain the attraction (and corruption) of college sports to you. 

Basically, college football is a religion in big chunks of the U.S.; services are held every Saturday in huge luxurious stadiums like the one in your photo (which belongs to the University of Southern California, a rich private college and perpetual rival to my family's alma mater, University of California-Berkeley).  Football programs are incredibly well-funded by wealthy alumni even if academics and financial aid goes begging. Same goes for college basketball these days.

I went to a women's college, which by definition doesn't have football -- and small liberal arts colleges tend not to have big competitive sports programs anyhow.  (Smith *is* a very strong competitor in rowing crew, but that's considered an effete rich-person's sport.  Though never say that around actual rowers -- they are MADE of muscle.)

The musical satirist Tom Lehrer wrote an amusing song about his alma mater's frail and over-refined football team:  "Fight Fiercely, Harvard."

P.S.  Please don't report me to the authorities!    Disliking college sports is practically un-American.  Thank heavens for the safety of a pseudonym...

[Fimbulvarg]

I live right about...  Here:

With the power of search engines it's not hard to find out where that is; in fact you can do it in 10 seconds without even having to yell "computer, enhance!".

Anyways, I can practically feel the hot humid subtropical air emanating from that picture. The Southern USA is not for me.

[Fimbulvarg]

Is this a serious thread or a thread for stereotype-parodies with an SSSS twist?

[Eich]

With the power of search engines it's not hard to find out where that is; in fact you can do it in 10 seconds without even having to yell "computer, enhance!".

Anyways, I can practically feel the hot humid subtropical air emanating from that picture. The Southern USA is not for me.

Or the power of copy+paste.  Norway ain't for me.  As soon as I saw Minna post about her threshold for cold tolerance, I decided I would only visit Scandinavia in the height of summer.

@Sunflower, yah, I've never actually been to a game at my school.  Too many loud, drunk people whose moods and violence levels will be dictated by the outcome of something as silly as a game.  I considered USC (south Carolina) as an option, but I grew up near there, and I know their campus is hideous.  Besides that, the teachers apparently force their opinions on you and test you on them.

@Owl, my school is pretty big, but I do t know how many students we have.  Football stadiums get filled up with students, but also with the families of fans who can afford tickets and want to come worship some big dudes hitting each other.

[OrigamiOwl]

Feh.  That's American college football for you.  A better person than I will have to explain the attraction (and corruption) of college sports to you. 

Basically, college football is a religion in big chunks of the U.S.; services are held every Saturday in huge luxurious stadiums like the one in your photo (which belongs to the University of Southern California, a rich private college and perpetual rival to my family's alma mater, University of California-Berkeley).  Football programs are incredibly well-funded by wealthy alumni even if academics and financial aid goes begging. Same goes for college basketball these days.

I went to a women's college, which by definition doesn't have football -- and small liberal arts colleges tend not to have big competitive sports programs anyhow.  (Smith *is* a very strong competitor in rowing crew, but that's considered an effete rich-person's sport.  Though never say that around actual rowers -- they are MADE of muscle.)

The musical satirist Tom Lehrer wrote an amusing song about his alma mater's frail and over-refined football team:  "Fight Fiercely, Harvard."

P.S.  Please don't report me to the authorities!    Disliking college sports is practically un-American.  Thank heavens for the safety of a pseudonym...

Wow! I didn't know there were women's universities! Cool!
I too can never understand American football....it just looks like rugby in fancy dress? U__U what's the appeal of all those hyped up dudes mindlessly ramming into a group head first...? Huh? It mAKes No sEnsE!!
We have AFL football, which I can understand the rules of better, the uniforms makes sense ;P but it's probably just as violent though, and a lot of the players are a bit.....meh in the civility dept. :S so I don't follow that either.

Or the power of copy+paste.  Norway ain't for me.  As soon as I saw Minna post about her threshold for cold tolerance, I decided I would only visit Scandinavia in the height of summer.
[...]
@Owl, my school is pretty big, but I do t know how many students we have.  Football stadiums get filled up with students, but also with the families of fans who can afford tickets and want to come worship some big dudes hitting each other.

I like the cold, but I don't think I'd travel there in their winter until I was used to summer first X'D juuuuuuuust in case.
My mum used to say it was a repeat of the whole gladiator/spectator sport thing so now all I see are crazy barbarian peeps screaming encouragement to their favorite hyped up alpha male fighter :/ it's all a bit... Uncivilized for me.
I'd prefer to go watch a quiz show! X3 because I'm a derp. ;P

[Lenny]

I too can never understand American football....it just looks like rugby in fancy dress? U__U what's the appeal of all those hyped up dudes mindlessly ramming into a group head first...? Huh? It mAKes No sEnsE!!

Oddly enough, that's what I think of AFL - some sort of bastardized version of rugby. We had to play it in primary school, and I've been confused about it ever since. And whyyyy do people insist on calling that football, and actual football some weird word like soccer? I will never understand, neverrrrr.

[Nimphy]

Is this a serious thread or a thread for stereotype-parodies with an SSSS twist?

Streotypes often have a solid base. By saying that Italians are loud, I used a common stereotype, but it's also completely true. They ARE loud, at least compared to a lot of other countries. I suppose it should be something halfway between stereotyping and being serious? (I thought of this as a funny, not-serious thread at first, but maybe Noah meant it seriously)

[Fimbulvarg]

I watched a game of American football from the sidelines once. When they finally got started crashing into one another I was all "Get em!" but then they just stopped after a few seconds and returned to their starting position. It got boring quite fast, in association football they keep the action going at least (in fact I'm still a bit electric after watching my favorite team, the German national team, at the World Cup semi-finals this summer).

[noako]

This is a young thread and I don't want to seem like a joykill, but I will nevertheless say it.

Please be cautious with stereotyping. You never know what's going to hurt someone else.

That said, I don't feel like I can add much to this thread. Finland is in the actual canon story, we have seen how things are there.