Hi!

I would first say who am I since this is my first comment to your blog. I’m developer and webmaster living in Bosnia. I see link to your blog at Matt Cutts blog and I came. Although you don’t write about search engine issues I found your blog interesting so I read it .

The opportunity to get world-class and well-rounded university educations

I did my university education in math/CS in Belgrade, Serbia and I completly disagree with you. I met some people who finish their degrees in USA or Germany. I noticed that their general knowledge about CS is less than mine. One guy I met who did his B.Sc. at Minesota University agreed with my opinion.

In particular when I was at top German research Institute I noticed that one Indian there was appreciated as the best researcher there.

USA import researchers and that is one of the reasons you have excellent researchers.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t say that in general, but for CS studies USA IS not top country in the world.

Also, in Germany university education is FREE. You pay about 30$ a year and then you don’t even need public transport ticket.

Turkey, India, Russia etc. are well known for good CS university education.

I wonder how many Russian, Turks and South Americans work as developers/researchers in Google. You might provide/find that information .

The freedom to speak our minds

Kahm.. what is with Noam Chomsky and Communist Party of USA… forbidden… khm…

USA has probably more freedom to speak than China or Iran, but in general, there are countries with better fredom to speak.

Don’t find this as negative vibrations I just want to share my opinion .

- Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at 7:33 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hi Mladen, I didn’t take your comment negatively at all; I’m really happy to get the feedback!  I’m especially pleased that you are reading my blog even though I’m not giving out search-related tidbits

One reason why you and I might have very different experiences and opinions is that most of my international friends and I have NOT studied CS.  I’ve sat in on business classes in Germany, and my friends have attended business, law, or liberal arts classes in England, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, the Netherlands and Canada.  Most of these friends have also studied in the U.S.

The feedback I’ve gotten from them is that American universities tend to more frequently hire professors that actually LOVE to teach (more than just research) and have a very strong and typically friendly rapport with their students.  In other countries—again, from their experience—professors are more standoffish, less apt to offer significant help one-on-one in office hours, and so on.

But the key here is that I haven’t heard from friends how professors in the computer and life sciences and engineering are in other countries, so it’s quite possible (as you suggest) that such disciplines outside the States are quite stellar indeed.  So I admittedly have limited data points here

- Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at 19:58 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Oh, and one more comment:  Google is fabulously international, and this makes me VERY happy.  At a recent Google dinner, we had seven countries represented at my table (Germany, Greece, Turkey, Australia, India, China, and the U.S.).  Some folks have joked that it’s like a mini-United Nations at Google, and I found this also to be true when I visited our European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Okay, I lied… make that TWO more comments .  Cultural diversity has long been very important to me, and I’d hate to have my blog entry viewed as jingoistic or obnoxiously ameri-centric.  During graduate school, I lived in an international dorm for four years and largely from that got the travel bug:  I’ve probably visited more than twenty countries around the world.

Anyway, Mladen, thanks again for the comments!

P.S.—I’ve not yet been to Serbia, though.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 at 20:04 [ Permalink to this comment ]

- Posted on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 at 7:27 [ Permalink to this comment ]

- Posted on Wednesday, July 5, 2006 at 7:45 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I whole-heartedly agree with your points on what makes the United States so special, ESPECIALLY the part where you can fall flat on your face and bounce back. It is truly proof that you don’t need a “name” or a “status” to make it. Just some good old-fashioned pluck.

As for Noam Chomsky and the Communist Party, I’ve yet to hear anything abou them being “banned” in recent history. Granted, the “Red Scare” and the Joseph McCarthy era of the 1950s was a HUGE violation of civil rights, but now, there is no “Ban” on their veiws. They have their rights to express their opinions, just as it is other’s right to ignore them. That’s what makes America great!

- Posted on Monday, July 10, 2006 at 12:22 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Dear Adam,

Americans are indeed very friendly and polite.

I have visited Ann Arbor on a holiday and it is a wonderful place. 2 of my friends study and teach at the University of Michigan, they like it very much. The students are just trying harder and study more passionate. Maybe one of the reasons for this passion is the amount of money American students have to pay to study!!

Cherish your freedom of speech because you can loose it very fast (like we did). Watch out for people who are only demanding respect from others and never give respect to others.

RC, Leiden, The Netherlands

- Posted on Monday, July 10, 2006 at 12:59 [ Permalink to this comment ]

RC, I know that many Europeans see us as the “Ugly Americans,” but I’m glad to see your experience was a positive one.

So many times we get judged by second-hand innuendo and, of course, what’s on TV. Fortunately, most are nothing like what you see in sitcoms and dramas.

No offense to my pals on the East and West coasts, but I’ve always been a big believer in the Midwest as truly being the “soul” of American. And I’m probably being Midwest-centric (Adam, is this even a term?), but I truly believe that if you visit states like Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Illionis, or even my home state of South Dakota, you’ll get a first-hand experince of the best our country can offer… Polite, decent, hard-working, respectful people.

Granted we’re not all perfect, we have our flaws, but we don’t have a lot of pretense and we’re pretty nice folk… unless it’s American Football season!! LOL

Did I mention our self-depreciating sense of humor?

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 11:32 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Dear Matt Hendrickson,

I have seen Ann Arbor, Chicago and Detroit and I have visited Toronto (Canada) and the Niagara falls. I believe that in every country or almost every country the people in the big cities are less polite than the people in the rural areas or the small cities.

I believe there are 3 ways to be a tourist.

1. Spend your time on a sunny beach or in a pub drinking beer without trying to understand the country you are in.
2. Visit the famous highlights in a country. In your country: Manhattan, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley, Monument Valley, Hollywood, the Disney parks, Chicago. Maybe Washington DC, Miami and Boston.
3. To try to get to know the ‘common’ people (who are never really common, often quite special) and to understand the ‘common’ culture. Maybe South Dakota is the place to be for option number 3.

I usually do option 2 with a little bit of option 3. I don’t think that it is realistic hope that many people will visit Kansas and Minnesota etcetera.

But don’t worry about it to much. I liked America more after visiting the country and I understand also Americans movies and politics a lot better. Reading Democracy in America from Alexis de Toqueville does also help.

Remember that most tourists in my country only visit Amsterdam. I live in Leiden (Leyden), a small (110.000 people)-city 30 miles from Amsterdam. A lot of Dutch people believe it is nicer than Amsterdam but the tourists don’t come. Some Americans do come because of the connection between Leiden and the Pilgrim Fathers, but not many come. Both Amsterdam and Leiden are full of history. 

I also want to say that I like the American squirrels very much. There are not many squirrels in the Netherlands and they are very afraid of people.

RC

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 13:16 [ Permalink to this comment ]

RC.

I’ve actually been to not only Amsterdam, but also Rotterdam, Haarlem, and Venray in your fine country.  Next time, I will see what I can do about bringing American squirrels.  We have PLENTY extras!

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 13:52 [ Permalink to this comment ]

No, no, keep your squirrels, they are nice but the import of American squirrels in the UK has become a little environmental disaster. Just like the import of rabbits in Australia.

Read this excerpt from wikipedia:

The Red Squirrel populations in Britain, Ireland, and, more recently, northern Italy, have declined and become regionally extinct in recent decades, primarily because of competition from Gray Squirrels (introduced from North America), but also habitat loss. Conservation efforts include preserving and planting the conifer forests that Red Squirrels prefer. The recent colonisation of mainland Europe from Italy by Gray Squirrels is expected to result ultimately in the extinction of the Red Squirrel over most of Europe.

Your squirrels are just like the Grand Canyon, if someone has to see it, he has to go to America.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 14:57 [ Permalink to this comment ]

correction

If someone has to see it -> If someone wants to see it

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 15:23 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Speaking of monuments RC, don’t forget Mount Rushmore in western South Dakota! Contrary to what some celebrities might believe, it is NOT a natural formation! LOL

- Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 21:55 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I’m a Brit, but I lived in the US for a year for work.

Before going, I admit, I did sometimes succumb to the “Americans are arrogant” mindset at times. But living there really showed me I was wrong, I made some brilliant friends, who I hope will be my friends for life.

There were some things I disliked about living in the US, and some things I preferred there than in the UK. Different countries all have pros and cons, but it is much like people and their personalities—variety is good!

Oh, also, hello. I’m Tom.

- Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 at 3:28 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Howdy, Tom! Welcome! :D

- Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 at 9:33 [ Permalink to this comment ]

- Posted on Saturday, July 15, 2006 at 11:24 [ Permalink to this comment ]

- Posted on Sunday, July 16, 2006 at 21:30 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have not attended university anywhere but the US; however, I have worked and lived in a few countries.  I would strongly second the general idea that because the US does not have overt class hierarchy, it makes the social mixing quite a different story.  When I lived in Edinburgh and worked at a law firm, for example, I was not to speak directly to the top manager.  My many suggestions for process improvement were not welcome, much less followed.  Although it certainly has a negative side, this would never happen in the US--we are so enamored with making business better, we listen to everyone and make no assumptions about the level of competence or education a person has due to their position.

In France, it was the same.  Were you were in the social strata really determined how people reacted to you.  Because we have so much flexibility in the US, a garbage man may have a degree; a manager may have a degree, but still be a complete tool.  Therefore, respect tends to be more merit based.  This is a generalization--there are counter-examples, as well as a down side.  But, I was really struck by the differences and the many ways, both clear and subtle, that this embedded hierarchy affected all my relationships.

- Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 at 14:32 [ Permalink to this comment ]

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- Posted on Tuesday, July 7, 2006 at 14:07 [ Read the rest ]