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Vincent Van Goatse posted:It really does. They commonly call that topping combo "diavola", it's red sauce, cheese, salami, crushed red pepper
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Feb 2, 2021 11:57
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GD_American posted:I felt bad for soldiers who never got to have an overseas tour, but I have nothing but contempt for the people who couldn't crawl out of the bubble in OCONUS. This is one thing I appreciate about my parents. Everywhere my dad was stationed they did their damndest to do everything possible around where we were stationed specifically for that reason, the Americans who would just do nothing but grill on the weekends and never leave base in Germany. I got to do so much cool poo poo in Panama, but more importantly it opened my eyes to just how different parts of the world can be.
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Feb 2, 2021 12:10
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my dad (and his entire side of the family) are dutch, lived in the belgian congo and singapore then emigrated to canada in the late 60s. my sister and i were encouraged to travel as much as possible whenever possible. when i moved over to korea to teach my parents told me explicitly not to come home on vacations, but to travel in asia while i had the opportunity to do it on the cheap. it was good advice. i had brand new american college grads who came to korea that had never tasted alcohol before. oh, what an introduction they had.
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Feb 2, 2021 13:01
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We really never had the money to travel internationally, Iraq was the first time, outside of a brief trip to Canada, that I had left the country. In retrospect I am glad to have grown up in a place that was very immigrant heavy where Portuguese was spoken as much, if not more than English. I can't comprehend why some people are so incurious or unwilling to learn or experience other cultures. I remember getting ripshit mad at a friend who didn't seem to want to learn or try anything outside of his bubble. It baffles me.
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Feb 2, 2021 13:22
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I know I’m not suppose to volunteer for anything but I’m 100% volunteering to mob to Sicily or Italy for shore duty once I’m done with this drat ship. I loved what I’ve seen.
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Feb 2, 2021 13:34
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What about Gaeta? It’s half way between Rome and Naples.
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Feb 2, 2021 14:02
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US Berder Patrol posted:They commonly call that topping combo "diavola", it's red sauce, cheese, salami, crushed red pepper I love the devil's pizza
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Feb 2, 2021 14:53
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UP THE BUM NO BABY posted:I love the devil's pizza I love his eggs, too.
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Feb 2, 2021 15:13
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Big fan of his cake too.
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Feb 2, 2021 15:19
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Can't forget his lovely garden.
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Feb 2, 2021 15:28
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When I was in Italy a few years we did a day trip from Florence or Rome to Pompeii with a stop over in Naples just to eat at L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele which was hands down the best pizza I have ever had. I want to go back because we missed everything south of Rome basically aside from that day trip and I want to know more about that part of the country how different it is from Tuscany and Lombardy
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Feb 2, 2021 16:13
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I never made it down to Italy, but four years in Germany was one of the best experiences of my life. I was glad that my kids got the opportunity to grow up there, even if they barely remember it now. I half-joke with them that they visited more countries by the time they were 5 than most of their peers will visit states in their lifetimes. I'd planned to let my 12 year old daughter spend her summer there with our old neighbors (who were referred to as "Oma and Opa") but COVID shitcanned that. And yeah, it definitely tracks that wherever you go people are generally going to be cool as long as you are, too. I went to Paris -- loving Paris, the city legendary for being rude -- and everyone was chill presumably just because I didn't act like an entitled horse's rear end. I can think of maybe one time where anyone even hassled me for being American, and that was some drunk dude at Rock Am Ring who I just blew off because I was half lit and just wanted to have a good time and not debate global politics with a fat drunk dude.
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Feb 2, 2021 16:48
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I had the Typical Tourist Experience in Paris before I joined, so when we were stationed in Germany we did southern France (not the Riviera, but the rural areas inland) instead, and had a fantastic time. Some of the nicest people I ever met. Someone put Paris into perspective for me; they said every tourist has to do Paris because they've heard like three things about it (Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and maybe the Left Bank), and many come back disappointed and say "France sucks". But it'd be just like someone spending a two week vacation within one 10 block radius in NYC, and coming back saying "America sucks". Although I thought Paris was more like LA, with the smog and traffic. So do Grenoble and Lyons. They're Alps-adjacent, with beautiful scenery, the requisite cathedrals, super-nice people, and the best goddamn cheese and foie gras you'll ever eat.
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Feb 2, 2021 17:28
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Wild T posted:I never made it down to Italy, but four years in Germany was one of the best experiences of my life. I was glad that my kids got the opportunity to grow up there, even if they barely remember it now. I half-joke with them that they visited more countries by the time they were 5 than most of their peers will visit states in their lifetimes. I'd planned to let my 12 year old daughter spend her summer there with our old neighbors (who were referred to as "Oma and Opa") but COVID shitcanned that. And yeah, it definitely tracks that wherever you go people are generally going to be cool as long as you are, too. I went to Paris -- loving Paris, the city legendary for being rude -- and everyone was chill presumably just because I didn't act like an entitled horse's rear end. Traveling with cute kids is a cheat code, especially in low birth-rate countries. I went to Paris with 3 kids in tow (ages 1, 3, and 4), and everyone was so pleasant. These ladies working at a bakery were just gushing about the kids and kept bringing out sweets to them. They even let my 3 year old  use their employee-only bathroom . Everyone in Paris must just go home to pee because there are maybe zero public toilets.When we walked on a bus, the crusty old bus driver immediately kicked a local out of the front seats so we could sit there with the kids. We were on a late bus, super crowded standing room only, and two of the kids were asleep (we each held one) and the three year old was scared and crying. An old Italian nonna we had never met just picked him up and cuddled and kissed him, and he was immediately soothed.  Even the cops and gendarmes would smile at the kids.
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Feb 2, 2021 17:32
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yeah i think travelling with cute, well behaved kids helps a lot. my parents love telling a story of when we did a family european vacation in 1998. I was 12, my sister 16. we went thru the Netherlands, Belgium, France, England and Scotland. i'm of dutch heritage so at this point i was a blue eyed, very blonde haired shithead. there's a very touristy place in Netherlands called Zaanse Schans, kinda like a pioneer village place with working windmills that ground grain, pumped water, etc. me being a shithead 12 year old obsessed with all things mechanical, i run off to start exploring the windmills and poo poo, leaving my poor mother to ask every worker there if they've seen a young blonde haired boy with blue eyes. in the Netherlands. she realizes after asking a few people that no, they're not rude, she's just describing every child in there.
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Feb 2, 2021 17:41
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Wild T posted:And yeah, it definitely tracks that wherever you go people are generally going to be cool as long as you are, too. I went to Paris -- loving Paris, the city legendary for being rude -- and everyone was chill presumably just because I didn't act like an entitled horse's rear end. I went to Paris over the 4th of July after recently doing a bunch of wine tasting in Bordeaux a month prior (which I found to be meh). Anyways, we had to wait a while for a table at a locals place down some small alley and by the time the waiter came over I was hot and thirsty, so the waiter asks us what wine we'd like. If you ever seen sideways, I was that guy, but instead of merlot it was Bordeaux at a Parisian cafe. My wife was petrified, and I realized I had to do some quick damage control. Rattled off a few of the vineyards we went to and my criticisms of the wine. So instead of damage control I ended up doubling down on my rant. My wife now has her mouth open and looking at picking up things to leave. At this point, I realize I'm the loud American idiot that just took a figurative poo poo on his wine. Except he slaps me on the shoulder and says how he also hates Bordeauxs and we should try this other region that was his favorite. We chatted about wine and had great service that evening. My wife still brings up that story from time to time where I was that idiot and got away with it.
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Feb 2, 2021 18:17
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Surprisingly the Paris trip was just a weekend with no kids and everyone was still super chill. Though they helped with the first place I went out to eat in Germany. I GPSed the closest restaurant, which turned out to be a little Greek-owned place. My daughter was 2 at the time, and the owner was a sweet little old Greek lady who upon hearing my daughter had a Greek name immediately gushed all over her and gave her a free dessert. One place I'd like to travel back to as a civilian is Kyrgyzstan, they were a pretty cool group of folks. I led a volunteer group that sponsored a local orphanage and we always maxxed out on volunteers because everyone missed their kids and wanted to go. I got to witness all these little Kyrgyz kids meet one of our dudes in the best way possible. Not only was he probably the first black guy they'd ever seen, at about 6'5" he was probably the biggest person they'd ever seen. They all kind of stood there in awe until one kid got brave and came up to him, at which point he got swarmed. They were climbing that dude like he was a tree and he was loving it. To keep it Idiot Thread friendly, folks always used to get busted messing around in the woods along the on-base running trail until they finally began padlocking it at night. By this point it had earned the nickname "Handjob Forest". One absolute genius decided instead to slip one of the Kyrgyz dudes that drove the MWR busses some cash. The bus couldn't go off the base, so they drew the curtains across all the windows and the guy just drove in circles around the base while they reenacted Bang Bus in the back. o7
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Feb 2, 2021 18:35
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Not military, but I went to Germany and had a blast, it probably helped I spoke German and that my accent sounded Norwegian apparently. The only negative encounters I had were with street scammers and a bicyclist kicking me, but I later found out it was my fault for being on the bike path. Two of the most remarkable memories I had were a full pudge American family in full tourist regalia complaining about 'why did they build a castle at the top of this huge hill???' In Nürnberg, and a family checking in ahead of me at a hostel that threw a tantrum because 'what do you mean we don't get our own room and own showers? And why isn't there any parking for our rented full size SUV in downtown Nuremberg?' My uncle got out of the Army after being in the poo poo in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he and his family pretty much just travel around the world now. I'm jealous as hell
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Feb 2, 2021 18:56
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Tourists seem to mostly act the same no matter where they're from or where they're at. I think British and Australian tourists have been the most consistently obnoxious that I've encountered though, and the only foreigners I've had cold approach me and feel comfortable spouting some racist poo poo. This was when I lived in Florida and spent a lot of time in Orlando for work.
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Feb 2, 2021 19:11
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I know a woman who was a US teacher in Nicaragua in the 1980s when Americans were ... uhh... not so popular. She had a kid who was a little blonde boy about 2-3 years old and tells a story about a woman in a market saying "oh what a beautiful boy. Look how blonde, you must be German!" She says "no, we're American" and the woman gives her a serious look and says "no, you *must* be German"
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Feb 2, 2021 19:15
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stolen from cursed threadScratch Monkey posted:GET SUM DEBEL DAWG
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Feb 2, 2021 19:19
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So the AF isn't the only service relaxing uniform regs I guess.
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Feb 2, 2021 21:40
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Wild T posted:
I’m the idiot because I got jerked off in handjob forest by a chick working her way through the flight. Her boyfriend transited through I think going to Afghanistan and for some loving reason she introduced us to him. They are married now so good for them I guess. I like the creative thinking with the bus but the big brains plan when I was there was the new “VIP” housing they were building which was in the middle of nowhere and poo poo quality so it never got used, so you got your hands on a key to a room and you could rent it out for some banging in a pile of cigarette butts and cobwebs.
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Feb 2, 2021 21:55
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Scratch Monkey posted:What about Gaeta? It’s half way between Rome and Naples. Oh Gaeta would be on the list too. Been in and out of it for the last 8 months but shore duty would be sick. Doubt they would need a random IT pretty small base.
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Feb 2, 2021 22:02
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Not military related, but I went to Paris and enjoyed it tremendously. I really like walking and interesting architecture, so I just walked around and gawked at the cool streets and buildings, chatted with random people in bars in the evenings trying out my terrible French. Also fueled up with amazing pastries you can find just anywhere.
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Feb 2, 2021 22:15
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US Berder Patrol posted:They commonly call that topping combo "diavola", it's red sauce, cheese, salami, crushed red pepper That's the stuff. Absolutely delicious. EDIT: I spent two days in Paris in 2012 and it was amazing even if I only really saw part of the Louvre. I spent the rest of the time reading at a cafe and had a pleasant chat with an older woman who wanted to talk about California with me after I said that's where I was from. Vincent Van Goatse fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Feb 2, 2021 |
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Feb 2, 2021 22:45
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I'm one of those mildeps that got to spend a poo poo ton of time overseas. Dad was Army, but he got a nation swap position at Sandhurst. We were the only Americans there, so we went to English schools, had English friends, and my sister was born there. She passed on her dual citizenship option at 18, I don't know why. Since I was there from age four to six, by the time we went back to the states I was culturally English. Had the Surrey accent, school uniform, fondness for Maltesers (see above) and everything. The accent change from there to central Florida was quite a shock, and I did poorly in spelling because I couldn't understand the spelling teachers thick southern accent. I also missed out on getting into sports. When I went to my new school all the boys were talking about was Johnny Unitas this, Johnny Unitas that, and I was mocked for not knowing who the hell he was. We traveled all over there, including a trip to Bavaria. Going through Neuschwanstein I was gazing at all the gold everywhere and went to take my dad's hand. I looked up and this old German guy was smiling puzzled down at me. Oops. Lesson learned - don't grab the nearest likely looking hand. Check the face. Later on we got posted to VII Corps HQ, which was a teeny post. Two years there and we again took trips all over. Maybe because mom was British we never acted the ugly Americans. We'd eat at local places, go to the fests. I picked up enough German to get around. But only really big posts had American TV, so again I missed out on two years of American culture, except what I could pick up from magazines and the radio. Yes, I know, I'm  .Next up was almost a year in the Philippines, living in Manila. We would take occasional runs to Subic or Clark for grocery runs, but the local Unimart was a regular stop, too. From there we got a space a trip to Japan for a week, riding an ambulance plane there and a C-141 full of ammo back. Also got to learn diving and do some amazing dive trips. On the other hand, it also exposed me to what abject poverty so many people had to live in, and what life and an "election" was like under a dictator. My last trip was right before my mildep status ran out - a summer trip to see my family in Germany again. This time I was old enough to drink, so the joys of fresh German beer were welcome. Not just the mains, I also tried weissbier, rauchbier, Dunkel and books. All that fortunate travel has given me a much wider perspective on the world, so I was never a "best, only country in the world!" kind of person. When traveling now, I always try to at least learn a few words of the local language and open with that, and knowing that different ways of doing things doesn't automatically mean worse. Except baluts - gently caress that poo poo was nasty! And while I'm a fairly picky eater, I will try anything at least once. So I've had bear, emu, crocodile, kangaroo, Guinea pig, jellyfish, all kids of stuff. I may not end up liking it, but I'll give it a shot. On a trip to New Zealand, another tour groups kids refused to eat much at the Maori hanggi feast, asking if the hotel had hamburgers. Why the gently caress would you go half way round the world to have the same drat thing you can get at home? On the other hand, it also meant the answer to the question "where are you from?" is "The Army", and having had to change schools every year from first through fifth grade with not much chance of ever seeing my friends again has made it really hard for me to keep up with people that move or change jobs. Out of sight, out of mind was deeply etched in me from that.
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Feb 2, 2021 23:30
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Deploying a couple times to Japan/Okinawa and travelling around Asia helped me generate an understanding of what a functional country and society looks like, which has been very useful for contrast these last few years in the US
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Feb 2, 2021 23:40
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I don't feel so old after that Johnny U reference. Unless you spent time in Baltimore, that is a dated ref. 😊
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Feb 3, 2021 00:02
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My parents for the past decade have been posted around europe due to their work with the UN (germany, usa, italy, switzerland etc). Unfortunately they never really had good memories due to them not being white. They both speak fluent french, italian and English, so they often end up hearing things they would rather have not heard from their neighbors of passerbys. In Geneva my mother was constantly mistaken for domestic help, and in italy my father keeps getting harassed by cops. They love all the places they visit and live in, it's just there is an extra barrier and hurdle they have to pass before they can do so. The town where they live now is near a african migrant detention center and the whole town is just covered in anti migrant graffiti. The local chinese restaurant which had been there for years recently closed down because it was repeatedly getting vandalised. ughhhh fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Feb 3, 2021 |
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Feb 3, 2021 00:17
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ughhhh posted:My parents for the past decade have been posted around europe due to their work with the UN (germany, usa, italy, switzerland etc). Unfortunately they never really had good memories due to them not being white. They both speak fluent french, italian and English, so they often end up hearing things they would rather have not heard from their neighbors of passerbys. In Geneva my mother was constantly mistaken for domestic help, and in italy my father keeps getting harassed by cops. They love all the places they visit and live in, it's just there is an extra barrier and hurdle they have to pass before they can do so. gently caress, I was just gonna ask if anybody knows what it's like for minorities. Though if I gotta deal with racist poo poo I might as well be in a cool place, I guess? My family ranges in looks from caribbean/latin to middle eastern (I started telling people who asked I was algerian after getting asked a million times traveling in france) and I'm jonesin' for an international post. e. Incidentally, for france travel, international armed forces/vets get free admission to the military museums (place des invalides, napolean's tomb, and a couple others I forget). My coolest travel memory was hitting up a student bar in Caen after getting pseudo-adopted by some students because we kinda-sorta spoke french. I started messing around with an old piano they had and a stranger from another group starts singing along. That makes it less weird so I really start getting into the song, he stands on the table, everybody clapped etc and we made some new friends to bar hop with 
Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Feb 3, 2021 |
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Feb 3, 2021 02:22
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ughhhh posted:My parents for the past decade have been posted around europe due to their work with the UN (germany, usa, italy, switzerland etc). Unfortunately they never really had good memories due to them not being white. They both speak fluent french, italian and English, so they often end up hearing things they would rather have not heard from their neighbors of passerbys. In Geneva my mother was constantly mistaken for domestic help, and in italy my father keeps getting harassed by cops. They love all the places they visit and live in, it's just there is an extra barrier and hurdle they have to pass before they can do so. I'm Indian Canadian and Paris was probably the most racist place I've ever been. Everyone assumed we were middle eastern so they treated us like poo poo. This was after some of the terrorist attacks they had. Knowing a bit of French didn't help. We wouldn't be served at restaurants, people would clutch their purses and cross the street. We also were shoed out of many small shops. As soon as we ordered alcohol it was like we flipped a switch and they turned into the most friendly and warm people ever. Resaurant owners would sit down and eat with us, they'd stay late serving us because they usually would make us wait 45 minutes in an empty place before sending someone to serve us ect. It imagine it's a much different experience if you're not a minority. It was still amazing even though I could only stay 4 days there. We took a day trip to Versailles which was very nice. It amazing how beautiful the city is. One thing that was nice was we were using the subway system and apparently had ended up in a rough part of the city. A police officer recognized that we were tourists and paid for a cab out of the station rather then let us continue on the subway. I'd still recommend going but it's nothing like Canada in terms of multiculturalism.
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Feb 3, 2021 07:01
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bulletsponge13 posted:We could have easily been over run, or sniped like E Types in our little place. We were able to have some normalcy because we acted like loving human beings. I get sick when I read about how other dudes acted. I remember feeling no sympathy when an MP unit passing through hit an IED, because they had come through a bit earlier, and hosed up our neighborhood, driving like it was GTA and popping warning shots into parked cars and Taxis for no reason other than to shoot. mustard_tiger posted:I'm Indian Canadian and Paris was probably the most racist place I've ever been.
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Feb 3, 2021 07:35
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MrUnderbridge posted:I'm one of those mildeps that got to spend a poo poo ton of time overseas. Dad was Army, but he got a nation swap position at Sandhurst. We were the only Americans there, so we went to English schools, had English friends, and my sister was born there. She passed on her dual citizenship option at 18, I don't know why. Since I was there from age four to six, by the time we went back to the states I was culturally English. Had the Surrey accent, school uniform, fondness for Maltesers (see above) and everything. The accent change from there to central Florida was quite a shock, and I did poorly in spelling because I couldn't understand the spelling teachers thick southern accent. I also missed out on getting into sports. When I went to my new school all the boys were talking about was Johnny Unitas this, Johnny Unitas that, and I was mocked for not knowing who the hell he was. We traveled all over there, including a trip to Bavaria. Going through Neuschwanstein I was gazing at all the gold everywhere and went to take my dad's hand. I looked up and this old German guy was smiling puzzled down at me. Oops. Lesson learned - don't grab the nearest likely looking hand. Check the face.. Idiot story time. I was at the zoo with my wife and we were walking side by side in a fairly busy area and I stopped to look at whatever ever the critter was. I felt someone bump into me and idly patted their rear end and said ok let’s go. “Uhm.... are you sure about that?” The lady who was roughly the same height, hair color and build of my wife thought it was funny when I started profusely apologizing and my wife walked up wearing extremely similar hoodies and jeans. Thankfully my wife saw the humor in it too.
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Feb 3, 2021 09:02
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LingcodKilla posted:I know I’m not suppose to volunteer for anything but I’m 100% volunteering to mob to Sicily or Italy for shore duty once I’m done with this drat ship. I loved what I’ve seen. Be careful about Sigonella without having access to a car. NAS1 and 2 aren't really *that* close to anything - the nearest town is Motta Sant'Anastasia and Catania's about 20 minutes away...by car. It's definitely changed since the 90s, though. Just remember to visit the Penis Bar (Bar Turissi) *when* you go to Taormina (a few not exactly safe for work images at this link): https://www.messynessychic.com/2017/10/20/oh-just-a-phallic-bar-in-a-quaint-sicilian-town/ It doesn't hurt that Castelmola has incredible views as well. And yes, they sell poo poo online: https://www.vinomandorla.com/ BIG HEADLINE fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Feb 3, 2021 |
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Feb 3, 2021 09:16
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ughhhh posted:My parents for the past decade have been posted around europe due to their work with the UN (germany, usa, italy, switzerland etc). Unfortunately they never really had good memories due to them not being white. They both speak fluent french, italian and English, so they often end up hearing things they would rather have not heard from their neighbors of passerbys. In Geneva my mother was constantly mistaken for domestic help, and in italy my father keeps getting harassed by cops. They love all the places they visit and live in, it's just there is an extra barrier and hurdle they have to pass before they can do so.
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Feb 3, 2021 12:13
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LingcodKilla posted:Thankfully my wife saw the humor in it too. A coworker of mine, lovely Panamanian lady that just retired and moved back there, has a husband named Pablo, who went blind about 10-15 years ago (he was retired USAF). We had them over for dinner once and he was a character. He'd pull this routine a few times where he'd palm her rear end and go "Dina, is that you?". She rolled her eyes and said she was so sick of that gag. He pulled me aside and told me "One time it wasn't her."
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Feb 3, 2021 13:59
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Yeah I was going to mention that, having lived in Italy and visited Naples with black people, southern Italy (and most of Europe in general) is only charming and chill if you are obviously and very white. And not Roma. Or Albanian. Or Turkish. Or or or... In short, Europe is a land of contrasts. Also racism. also: What European Tribes Think About One Another
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Feb 3, 2021 15:46
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I did get a buddy of mine hype for his tour in Germany. As a good-looking black dude from a firstworld nation (and bodybuilder to boot) I told him German girls were basically going to be throwing themselves on him because they considered him exotic. He was not disappointed. That could be generational, though -- not sure how the older crowd would react.
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Feb 3, 2021 18:45
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BIG HEADLINE posted:Be careful about Sigonella without having access to a car. NAS1 and 2 aren't really *that* close to anything - the nearest town is Motta Sant'Anastasia and Catania's about 20 minutes away...by car. It's definitely changed since the 90s, though. +1 on not going to any Italian area that is not densely populated without at least a motorbike or car, esp. in the center/south. Most bus services require tickets before boarding so it can be a hurdle to random tourists.
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Feb 3, 2021 19:54
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