₦airaland Forum

Not in any particular order,
1. The Color Purple
2. Schindler's List
3. Set It Off
4. Once Were Warriors
5. Babette's Feast
6. Like Water For Chocolate
7. Circle of Friends
8. Shallow Hal
9. Arthur
10. My Body Guard
12. Nine to Five
13. Ghost
14. Waiting To Exhale
15. , ?

1. Richard Pryor is my take for the all-time funniest American comedian.
2. If you have never seen Sinbad live, please [b][/b]do.
3. As far as funny sitcoms, the 1970's show "Carol Burnett" is unparalleled. Carol's spinoff, "Mama's Family", is a close second.
4. "I Love Lucy" will always be funny.
5. Jeff Foxworthy and his "Blue Collar" comedy tour is hilarious. Maybe you have to live in America to appreciate the whole "redneck" thing.
6. Eddie Murphy

Who is "Basket Mouth"? Is he the guy who wears a daishiki and says "Muddersucker"? Because I think that guy is funny, too.

well, I have owned a 4 ft iguana named Iggy (how original of a name, huh?), numerous fish, a garter snake, a chameleon, a pit bull, a border collie, a dingo, a black lab, a mongrel, a husband (oops, this is about non-human pets, huh?), three cats (Momma, Sweetpea and Kiva), and I have bred golden retrievers since 1999. My current goldens, Ike and Tina, have had 5 beautiful litters. I owned a puppy from one of their litters, but was only able to keep her, named Miranda, for a year. I am a dog lover - I love everything about them. Ike and Tina have distinct personalities. Ike is very protective, but he has a very "chilled out" personality. Tina, on the other hand, is a drama junkie, who needs constant attention and petting. Ike has a huge vocabulary - if I say, "Ike, who's upstairs - go check the door.", he'll drop whatever he's doing and go upstairs and bark. Tina is a bit more challenged - she hasn't been able to distinguish between the words toy and moth. So when moth season comes and I ask her to get a moth, she inevitably grabs one of her toys. Or if I ask her to get a toy, she stalks a moth,
go figure,

lm

Happy Birthday, Seun. I hope God has more blessings in store for you. Thank you for a wonderful forum for (not just Nigerians), but for anyone wishing to discuss meaningful issues on a safe and professional website.
lm

thank you, zahymaka for the correction - you're right - "gourmet" is the proper term, not "gourmand".
love to learn,
lm

Zahymaka - the French are legendary gourmands, indeed! You're right - they put junk food in its place - they don't revere it so much as we do in the US. I love my country, but I am afraid - we are, for the most part, frighteningly obese - we don't sit down at and enjoy a leisurely meal at the table and enjoy each other's company. Most kids eat dinner while they play video games or listen to their IPODS. Or worse - dinner is a hamburger on the go. I have to admit that I was guilty of this while raising my son. We rarely ate dinner together - he would eat it in his room, playing video games. I would eat dinner and "multi-task" (whatever the HELL that means!). I wish we had eaten our meals together more often.

Okay - now the "men" thing, do the French really treat their women good, ?

Excellent post, Chinani - seems that some Africans see eating a meal as a form of communion or sharing. I think that's a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, this is a custom pretty much lost in America) In American, as far as a meal goes, it's "catch as catch can". I think I am weirded out by the whole Asian restaurant thing because it's customary for one to put a pile of steamed or fried rice on one's plate and then top it off with whatever meat mixture they have. I think many Americans think that rice, without anything on it, is just gross. We're pretty much like that with all carbs - rice needs meat or gravy, potatoes need ketchup, sour cream, or butter or if the potatoes are mashed, they need gravy, and pasta always needs some kind of sauce. Just a cultural thing, I guess.

Friend of mine stayed with a family in Mali and said they served her rice, with nothing else. The woman of the house tossed pieces of fish to her, which she ate with the rice. And she ate it all with her hands. We are so looked down on here if we eat with our hands, unless it is fast food.

Well, here's one for you! I'm 44 years old and have never learned to drive! To the original poster: your guy has learned to develop navigational skills that would probably amaze you! I've lived in Utah and Colorado. I've visited Tennessee, the North and South Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California and Nevada. I've attended conferences in the Colorado mountains. I've gone camping miles away from my home. All without owning or driving a car. You learn to have plans B, C, D, and learn to be very resourceful when you don't own or drive a car. Everybody asks me, "how do you get around?". I want to ask them, "what would you do without your car?"

To wesleyanA -good point -- great observation!! Walgreens is notorious for not accepting coinage - which is stupid, because there are many old people trying to pay for prescriptions with whatever they have. I challenged this with my girlfriend. She brought a bag of coins into Walgreens to pay for some medicine and the resident bitch tried to decline the payment. I'm an even worse bitch, so she didn't win, and she had to cave, and in the end, my friend got her medicine - paid with pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, all in coins. But this is NOT typical in America - always have a credit card or some form of plastic handy. Good that you are a slow eater - you know it is good for your digestion? Americans eat really fast because we usually have 30 minutes for lunch - so everyone is wolfing their food down. BAD, BAD HABIT,

To Seun: thank you for this wonderful website. I actually made the switch from some other American websites that focused on narrow topics. I am grateful for your bringing so many diverse subjects to the table - we may not all agree, but there is something to be digested by everyone. Good for you!

Linda M.
Colorado Springs, Colorado

some tips on how to navigate in America: 
1.  Want a hamburger?  go to McDonald's, Wendy's or Burger King.
2.  Want chicken?  go to Popeye's or Kentucky Fried Chicken (I recommend KFC, myself.  KFC tastes homemade).
3.  Pennies are obsolete in America.  Don't try to pay for anything with them.  They're useless. And you will definitely stand out as a "rube", or worse, you will be seen as a drug addict scrounging for any change he can get, 
4.  Only use "Cascade" in your automatic dishwasher.  Only use "Dawn" if you hand-wash dishes (really! Dawn is the best) - and you can bathe yourself or your dog in Dawn - no kidding!!!
5.  Black men - wear a uniform, business button or company cap/hat if you want to hail a cab. Sorry.
6.  Hot dogs are classic American fare.  We love them.  They are best left not to be described but are most closely related to sausage.  Most Americans eat them with mustard, however, some misguided individuals will adulterate them with ketchup. If you want to look "Un-American", douse your hotdog with ketchup, !  Otherwise, put the hotdog in a hotdog bun, put some mustard and maybe onion on it and enjoy.  You need nothing more.
7.  to Emmie4j: Please don't go to an Asian restaurant and separate your rice from the meat.  This will certainly stand out! Americans eat their food together.  Heard of "shepherd's pie"?  Do Nigerians really separate their rice from meat?  I can't even comprehend that!  Yuk!
8.  automatic toilets and sinks are a way of life in public places.  just stand up and run,
9.  guys - no camaraderie here - you can't walk hand-in-hand in America, at least not without dodging stones,
10. always exit opposite from where you entered.  if you got on the front of the bus, leave from the rear. 
11. absolutely no eye contact!  don't stare at another person - that is intimidating, or the other person thinks you're "mental".