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International Travellers Guide to PAX '08
Posts
Jaywalking is a misdemeanor. Jail time is unheard of, and while I haven't looked up the RCW, I believe it's also impossible (this is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer). Pedestrian right of way in most states is determined by context (some states have a permanent right of way like the UK, but not WA). In WA, if a pedestrian has a crosswalk with no signal, or with a walk signal, they have the right of way. Otherwise they don't.
Moe's advice is sound though, do what the locals do. When I lived downtown I would cross streets all the time so long as I wouldn't be in the way of cars.
Numquam magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.
There has never been a great spirit without a touch of insanity.
(Seneca Philosophus, De tranquillitate animis)
For most people, this won't be needed unless they are looking to start shit. I've been to plenty of countries and you go, show up, have a good time, and then leave. Really here is the ultimate tip:
Don't do whatever is illegal in your country in our country and follow everyone else. CONFORM!!
If there are pedestrian walk signs, which will either be Walk/Don't Walk or White Person/Read Hand, don't walk. When the Don't Walk/Red Hand starts blinking, you can finish crossing if you've already entered, but don't enter the street, though everyone does anyway.
If there isn't a pedestrian walk sign but there is a light, just follow the light, crossing with green, stopping on red etc.
If there are no lights you always have the right of way at an intersection to cross from one corner to another, but not diagonally, even if there is no marked crosswalk.
If you are not between two intersections with lights, you may cross at any point as long as you give right of way to cars.
<Moe_Fwacky> nice girls
<Moe_Fwacky> lesbians
<Moe_Fwacky> robbed drugstores together
I think that knowing where your consulate is could be regarded as taking things a little too far. Now if I was going to somewhere dangerous then yes knowing where your home nation is represented is a good thing. However I don't think Seattle is particularly dangerous so I'm going to uphold what MaoChan has said. In other words, don't be a muppet whilst at PAX please. Remember you're flying the flag of both your nation and of gaming kind...
can a local please add the relevant percentages...
I also recommend if your government has a travel registry is it a good idea to register
Aussies - http://www.smarttraveler.gov.au/
Also at immigration you are required to provide contact details while you are in the USA so insure you have an address of where you are staying and a contact number.
YES DO IT!! make sure you read the fine print of your insurance docs and make sure you have a copy that you can access easily!
Travellers Checks are crap I recommend seeing you you can get a Visa debit card, which provides you with the international access of VISA but you don't go into debt.
also CASH PASSPORTS ARE AWESOME!!! bear in mind that you can only use them at ATMs when you get them you are provided with two cards which are unmarked so if you lose them your money is safe, but be aware topping them up via internet banking can take some time.
I had no problem getting a sim both times i have been to the states, go pre paid and if you are hanging with a bunch of buds see if you can get on the same network because you can usually get free or cheaper calls between the mobiles. Also you can be charged if you make and receive calls or SMSs so be aware of that.
when charging DS or laptops keep a keen eye out around airports because you should be able to find an unused power point to make sure your device is 100% charged!
Good call!
/me Adds kropotkin to the list!
the accent is golden, just don't take to much advantage of it, several times i have been asked if I have some free time to read the phone book to people.
This is a great idea make sure you get the adaptor before you get to the airport because you will probably save a couple of bucks and make sure you read the requirements of all your devices, your Laptop maybe fine but what about you mobile phone etc...
unfortunately the only accepted form is your passport, I don't feel comfortable going out drinking with the only document that can get me back to my country, so I recommend trying your luck with your Drivers license I only got turned away once at the a Red Robin, numerous Bars and clubs i went to did not have a problem with my drivers license.... but then again I am 27....
Also capsicum is call peppers, Jugs are Pitchers, Mobile phones are called Cell phones, Petrol is Gas, Bud is not beer, cilantro is American for coriander.
Sweet keep me informed!
Public transport FTW!!!
Also, I did some research, and Seattle is apparently a city known to treat jaywalking as an infraction (non criminal, so not even a misdemeanor) if you step onto a controlled intersection after the don't walk sign starts flashing. No criminal charges, but a $60ish citation. It does become a criminal offense if the police believe that you stepped into the street with the intent to impede traffic. Yes, in Washington the police can search you and take you to the station for making a car slow down so you can cross the street. I read articles about the occasional crackdown in the downtown area. In the US you better believe that if enforcing this law is profitable the police will hand out tickets. Here's a blog entry of some teacher bitching about it.
Also we kind of understand liters, at least insofar as soda has come in 2-liter bottles for decades and 1-liter is becoming increasingly popular. Also various other drinks are frequently measured in milliliters. Just give up on other measurements. Text 46645 for conversions ("5 km in miles") if you picked up a US prepaid phone or SIM - just remember it uses up your credits.
Re: the money. At least we have different colors now. And don't worry about $2 bills and large denomination coin, not only do people look at you funny if you try to use them, nobody even tries because they're a pain in the ass to get a hold of short of flying to DC and buying them from the mint. Except certain recent versions of the dollar coin - you'll see some of the 2000 (2001?) Liberty dollars or 2007(?) Susan B. Anthony dollars in circulation if you look hard enough.
Sales tax is ~8.9% (just call it 10 to estimate) and applies to most goods and services, but some vendors in the expo hall might waive it if you pay cash. There are additional taxes on certain items (cigarettes come to mind) but they're usually included in the advertised price. Most packaged foods are tax-exempt (specifically those that do not require work on the part of store employees to prepare, usually) but carbonated drinks are not.
The standard amount for a tip is 15%, although some people choose to set their baseline at 20%. These aren't hard numbers, feel free to vary them based on the quality of service you think you got. Most fast food chains don't allow their employees to accept tips, and tips are never expected at those that do, pizza delivery being a notable exception (no, the delivery fee is NOT a goddamn tip), and even then it's not a percentage thing. It is standard practice to add a 7-17% "gratuity" or "service fee" to parties over a certain size (generally 8-10 depending on the restaurant), which really means "mandatory tip". Go ahead and treat that as part of your tip, but go for a number higher than you would - another 2-5% on top of that, at least - because it's split more ways (tips are usually shared with assisting wait staff and bus-people), and a lot more work to serve large parties.
tl;dr: If you are served, tip 15%. If the service is exceptional, tip over 20%. If it's not... your call, but not tipping shitlists you. 10% or so. ALWAYS TIP THE PIZZA DELIVERY GUY. THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO, AMERICANS
>.> I've been the pizza delivery guy. The delivery fee doesn't even cover fuel.
Coriander = leaf
Coriander seeds = seed
what about chilli's?
Yeah, you got me. They generally wind up thrown together, diced, and put in chili anyway. Mmm, chili.
eg Rare - well done
So unfortunately, anyone with a Greek passport WILL require a visa to get into PAX, if there is ever any Greek attendees for PAX.
And also to cite another important info from wiki:
Applicants for admission under the visa waiver program: (Can someone help me with point format?)
- Must have complied with the conditions of all previous admissions to the U.S.
- Must never have been arrested or convicted for an offence or crime involving moral turpitude or crimes with a maximum aggregate sentence of 5 years' imprisonment or more, no matter how long ago. National regulations which normally expunge criminal records after a certain length of time (e.g. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act in the UK) do not apply.
- Must not be ineligible for a visa;
- Must not have been previously denied entry to the U.S. in the past five years;
- Must not be intending to visit the U.S. for a purpose other than tourism or a short term business visit. In particular, journalists cannot use the visa waiver scheme to operate in the U.S. and must instead apply for an I visa.
- If entering over the land frontier, must pay a fee of $6. For those arriving by air or sea, the cost of the visa waiver is included in the airline ticket.
Those who do not meet the requirements for the visa-waiver scheme must obtain a U.S. tourist visa from an American Embassy or Consulate.
Check the external links and references for more info and if anyone needs to be sure.
Jeff: I see
jsn: and I was like "I wonder how he goes to the washroom, does he just like...brush his loincloth to the side or what?"
jsn: friend was like "DUDE he's BEHIND YOU"
The rest of the article is decent as well.
Let's what, else can I think of....
1) In the US, the term "chili" refers to either a stew or the specific Chili pepper. Peppers are a generic term for what some folks would call "chiles".
2) Eh, screw it. Wikipedia's got this one covered.
SE++ Forum Battle Archive | PST = Pacific Standard Time | DRUNKSTUCK: A Homestuck recap
1) Language - Not something I wished to raise, especially after my remarks on food availability. However some common phrases used in the UK can cause offense in the US and vice versa. Examples include:
* Rubber - A pencil eraser in the UK, a prophylactic in the US! Please never ask to 'borrow a rubber' as it could cause some confusion!
* Cockney Rhyming Slang - Any variances of cockney rhyming slang such as 'Butchers', 'Giraffe', 'Ruby Murray' and 'Gone Pete' are surprisingly well known beyond the fringes of the East End of London. Nevertheless they should be used sparingly.
* Colonial Cousins - The collective noun for those that reside in the US. Again not really welcomed expecially since that little spat we had with the former colonies in the late 1700's.
* Megadrive - Called the Genesis in the US for reasons best known to SEGA. There was a rumour that the Mega CD was to be called 'The Book of Revelations' at one point but that was abandonned in favour of 'Sega CD'. The 32x goes by the same name in both the UK and US where it is also known as 'SEGA's folly'.
* Off-License AKA 'Offy' - Known as Liquor Stores in the US.
* Chemist - UK equivalent to Drug Store.
* Bog/Carsey - Known as the 'bathroom' or 'rest room' in the US.
* Bum Bag - UK equivalent to 'Fanny Pack'. In the UK the word 'Fanny' has a very different meaning that I will not state here for fear of being banned but it is enough to change the name of the item.
* Hole-in-the-wall - The UK's odd ball name for an ATM.
* 'Knocked For Six' - Meaning shocked and stunned. Comes from a cricketing term relating to the highest score you can get by hitting a ball out of bounds. Could be described as cricket's equivalent to a home run in baseball.
*Draughts - The name given to 'Checkers' in the UK.
For more of these you can check the Wiki page that has a very long list of words that have differing meanings on both sides of the Atlantic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_British_and_American_English
2) Money - The negative feedback I have got from the use of Travellers Cheques has raised some serious concerns so I'm going to do some more research into how cash should be handled in the US. Thanks for everyone's feedback on this.
3) Tipping and VAT - Excellent advice here and something we Europeans are amazingly bad at. I'll add this to the original post.
Thanks all for the feedback. I'll continue to update the original post to reflect these pieces of advice. Any more would be greatly appreciated.
In Seattle, you'd be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that would not allow you to eat there without a suit, or a shirt and tie - a solid-color button-down shirt or even a polo shirt will suffice nearly anywhere. T-shirts might get you odd looks at some places, but I haven't been able to find any such places and they're certainly not going to block you from entry.
As wikitravel says, should you need to use it, the emergency number here is 911. It's usually in large print on payphones too, if you can find one of them. If you're renting a SIM card or have a prepaid one (this may not work with phones that aren't GSM), you can also dial 112 on your phone if that's what you're more used to - they do the same thing and it's part of the GSM spec.
Read the Respect section. Most of it is probably nothing new to you, but still. We're big on respect in a very strange way.
Did someone really think you were insulting them? Must've had a short temper.
Most Seattle locals will either laugh at that term or be confused by it, especially considering WA was never a colony.
Think nothing of it. 'Tis just my attempt at humour really although many in the UK do still refer to the US as 'the Colonies'. It's either that or they're Battlestar Galactica fans.
In response to the post by netcrusher88. Yes the 911 is a good point to raise as dialling 999 won't get you anywhere. There is also the tiny issue of no telephone numbers in the US that begin with a '0' when all UK numbers do. I'll also scan through the Wikitravel page to get an more useful advice.
I thought it was ridiculous to put it in the OP, but after some google, it seems like other parts of the country(i.e. not the North East) are much more strict.
Good info for cross-coast travelers as well!
Numquam magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.
There has never been a great spirit without a touch of insanity.
(Seneca Philosophus, De tranquillitate animis)
I actually called myself a colonial when I visited Ireland. I met some English tourists in a pub. We exchanged pleasantries (nice to meet you, where're you from, etc.) and they LOL'd when I said I came back from the colonies.
...my iTunes shuffle just started playing The Orange and The Green. Is this awesome? Y/N
Thankfully I'm not flying in through there as I'm taking a direct flight from London to Seattle. Sl1pstream...name rings a bell...same Sl1pstream from EvAv?
<Moe_Fwacky> nice girls
<Moe_Fwacky> lesbians
<Moe_Fwacky> robbed drugstores together
*BLING* Achievement Unlocked! 50 Pts 'Thread Bumper Extrodinaire'
*BLING* Achievement Unlocked! 50 Pts 'Thread Bumper Extrodinaire' +1
<3
Frieten ftw.
Also, yes to the EvAv question.
AT&T GoPhone is a pretty solid pay-as-you-go plan here. They charge 0.10 per minute and 1.00 per day you make a call, or 0.25 per minute with no daily use fee. Their data is billed at 1 cent / KB, which is steep, but if you're only using it for mobile twitter, that should be fine, right? Probably cheaper than the 15 cents they charge per text. What frequencies does your phone use?
<Moe_Fwacky> nice girls
<Moe_Fwacky> lesbians
<Moe_Fwacky> robbed drugstores together
I'm also hoping to use this in the other cities I visit (Houston, Chicago, Champaign IL, Milwaukee and San Francisco.
Def just get a T-Mobile sim. They are cheap 10 cents a minute, txt is cheap too. If you claim it is for a Sidekick then your $1 a day activating fee will get you unlimited txt msg and internet.
You may have a hard time getting just the SIM card, but I've seen the various pre-paid phones just sitting around in various stores, even like grocery stores. You'll need to get one from one of the US's two GSM providers (AT&T and T-Mobile).
I have the latter and it works pretty well for me.
Also, it should work in any major populated area of the US. Each provider has maps of their coverage areas on their website.
SE++ Forum Battle Archive | PST = Pacific Standard Time | DRUNKSTUCK: A Homestuck recap
Package Charge MB Included Overage Rate
MEdiaTM Net 1 MB $4.99 per month 1 MB $0.01 per KB
MEdiaTM Net 5 MB $9.99 per month 5 MB $0.01 per KB
MEdiaTM Net 10 MB $14.99 per month 10 MB $0.01 per KB
MEdiaTM Net Unlimited $19.99 per month Unlimited N/A
MEdiaTM Net Pay-Per-Use $0.00 per month 0 MB $0.01 per KB
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-plans/pyp-cell-phone-plans.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-00166N-0-1&WT.svl=calltoaction