Americans, Tell Us What You Love About American Culture
Maybe you love the sports culture in America: tailgates, Super Bowl parties, foam fingers, nights at the baseball field, and fantasy football.
Maybe you love the diversity and how easy and accessible it is to experience different cultures and try different foods.
Maybe you love that America is ~quirky~ because it refuses to abide by the metric system.
Or perhaps you just love the general friendliness of Americans — complimenting strangers, exchanging polite smiles in passing, small talk while waiting in line, and lending a helping hand.
Whether you've lived in the US your whole life, you moved to America from another country, or even if you just visited, I want to know what you love about America and American culture.. For a chance to be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post, share your thoughts with us down in the comments, or you can anonymously submit them using the form below!
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National Geographic
23 minutes ago
- National Geographic
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is one of Canada's most accessible natural wonders, which, for many visitors, makes it more of a photo op and less of an experience. It's easy (once you find a spot in the lot across from Horseshoe Falls) to park, cross the street into the mist, and jostle for a prime view of Niagara's three waterfalls—Horseshoe, American, and Bridal Veil. Peering in from the edge is awe-inspiring, yet there's another way to absorb the immense power of the falls: on the water. Ride Hornblower Niagara Cruises in the basin directly in front of the falls, or board a jet boat a few miles downstream to ride the Devil's Hole Rapids, created by the water rushing from the falls. "The falls have carved a seven-mile, narrow rock gorge, compressing the water downstream on the lower Niagara River into Class 5 whitewater," says Victoria Groenevled, a local resident who works with Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours. "Experiencing the water at this point is exhilarating. Whenever I have a stressful day, I can't wait to get out into the gorge." For even more adventure, get a view of the falls from the sky. Soar through the air on WildPlay's MistRider Zipline for a new perspective on the Niagara Gorge and Horseshoe Falls. When to Go: From June to August the falls viewing areas can get packed with summer vacationers. If possible, plan a May or September visit to avoid the biggest crowds. Peak fall foliage is typically mid- to late October. November through March is cold, with temperatures averaging between 21 and 39°F. Nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, about a 20-minute drive from the falls, hosts three major wine festivals: Icewine in January, New Vintage in June, and the classic vintage Niagara Wine Festival in September. From April to October the city hosts its famous Shaw Festival, whose repertory company specializes in plays written by George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. The season typically includes 10 to 12 productions and about 800 performances. How to Get Around: Niagara Parks' WEGO buses provide an affordable, convenient way to access Niagara Falls' must-see attractions, including Table Rock, Skylon Tower, and Horseshoe Falls. Buy an Adventure Pass at any Niagara Parks Welcome Centre or online at to save on sights and transportation. Taxis can be flagged from the falls' downtown core to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where you can sightsee aboard a traditional horse-drawn carriage. Where to Stay: You can hear the falls, but not the tourist traffic, from the garden of Greystone Manor, an elegant, four-room bed and breakfast located in a restored 1908 Niagara Falls home. The WEGO bus stop is a few blocks away, or it's only a 15- to 20-minute walk to the falls. In the heart of nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, the red brick Prince of Wales Hotel offers opulent Victorian luxury: individually styled rooms decorated with elegant antiques, English afternoon tea served in the drawing room, and a nightly turndown service with complimentary rose. Standard rooms are located in the hotel's modern wings, so ask for a room in the historic main inn, built in 1864. Where to Eat or Drink: The Niagara Peninsula is home to about 65 percent of Ontario's wineries, many of which have restaurants and menus showcasing local farmers, growers, and producers. "A perfect day is to cycle along the Niagara River, stop at a Kurtz's fruit market to taste what is in season, and then head to Peller Estates winery to sample their latest vintage," says Susan Murray, former president of Niagara's Finest Hotels. "In the evening, nothing beats enjoying theater at the Shaw Festival and finishing the day on the patio at Zees with a glass of Jackson-Triggs sparkling wine and a selection of locally made cheeses and cured meats." Sample Chef Jason Parsons's menu at Peller Estates Winery Restaurant, where wines are paired with offerings such as northern Ontario elk and truffle-roasted diver scallops. At Trius Winery Restaurant, the culinary team offers a shifting menu, focused on local ingredients, with meticulously selected wine pairings. What to Buy: Ice House is the only Niagara Peninsula winery that exclusively produces Ontario's "liquid gold"—icewine—made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine. At the Ice House winery, located in a 19th-century peach-packing barn about ten miles from the falls, pick up a bottle of Northern Ice Vidal and try one of "Ice Wine Wizard" Jamie Mcfarlane's N'Icewine Slushies. What to Read Before You Go: The Whirlpool by Jane Urquhart (McClelland, 1997). Urquhart's award-winning debut novel is a spellbinding tale set in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in the summer of 1889. Fun Fact: Every 60 seconds, six million cubic feet of water rushes over the falls, enough water to fill a million bathtubs each minute.
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
Indy chef looking for redemption at World Food Championships
When the World Food Championships land at the Indiana State Fairgrounds this year, Indianapolis chef Brady Foster will be looking for redemption. Driving the news: Foster punched his golden ticket to the competition last month when he won the Mac-N-Cheese Throwdown at the Holy Cross Wine and Cheese Festival. Foster made a garlic herb macaroni and cheese with a goat cheese sauce, sweet potato cornbread and pork belly crumble crispy cheese topping. "I tried to do as much as I could in one package," he told Axios. State of play: This will be Foster's third straight trip to the World Food Championships, and last year didn't go well. "If I'd have lost and did it my way, that would have been fine, but I was trying to be something that I wasn't," he said, mentioning he listened to bad advice and made dishes not true to his style. The chef and owner of Foster's Cafe and Catering in Lawrence specializes in African, American and African American cuisine. How it works: Chefs from around the world enter culinary competitions to win a spot in the international showdown, where they're given a category and theme. Chefs compete live, cooking in a "kitchen arena" and get scored on execution, appearance and taste. Top scores advance from opening to final rounds, tournament style. This year, Foster is competing in the sandwich category. The theme hasn't been released yet, but he's thinking he'll do something with goat and African and French influences. Flashback: Foster says he grew up "pretty rough" in Gary, Indiana, and never pictured himself as a top chef and restaurant owner. After managing a Cici's Pizza for a decade, Foster earned his culinary degree from Ivy Tech in 2017. He realized his dream of opening a restaurant in March 2020. He was open for one week before COVID-19 shut down the state. "It was very scary," he said. "A lot of sleepless nights. A lot of crying. A lot of praying." It was six months before he was able to fully reopen. Fun fact: Foster took over the restaurant space from Circle City Soups, where he'd gotten his first job after culinary school with owners Roger and Cindy Hawkins — who he credits as his mentors. At the Mac-N-Cheese throwdown, Foster and Hawkins were the top two finalists. "So proud of our 'son,' Brady Foster, who not only won the golden ticket, but also won people's choice!!" Cindy Hawkins wrote on Facebook after the competition.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Lynne Turner, CSO harpist since 1962, retires from the orchestra
You could say Lynne Turner's Chicago Symphony Orchestra career really began in 1956. That year, she made her debut with the orchestra, the winner of an audition call to headline its Young People's Concerts. Turner, then 14, played Handel's Harp Concerto in B-flat in four concerts that March. Covering Turner's win, a Chicago Tribune society writer described her as a 'pretty, vivacious miss' who was 'equally at home on a bike or roller skates, and likes nothing better than to spend a Saturday afternoon exchanging feminine chatter with school girl chums.' 'I suppose that was her way of reassuring readers that I was still a normal teenager,' Turner recalls, with some amusement. Normal, sure, but Turner grew up around an abnormal amount of music. Her father, Sol Turner, was a first violinist in the CSO; her mother, Evelyn, a pianist. According to the same Tribune article, her older sister, Carol, was accomplished enough on the violin to join the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the CSO's prestigious training ensemble. Meanwhile, Turner's baby brother, Richard, followed in her footsteps: After his own Civic tenure, he went on to become principal harp in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for 45 seasons. Before those Young People's Concerts, Turner wasn't gunning for an orchestra career, per se. But she now thinks of those performances as a catalyst. She also passed through the Civic Orchestra, then, in 1962 — the same year she became the first American to win the International Harp Contest — she joined the CSO itself. Turner's 63-season tenure with the orchestra ends with concerts at Ravinia on Aug. 9 and 17. 'For most of my life, the schedule of an orchestral musician has been the guiding rhythm — rehearsals, performances, travel, and, of course, practicing, which requires many hours each and every day,' she told the Tribune over email. 'But now, I feel a quiet pull toward a different kind of rhythm — one that makes space for more freedom, more spontaneity and perhaps a few surprises.' Life in the CSO has only gotten more bustling in recent decades. The orchestra often tops lists of the busiest American orchestras, calculated by the number of performances, rehearsals and other on-the-clock engagements. But playing under Fritz Reiner, the music director who hired Turner, brought its own intensity. Leading the CSO from 1953 to 1963, Reiner was a brutal taskmaster, the ensemble's musical excellence coming at the cost of some musicians' favor. Turner, however, fondly remembers the year she played under the Hungarian conductor's exacting baton. 'Maestro Reiner had a reputation for being intimidating, but on a personal level, he was very kind to me,' she says. 'There was an intensity and clarity to his leadership that brought out the best in all the sections of the orchestra. I understood from the very beginning that my performance had to be at the highest possible level. Anything less simply wouldn't do… In many ways, it shaped the way I approached my craft for the rest of my career.' Said craft is highly specialized. Today, second harpists are usually hired out as a freelance position and rarely part of permanent orchestra rosters. In repertoire that calls for more than one harp, the second harpist needs to be carefully attuned to the principal's sound in addition to their own. As Turner puts it, 'there's often an element of echo, shimmer, or color reinforcement in harp writing… and when the partnership clicks, it adds a real richness and depth to the texture of the ensemble.' That's easier said than done, according to Julia Coronelli, Milwaukee Symphony's principal harpist. '(Lynne) has a very signature sound that I've never heard anybody else recreate,' says Coronelli, who frequently sits next to Turner as a substitute in the CSO. 'I do think it's harder to play second harp in a lot of ways. You have to place everything with the principal player. That's very hard because of the immediate attack of the string.' The CSO's reputation as a world-class interpreter of Gustav Mahler's symphonies — which require supersized ensembles — means that Turner can be heard on the majority of the CSO's defining Mahler recordings. After joining the orchestra on its recent tour to the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam, Turner sought out the orchestra's 1971 recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with then-music director Georg Solti. She was electrified all over again. 'It has been described as one of the greatest recordings of the 20th century, and I would agree,' Turner says. 'There was a sense among all of us that we were part of something momentous. The scale of the piece, the forces involved, the acoustics of the hall… It all added up to something unforgettable and enduring.' Another favorite CSO album, from 1976: David Del Tredici's 'Final Alice,' featuring soprano Barbara Hendricks and conducted by Solti. In that premiere recording, excerpts from Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' tumble through a kaleidoscope of orchestral color. 'It was such a bold, imaginative work — wildly inventive and completely unlike anything else in the repertoire,' she says. Though not recorded, Turner likewise treasures the memory of accompanying Chicago Symphony Chorus members in Benjamin Britten's 'A Ceremony of Carols,' for treble choir and harp. For that performance, Turner worked closely with Margaret Hillis — not only the founding director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, but the first to break the CSO podium's gender barrier. 'Margaret Hillis was an undeniable presence: commanding, insightful and absolutely wonderful to work with. She had a deep musical intelligence and a real sense for shaping a performance in a way that brought out its emotional core,' Turner says. In Coronelli's eyes, Turner has been a pathbreaker in her own right. According to CSO records, just a little over a dozen women had been in the orchestra before her tenure. At the time she was hired, Turner was one of just three women in the ensemble. 'Obviously, she had to be really strong to do that,' Coronelli says. Today, about 40% of the orchestra's membership are women. That progress is thanks, in part, to pioneers like Turner. 'Today, the CSO reflects a far broader range of voices and identities, and that shift has been both meaningful and necessary,' she tells the Tribune. 'I'm proud to have witnessed — and been part of — that evolution.' Four musicians are retiring from the CSO this year — including assistant principal trumpet Mark Ridenour, who was acting principal of that section between 2003 and 2005, and violinist Joyce Noh, who became the first Asian woman to join the orchestra when she was hired in 1979. Upon their retirements between the 2024/25 and 2025/26 season, harpist Turner and principal trombonist Jay Friedman will be the longest-serving CSO musicians in history, having both joined the orchestra in 1962. Hired in their early 20s by the legendary conductor Reiner, few audiences have known a Chicago Symphony without them. Look for a story about Friedman in an upcoming edition of the Tribune's A+E section.
