1. I remember reading somewhere that some members of the Italian-American
   community have been quite upset about The Sopranos, since they think
   that those kinds of series strenghten the stereotype that all Italians
   are connected with the mafia. How true is this?

2. Certain foods are stereotypically connected with certain people,
   such as fried chicken & soul food with African-Americans. What other
   food-related stereotypes exist, especially concerning geographical
   areas and social status or a membership to a group rather than those
   connected with ethnic background, which seem to be pretty obvious
   (Chinese & rice, Japanese & sushi, Italians & pizza etc.)?

3. I have heard such expressions as "off the hook" and "off the meat rack"
   used when describing something being really good. They seem to refer to
   food (fish & meat) and to the fact that they are at their best when
   fresh. Does this make any sense? Do such slang expressions ever really
   have any etymologies or do they just pop up?

   While writing these, I actually came up with a lot more questions, one
   of which concerns a widely used joke that I have never really
   understood. So what's up with the "knock-knock-who's there?" -joke?
   I don't know, is it me or the joke...?

   I would also like to know something about the Negro-League. And I also
   want to ask that do such laws as "you can only beat your wife with a
   two inch belt on Mondays" really still exist in the law of some states?
   (cf. True, Hoax, or Urban Legend?)

   I have also read somewhere that shows like "Friends", which are very
   popular generally, are actually not popular among the African-American
   community, since there are no African-American characters. Is this
   true? What about the other way around?

==============================

1. In western countries people are very aware of the propaganda
   practiced by the former Soviet government during the cold war.
   How do the people in United States see the historical situation and, on
   the other hand, propaganda in the modern world?  Is it acknowledged
   that strong anti-communist propaganda was used in the U.S. as well?
   How about propaganda in post-cold war crises where U.S. military
   intervention was involved?

2. It seems that the legal system in the USA is very different to what we
   are used to in Europe.  Apparently it is very convenient and often
   profitable to file a law-suit.  How did the American system of law
   develop to be such as it is nowadays? I've heard wild stories about
   things that have to be done in order to secure ones legal position:
   notes in a stray-jackets saying "don't drive car wearing this" or signs
   in prisons saying "it's not allowed to escape".

3. Is it true that only rich people can afford decent insurance in the
   U.S.? Can poorer and uninsured people be safe, or are they constantly
   afraid of random accidents and such? Does insurance in the US have a
   more significant affect on peoples lives than in Finland?

=============================

1.  Where does the term "Bluegrass Music" come from? What exactly is
    Bluegrass Music?

2.  A rock song from the sixties is called "Ring Around Your Neck" - what
    does it actually mean? Do/did girls usually wear their boyfriend´s
    ring on their necklace or what is the song all about? Is that some
    kind of symbol for "official" dating?

3.  Is country line dancing as popular in the US at the moment as it is in
    Finland right now?

=============================

1. IKEA:  In the TV show "That's Life" a woman was comparing two
   catalogues and telling her friends what her life would ideally be like.
   One was a fashion catalogue and the other was from IKEA. What is the
   status of IKEA in the U.S.? Is IKEA furniture more expensive there?
   Where do Americans buy furniture, and what kind do they buy?

2. Religion: The United States was founded by religious refugees. To what
   extent is religion a part of American life? In tv series the church
   seems to be more a place for social events, not so much for religion.
   Are Americans much more religious than Finns or are there just
   difference in the ways of expressing oneself?

3. Coffee shops, McDonald's vs. eating/drinking at home?: Where do
   Americans eat and drink? Would they preferably meet friends in a coffee
   shop/restaurant or at home? Are there urban/rural differences?

=============================

1. What's the idea behind those homecoming games? And homecoming queen?

2. I have a feeling that I missed something funny and witty when I was
   watching the pilot episode of The Invisible Man. The main character
   isn't impressed by his brother's scientific research and says, "Would
   you star a 69 reality, man?" What exactly does "starring a 69 reality"
   mean? I know it may not even be a specifically American thing, but not
   knowing has bothered me for quite some time now...

3. Still another question concerning The Invisible Man... In another
   episode, he's upset with a man who's making all these elaborate plans
   to kill him: "If you really want me dead, just do it. I mean, what is
   it with all these complex plots? Rube Goldberg's got nothing on you,
   pal." So, who is (or was...?) Rube Goldberg?

=============================

1. I heard the term "February sweeps" in Late Night with Conan O'Brien and
   began wondering what it meant. I know now it has something to do with
   attracting more viewers so that the networks can get advertisers to pay
   higher rates. It seems odd though that the advertising rates are
   defined on the basis of one single month instead of a longer period of
   time. What is the logic behind the "February sweeps" phenomenon?

2. I must confess a gap in my general knowledge and ask: what exactly
   happened at the Alamo? Why do people keep reminding each other of the
   events that took place there? (The phrase "Remember the Alamo!" keeps
   popping up everywhere)

3. What is the significance of the toy figure Mr. Potato Head in the
   American culture? It seems to have reached almost a cult-like status in
   the U.S.A (Toy Story, Gary Larson's The Far Side, and the X-files, just
   to name a few,  have all referred to Mr. Potato Head in one way or
   another). Is Mr. Potato Head a must-have toy for every kid or is it
   just some kind of a joke?

=============================

1. An unusually large number of Americans (housewives in particular) seem
   to be overweight. Why is this? Does physical appearance lose its
   meaning after one has tied the knot?

2. Americans watch a lot of tv. Why is this? Are there reasons like
   unemployment behind it?

3. I have gotten the impression that Americans are quite liberal in
   raising their children. Is this true? Could this be one of the reasons
   behind the problems that American youth have (youth violence etc.)?

=============================

1. Every so often I stumble upon references to Dr. Seuss who, I'm
   guessing, is someone everyone in the US, especially kids, are familiar
   with. Who/what is he and what sort of things are usually associated
   with him?

2. Do people in the US *really* not remove their shoes when entering their
   or someone else's home? If so, does this apply to the whole country or
   just some parts (eg. areas with warm climate, cities, etc)?
 
3. Filk-songs (artists like Weird Al Yankovic, Tom Smith [www.tomsmithonline.com]).
   Are they a widely spread and recognized form of comedy entertainment in
   the US or just a small sub culture mainly residing in the Internet?

4. Talk shows like Late Night with Conan O'Brien frequently make jokes
   about Strom Thurmond. After a few jokes one gathers that he is old and
   probably somehow involved in politics, but who exactly is he?

=============================

1. I would like to know more about American festivals/traditions like
   Halloween, Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving, etc. Where do they originate? The
   way they are celebrated in TV and movies is always very much the same,
   is there a lot of variation geographically or among different
   ethnic/social groups?

2. It is said that the thing Americans are most knowledgeable about is
   sports. I gather sports are a very common subject for small talk? Are
   you considered to be a 'freak' if you do not know/care about sports?
   Are sports really as important as it seems?

3. Connected to the above, how big a business is the U.S. sports industry
   compared to, for example, other entertainment on TV and elsewhere?

=============================

1. Is it really true that you can buy comicbooks only from specialty
   stores? If it is true, why is it so?

2. How widespread are rodeos?

3. We often hear about racial tensions between white people and other
   ethnic groups, but what about between these other groups? Do Asians and
   Blacks hate each other? What about Native Americans?

=============================

1. My sister spent six weeks in a small village near Detroit, and she told
   me that the TV news mostly consisted of local news, especially they
   reported on muggings, robberies and rapes. Why are Americans so
   interested in crime and criminals?

2. I've heard on Conan O'Brien about autumn and spring 'sweeps'. What are
   they?

3. What I've learnt watching TV is that there seems to be some kind of
   hierarchy in high schools. Are the cheerleaders and jocks as popular in
   real life as they are in tv programmes? If so, why is that?

=============================

1. Is the concept of tv-chats known in the States? If yes, are they
   popular?

2. Are different TV networks (the question concerning mainly ABC, CBS, NBC
   and Fox) in the U.S. known for specific types of programmes? (For
   example as in Finland channels 1 and 2 are more document-oriented.)

3. I have been in awe about the strong reactions that one hears many
   Americans have against artists such as Marilyn Manson and Slipknot,
   since in Finland people rarely seem shocked because of their lyrics or
   actions. Can you find any reasons for this? (Are Americans more aware
   of what is happening in popular culture, or are they more sensitive
   about what artists say, or is just that fundamental groups are more
   visible in American society?)

=============================

1. A friend of mine told me about a TV show in the USA (but unfortunately
   I can not remember its name) where there were a couple and a woman and
   the man had betrayed his wife with the other woman and they were
   arguing and fighting in front of the camera. I mean, everybody could
   watch this on TV! I would like to know if there are any other shows of
   this kind. Is this the only way americans can entertain themselves or
   rather be entertained? Is this a public or a private matter? I would be
   interested in what you are thinking about this?

2. Is American popular culture mainly concentrated on "mainstream
   culture"? How would you define the term "mainstream culture"? Is there
   any chance for for subcultures or for different ethnic groups to
   express themselves (their ideas, culture....)?

3. Is the American pop music scene concentrated on catching only teenage
   attention?

4. Does popular culture have a strong effect on society? What groups in
   society does it effect most? Why?
   In addition I would like to know if there are many people in America
   who try to behave and dress etc. like stars (e.g. Pamela Anderson)
   because of watching the series, film... on TV?

=============================
 
1. I realise that "typical" Americans don't watch many foreign films. Are
   the foreign films shown in movie theaters dubbed or do they have
   subtitles? Could the subtitles be one reason why Americans don't like
   to watch them?

2. I've read that after the events of 11 September, many movies and
   tv-shows have been partly changed. For example, I heard that some of
   the latest episodes of "Friends" have been re-shot, so that the two
   towers are no longer in the background. However, last weekend I went to
   see Vanilla Sky (which premiered in the US December 14th) and in the
   final scene the two towers are very visible. Does this mean that
   Americans are beginning to recover from the shock or was there ever a
   policy for changing possibly upsetting scenes?

3. My friend and her family have (rather distant) relatives in the US that
   they have visited a couple of times. When they had a new baby, they
   sent a picture of the little girl to their relatives. In the picture
   the baby was taking a bath. Next summer when they went to visit their
   relatives in the US they saw the picture, framed, in the living room.
   The relatives had drawn a bikini for the girl in the picture. Is it
   really such a taboo in America for even babies to be naked?

=============================

1. What is the difference between an English muffin and a "regular"
   muffin? I had muffins in Boston, MA and began to wonder why they were
   called "English". (see muffin vs "English" muffin)

2. I've heard that if the trees, flowers, bushes and other plants in front
   of your US home are not trimmed "correctly", the house won't be worth
   as much money (when one wants to sell it) as it would had they been
   trimmed right. Is this true? It sure sounds really odd.

3. Why do Americans sometimes refer to gay women as 'dykes'? Where does
   this word derive from?

=============================

1. Where does the usual American attitude towards nudity come from? The
   idea that American parents would rather let their children see films
   which have violence in them than films which have naked people in them,
   even if they are not porn films, seems strange from the Finnish point
   of view. What is the backround to this attitude?

2. Are teenage girls who have run away from their homes some kind of a
   popular myth in the U.S.? I'm asking this because I know at least two
   songs, in which "runaway" girls are mentioned in this way: the first
   one (I don't know the artist) goes like this: "I would do anything for
   my sweet 16, I would do anything for my runaway queen". The second
   example is a song by the band Bon Jovi and it goes like this: "oh,
   she's a little runaway".

3. What is the general American attitude towards environmental protection?
   The USA is known as a country with huge hypermarkets and people who
   consume enormously, and produce huge mountains of waste. How common is
   recycling, for example? Can there be seen any change in what people
   consume, and how?

=============================

1. Does the "average American" live in an apartment or a house? Is there
   some kind of social distinction between these two living options? Are
   city centers mostly reserved for business and what kind of people
   choose to live in the city center? And maybe a bit unrelated to that:
   is it true that there are no sidewalks in big cities such as Boston?

2. What kind of a percentage of Americans (approximately) has an internet
   connection at home? How usual is it to for example do the shopping or
   manage the finances on the internet?

3. Is it true that parents in the US start saving money for their kids'
   university education right from their birth? How big are the tuition
   fees on average and how big is the price difference between the most
   prestigious private universities and the state ones?
   
=============================

1. I just happened to watch the program "Divorce Court" on tv, and one
   thing that really irritated me about the show was the constant
   repetition of the things that had already been said and shown in the
   program. Why do they do this so much, every ten seconds it seems - and
   are American tv watchers REALLY used to it?

2. I was also wondering how is it possible that a program like South Park
   can exist in the US - it makes fun of Americans themselves, and things
   considered holy, like religion, etc. What kind of response do that type
   of programs get, and how is it possible that a program like South Park
   still (as far as I know?) exists? Is the American sense of humor really
   that flexible?  (See also South Park . . . )

3. A friend of mine visited Canada last year, and she told me that there
   it was really common that the young or teenage people went skating
   during their leisure time. In Finland most go skating only at school
   when they must do that... Is skating a common and voluntary activity
   among young people in the US?

=============================

1. In the first lesson you told us that popular culture gets to affect the
   ways in which we see American culture. This may happen unconsciously
   without us even noticing how films, music, tv series and so on orient
   our conception of what life is like in the United States. The
   representations may even be inaccurate. But aren't we as modern popular
   culture consumers sophisticated enough to see what is really
   representative and what not? For instance, most Finnish fans of The
   Simpsons or Conan O'Brien can tell what is representative of American
   reality in these shows and how typical American ways of living are made
   fun of. In a nutshell, are we modern city people really at the mercy of
   popular culture representations, after all?

2. In general, to what extent is American culture really like it is
   portrayed in popular culture? Popular culture naturally presents
   reality in a popular manner and paints reality in rosy colours, but
   does it all basically stem from the real-life in the United States?

3. What aspects of American culture are NOT usually dealt with in American
   popular culture products? What have we NOT learnt about the culture in
   shows like Conan O'Brien, The Simpsons or Friends?

=============================

1. I am quite amazed by American talk shows like the Ricky Lake show or
   Jerry Springer show or this Divource Court which is now shown on
   Finnish television. Are those participants serious or are they acting?
   It seems that in America people have an urge to speak about their
   problems and argue about them in public.  Why is that?  How much are
   those shows and their popularity connected to social class?

2. I have heard a reference made to "Judge Judy" on some American sitcoms.
   What is it? What does it mean? (see the Judge Judy website)

3. Are things like theaters, operas, art exhibitions and classical music
   considered as part of popular culture in the United States? Is there
   clear distinction regarding who consumes those things, for example
   mainly people with money and status?

=============================

1. Why is it that the Americans have the idea that they have the right to
   impose their own beliefs on every other country of the world and act as
   the "world police"? Is it only because of the "city on a hill" idea and
   the fact that US is economically the world's leading country, or are
   there other reasons as well? (cf. The Eagle Has Landed)

2. Is it awfully more expensive for Americans to travel abroad than to
   travel, let's say, from coast to coast? The distance between New York
   and London isn't that much longer than the distance between NY and LA.
   Why don't they broaden their horizons and learn to accept other
   cultures as they are by traveling?

3. How do the Americans deal with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
   for example in school? What are their opinions about the bombings?

=============================

1. What types of eating conventions are associated with the different
   parts of the US? Are there specific areas that are known for a culinary
   delight of some kind? I once saw actor Bradley Whitford on Conan
   O'Brien, and he mentioned how he is from Wisconsin, which is known for
   its special cheese. (see D.K. Bowers' Home on the Net)

2. What are the most usual folk legends in the U.S. besides Davy Crockett
   and the Lone Ranger?

3. What are the most common stereotypes associated with Americans from
   different parts of the country? You know, New Yorkers are rude and
   always in a hurry, Southerners are pretty, but pretty slow, also?
   (see also Irishmen in Iowa) (and Hillbilly Postcards)

==============================

1. a. How popular/unpopular foreign movies are in the United States,
      compared to the domestic ones?
   b. Is it the same way as in Finland, that large theaters (such as
      Finnkino-theaters in Finland) offer more popular movies, whereas
      most of the foreign and independent movies can be seen in small
      theaters (such as Niagara in Tampere)?

2. Coffee has always been the number one drink in Finland. Where ever you
   go, you are expected to drink and like coffee. What is the 'status' of
   coffee in the United States? Are speciality coffees like cappuccino and
   caffè latte trendy, as they seem to be in Finland? Places like
   Starbucks still seem to thrive.

3. In 'Sex and the City' (29 January) Carrie and her friends went to Los
   Angeles and Carrie couldn't smoke anywhere. Is this a stereotype of
   L.A., that you can't smoke anywhere in the city (but you are free to
   smoke anywhere in New York) or is it true that attitudes towards
   smoking can vary so considerably between two cities as big as these?

=============================

1. Why does the U.S. Customs ask if a tourist is arriving for "business or
   pleasure"? What is the tourist's answer supposed to reveal?

2. Many Americans travel to Europe, but which are the most popular holiday
   resorts inside the U.S.? (e.g. does everyone visit Disneyland in L.A.
   once in the lifetime?)

3. When I was in Leipzig, Germany as an exchange student, one American
   girl among us once laughed at us Europeans when we (girls) were wearing
   pantyhose under the jeans in winter. She sayd that it's something what
   Europeans do. That they only wear pantyhose with skirts. Is that true?

=============================

1. I would very much like to know why the US television broadcasters are
   so afraid of bare skin, but have no problems with violence? I remember
   watching television on one weekend afternoon in the USA, and on one
   channel there was an action movie and on another channel there was a
   fashion show. The action movie was not censored (except the four letter
   words) but the fashion show was. The models wore shirts which were made
   of really thin fabric, or that is what I thought, because their upper
   bodies were covered by the broadcaster.

2. I think St. Patrick's Day is a phenomenon in the USA. For example on
   St. Patrick's Day there are huge parades and rivers are colored green.
   Is that day still meant especially for the people of Irish origin or
   are other immigrant groups taking part in the events as well?

3. Where comes the tradition of driving to every possible place? I can
   understand that there are drive-in ATMs or drive-in movie theaters, but
   I was really horrified me when we drove into a cemetery area to find
   our relative's grave.

=============================

1. I have not come across any movies or books handling the topic of the
   Japanese imprisoned in the US during WWII. Is the subject a taboo(ette)
   for Americans, somewhat similarly as the 1918 civil war cruelties that
   haven't appeared too visibly in Finnish popular fiction?
   (see "Suffering Under a Great Injustice"), among others

2. I'm a big fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival, but I have a haunting
   feeling that it's considered to be "hick" in the US. Is this true, or
   can I keep listening?

3. My personal black list of trailer-trash music in Finland includes names
   such as Tapani Kansa, Frederik, Irwin and pretty much the whole tango
   scene. Is country music the closest US equivalent for this kind of
   music, or are there any better matches?

============================-

1. Most American TV series give the impression that the most popular
   students (especially girls) in high school are very good at school. In
   Finland the situation is quite the opposite; the most popular students
   usually are those who don't take school so seriously, get often drunk
   and misbehave... Is there any truth behind this phenomenon, or is it
   just an attempt to make young Americans study hard..?

2. Are there any large-scale festivals in the US nowadays that are devoted
   to promoting good music and young artists (cf. Woodstock and European
   festivals such as Roskilde), or are such happenings purely commercial?
   Do young people go to these festivals - if there are any?

3. Why do American soap-operas concentrate on the lives of the rich people
   as opposed to, for instance, British and Finnish soap-operas which deal
   with ordinary people (Emmerdale, Salatut Elämät)?

4. What are the so called "Dear John" letters? I was playing the English
   Version of Trivial Pursuit at O'Connells the other night, and there was
   a question like "what kind of letters did soldiers dread when receiving
   mail from their wives and girlfriends during WW2?". The answer to the
   question was "Dear John" letters.

=============================

1. Is life in American High Schools really like it is portrayed in the
   various tv-shows. Is there a clear cut division into the popular kids
   and the "nerds"? Are the popular kids really as cruel as implied on tv?

2. Every new year Americans get to watch Dick Clarke countdown the
   dropping of the ball in New York. What is the deal with the ball? What
   does it symbolize and why do they do it in New York? Why a ball?

3. Every so often I see or hear in movies or tv-shows (or more recently in
   a music video) references to the old dancing hot dog shown before
   movies in movie theaters. How does the whole commercial go and what
   company does he/she/it advertise? Is it still regularly shown?

=============================

1. I've noticed that when it comes to sports, the Americans seem to value
   statistics far higher than Finns, for example. I wonder if there's an
   explanation for this. Statistics come up frequently in the television
   commentaries, sports news and even quiz shows and games such as the
   American edition of Trivial Pursuit. In my very limited experience, the
   statistics-obsession seems to be more prominent in baseball and
   football than in the other sports.

2. The idea of "super-heroes" (omnipotent good guys who usually work alone
   at saving the world from evil) appears to come up quite often in
   American cartoons, comics and movies, or at least it used to. This
   concept doesn't seem to exist in Europe, at least not to the same
   extent. Are the super-heroes just another sign of American
   individualism or could there be another explanation for this?

3. I realize this is kind of trivial, but I've been wondering about the
   New Jersey Turnpike. What is it and what is it's significance? A "New
   Jersey Turnpike" road sign is shown quite prominently in the opening
   sequence of each episode of The Sopranos, and I recently found it in
   the lyrics of a Simon & Garfunkel song called "America". The lyrics go
   like this:  "Counting the cars/on the New Jersey Turnpike/they've all
   come/to look for America". Does the place have some special
   immigration-related meaning (Tony Soprano the Italian driving past it
   seems to imply that it might have)?

=============================

1. First, a comment on Wednesday's "Dutch" commercial: I think the catch
   in the commercial is that the family in the car does not understand the
   "lyrics" to the song but the people on the other side of the tv screen
   do. Everybody in class got the joke because we all understand English.
   I wonder if the real target group of the commercial (=people in dire
   need of an English course) would have? It would be kind of interesting
   to know if the commercial actually sold any English courses.

2. What is ACME? Is it a real-life company or something someone in
   Hollywood made up like the 555- telephone numbers? It comes up
   occasionally in children's cartoons and a couple of weeks ago I saw (or
   rather heard) it in the series Invisible man (the modern version).

3. What kind of stereotypical ideas do average Americans have of the
   Canadians? Or vice versa? (cf South Park . . .)

4. How important is the high school experience to Americans? If tv and
   movies are any indication, I would say it is tremendously important.
   Also, as further proof, why else would you, Mr. Hopkins, still be
   wearing your high school ring x-amount of years later if high school
   was not important to you? Is high school generally important to people
   mostly study-wise or more as a social experience?

5. If a girl gets her boyfriend's school ring or letter jacket as a sign
   of going steady in America, what kind of things does the boy get?

6. Is it true that Americans do not wish to wear the same outfit two days
   in a row? If so, why exactly is it so important to avoid it?

7. In class last Wednesday you were making a point about diners and pop
   diners and the vanilla shake from the movie Pulp Fiction was mentioned.
   You said something like: "...it may have had about five different
   meanings in that section of dialogue..." What did you mean by this,
   which five meanings? Do you think there is a special meaning to
   "vanilla" in the movie Vanilla Sky? I haven´t seen the movie yet, so
   unfortunately I can´t say where does the name actually come from.

=============================

1. In movies, one will often see a crowd of by-standers cheering at a
   happy end to a romantic meeting, a hostage crises or whatever. Would
   Americans do this in real life (Finns would mind their own business and
   look away)? If so, why might that be? If not, why does it please the
   American movie audience to see that happen?

2. On shows like ER doctors are portrayed as sympathetic heroes (I think;
   I can't remember the last time I watched it.), whereas dentists, for
   example, sometimes get to be psycho torturers. What do Americans (or
   Americans of different age groups, sexes, ethnic backgrounds, etc.)
   think of doctors? (cf. Finnish men not going to the doctor unless they
   have body parts hanging off etc.)

3. Stereotypes according to city or region were briefly discussed in
   previous courses, but what about states? Are US States simply political
   entities with no identity of their own? Are there jokes about the
   people of Oklahoma or Wyoming or Massachusetts (cf. Finnish stereotypes
   about people of Ostrobothnia, Karelia etc.)? (cf. Iowa stereotypes)

4. And an extra one: What is 101? I understand it means elementary info
   about something, basics. Is it originally a study course code or what?

=============================

1. I know that in the region of Missouri there is a very characteristic
   articulation of "R" in American English. Americans even tend to
   pronounce this phoneme in the words which in their spelling don't have
   such letter. Why is that so? Is this phenomenon observed in any other
   state, region of the U.S.?

2. What is actually the correct pronunciation of Missouri? I heard
   Americans saying "Missoura".
  
3. Who lived on the territory of what is today the continental U.S.,
   except for Indians, before the Puritans came? Is is true that The
   Vikings got to America and if so, did they anyhow influence the
   American culture?

4. What happened to the languages and cultural haritage that was brought
   along with the Africans who were forced to come to the U.S. as slaves?
   In American movies the immigrants of European origin almost always
   speak their own languages (e.g. Polish, Italian, Spanish, etc.) but I
   have never heard Blacks speaking any other language but English. Why?

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1. I remember hearing a story about a guy who went to a hospital with his
   finger hanging on only by a thread of skin and bleeding profusely...
   and they refused to sew his finger back on because he didn't have the
   money to pay for it. Do things like this really happen?

2. What (if any) is the general attitude towards the profession of
   translator and interpreter in America?

3. To what extent does the sentence on the side of all food products stand
   true? ("we guarantee that if you are not fully satisfied with this
   product we will refund you...") Do you get your money back if you
   merely don't like the stuff, or does there have to be something more
   seriously wrong with it?