Questions to you foreign people

[Vincent, Thunder God]

It's a Nerve and skin damaging disease that used to not be "curable" and disfigured many in ages past. I think the bible even mentions it.

Yup Jesus goes to a Leper colony to help them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL-3JFornNA

BTW I have a question for everyone - what is the quality of health care like in your respective countries? I'm especially curious about the US - I'm aware it's a private system but I'm interested to know what the quality of health care is like for what you pay for. Here in Canada we have free health care but perhaps it isn't of the greatest quality (long wait times for specialists, low availability of GPs, etc). Also my feeling on health care in general is that is moving towards prescribing a lot of pills and away from empathy for the patient.

[Loony BoB]

I found the quality of healthcare in NZ to be great before I left in 2002, and for the UK, I've never had any real problems. I had to wait about five minutes in agony in the ER room when I got a kidney stone, but that's about it. If I need to be seen the same day, I'll always be seen one way or another. I can't say I've had any real reason to complain.

[escobert]

So which of the European countries (or other areas for other members) have a mandatory public service program for recent high school graduates?

You know, something like military service, or something in the medical field like candy stripers or blue teens (American hospital volunteer programs for younger folks).

Norway does. 18 year olds are drafted into the national guard where they serve for a year or so. It's mandatory, but easy to get out of. They don't draft all that many so being out of shape usually makes them pick someone else over you. Or you can smoke weed prior to doing the urine sample and you'd be turned away for sure. It's strictly a defensive force, and draftees are never sent on missions outside of the country. They do get to bring their HK 416s home with them though, without the firing pin.

I didn't serve, but for those who do, there are a few perks. You can get drivers licenses for lorries or whatever, for example, which usually costs like 5000 euro if you want to get it on your own. THey're not handing these out for everyone who serves, of course, but for those who needs it to perform their duties. There are several other types of certifications you can get as well.

I actually kind of wish they did that here.

[Freya]

In america, healthcare is ridiculously expensive even with insurance. I'm still paying off my wisdom teeth removal from May and have along way to go. ugh. And my allergy test was still $660 out of pocket after insurance. And my immunotherapy for said allergies that I get the shots each week is $163 per 6 weeks of vials. Having had 5 surgeries on my nose too, ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

They bill you every which way they can. Gotta have an xray? Well you'll pay the hospital, then separately pay the technician, then also a 3rd party company that "reviews" things too. Your surgery? You pay the hospital, the doctor, and the anesthesiologist all separately.

On wait times it depends on what you need done so how special are the specialist you need, where you live of course if you can get to one, and what your insurance will cover. So if your insurance wants to be a butt, you could be waiting a long while. Since the cost is so high, you can't really do without insurance to get anything done. Even a normal doctor visit could be a few hundred without it.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

In america, healthcare is ridiculously expensive even with insurance. I'm still paying off my wisdom teeth removal from May and have along way to go. ugh. And my allergy test was still $660 out of pocket after insurance. And my immunotherapy for said allergies that I get the shots each week is $163 per 6 weeks of vials. Having had 5 surgeries on my nose too, ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

They bill you every which way they can. Gotta have an xray? Well you'll pay the hospital, then separately pay the technician, then also a 3rd party company that "reviews" things too. Your surgery? You pay the hospital, the doctor, and the anesthesiologist all separately.

On wait times it depends on what you need done so how special are the specialist you need, where you live of course if you can get to one, and what your insurance will cover. So if your insurance wants to be a butt, you could be waiting a long while. Since the cost is so high, you can't really do without insurance to get anything done. Even a normal doctor visit could be a few hundred without it.

Wow, that sucks. I had this idea that maybe, since the service is being paid for out of pocket, it would be of better quality, but it doesn't seem like it.

[Vasher]

I want to chime in in the "Burrito/Taco/Chinese" thing. Sure, you Euro guys/gals might have a couple spots around town, but I can assure you it is nothing at all (in any way, shape, or form) what it is here in the states. We have greater diversity here, a much larger representation of any given culture (except maybe your "own"). For example, I have probably 1,000 places serving burritos and tacos within 15 minutes of me (literally) and maybe 3 of them are worth eating at. Had sushi at several spots in Europe (blah). One of the most notable sushi chef's in the world had his first job just minutes from my home, he has since purchased that location and added it to his chain.

Anyhow, my point, "yeah, I have that" can be wildly misinterpreted.

Related: "Question to you foreign people...", do you believe Spongebob Squarepants to be represent the typical American, or is Patrick the "model citizen" of the US?

[Mirage]

i thought spongebob was a documentary so yeah

But I am pretty sure italy's got a larger and better representation of italian food than the US has

[ttokkii]

Sometimes I think Patrick represents the US and squidward is the UK. Canada is Gary because they're cool.

On the health care note, in the U.K. it's not perfect but I can't complain. The NHS has patched me up pretty well for the most part.

[Mirage]

what needed patching?

[ttokkii]

My coat, that thing was in tatters.

Seriously though, too many to count. Noteable ones would be cracking my head open, dislocating my jaw and breaking my wrist. I've had a minor surgery too (tonsillectomy) about six years ago. Oh, and I had a childhood case of meningitis.

[Mirage]

sounds pretty serious!

[ttokkii]

It's okay, the coat pulled through.

Question for Americans: do you have normal tea? Whenever I've visited the states, I'll be damned trying to find a proper cup of tea. Don't get me started on the abomination of iced tea. It's like.. syruped water

[Iceglow]

Isn't tea in America more like Tea in continental Europe, if you want a good old fashioned Yorkshire tea or a similar you're screwed.

[Mirage]

there is a difference between english tea and continental tea?

[Fynn]

Had English tea once. It's pretty much the same as here. The difference is always based on whether you drink it leafy or from a bag, not where it's from, because really, we all stole it from India and China anyway.

And when it comes to the foods, there's a crapload of ethnic food places to choose from here, with Mexican being one of the most prevalent, with a dozen or so places to choose from (keep in mind our cities are a bit less bloated than US ones). Pretty sure Poznań had some world class sushi chef at one point as well. So really, the difference is much less noticeable than you'd think.