Tourist's Eye View

There is a wealth of tourist information about nearly every major city in America. However, as anyone who has travelled can tell you, what you read on the internet or in a guide book does not always match up with the way a city actually is. USAcitylink.com provides links to tourist information about numerous cities. Surf to a description of a city you have visited, and compare the description to your experience. Does the information on the web give one a sense of the city? In what ways is it accurate? In what ways is it innacurate? What would you say was the purpose the author had in mind when he or she wrote the description?

Stereotypes

Cities have reputations. Sometimes these reputations are deserved, sometimes not. Think about a place you have never visited, but about which you have an opinion. Once you have chosen a place, go to Interpals.net and try to build a correspondence with someone from that place. How did your experience with your penpal or e-pal compare with the stereotypes you had of people from that place? How have your impressions of that place changed?