16 stuff in the US that seems like a wild and unusual visitor

Olga Medvedeva was born and raised in Rostov, and recently she ventured to permanently move to America and now lives with her family in a small town in the state of Florida. Olga spoke about how she and her family poured into local reality and adapted to the new rules and traditions.

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

First thing in America, I learned to smile

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

Many believe that the American smile is a mock and fake smile, Olga writes specifically for AdMe.ru. I do not agree. They are smiling and asking how are things, almost everything is here. And you know what? This is not at all annoying, as many people think. In the supermarket you are greeted with a smile and wish you a great day. On the run, complete strangers are interested in where you bought these fantastic sneakers.

And slowly you begin to notice that you no longer want to push people with your elbows and shout: "Hey, move over!". You start to apologize, even if you are stepped on, and the world becomes a bit kinder.

... and then explained to locals how to wash shoes

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

We chat with a friend, and then her eyes fall on my shoes. In a manner peculiar to all Americans, she throws her hands to the sky and exclaims: “What cool new Toms!” And I blew my own in Italy because we walked a hundred feet. ” I told her: “Thank you very much, of course, but they are more than a year old. I just washed them yesterday, and again they are as good as new. ”

“Washed? How? ”She asks, almost in a whisper. Then it was my turn to goggle my eyes. “I just threw them into the machine, I added powder — and in half an hour I got new ones”. After that, I just somewhere under my knees felt how her respect for me soared to an unattainable height.

I still can not understand who comes up with the questions in these questionnaires

Photo: Korean Cultural Center UK / flickr

The new year began yesterday, and according to the rules, it was necessary to undergo an inspection and re-register medical insurance. Initially, as usual, collecting customer data. It seems to me that all kinds of profiles are very loved by Americans.

- Your gender?
- Female.
- What do you feel by gender?
- Uh ...

Well, the most epic:

- Are you married?
- Yes.
- Do you live with your husband together?
- Yes.
- Is he alive?
- What?!

But to hand over documents for international passport is easier than ever

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

This is what a booth for obtaining a new-generation international passport with biometric data looks like, if you apply ... in a restaurant.

It was just perfectly invented with these exit sessions of the Russian Embassy. No need to collect children, attach a dog, fish, pot of soup and drag in Washington. I came to a Russian restaurant in a neighboring town, gave me my documents and after a couple of months I received a ready passport. Here we have a public services portal.

An accident on the road is not a reason for many hours of traffic jams.

Фото: Depositphotos

I drive up to the traffic lights at the intersection, and at that moment an accident happens on the other side. I still did not have time to catch fire, as the police had already arrived.

But that's not all. While I went to the supermarket near this intersection (I bought all the 3 things, so that you understand that I was there for a very short time), they were already leaving. But how to wait for the traffic police 5 – 7? And then two hours to fill out the documents? And the next day to go to him for help for the insurance?

If you ask to send SMS, you just will not understand

Фото: Depositphotos

When we moved, I tried to finish off about 20 Americans by asking them to send an SMS (for example, with a phone number or other relevant information). But none of them understood what SMS meant.

It turned out that in America they do not use their usual abbreviations. They have this or Text Message (text message) or just Text (text).

Toilets in American cafes are a separate topic.

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

I, frankly, not a fan of toilet photos in cafes, clubs and restaurants, but this place fascinated me. It is evident that the owners approached the design of their institution with the soul.

After the publication of this post, subscribers told me that there is a cafe in Miami, where a huge poster of artist Frida Kahlo is hanging in the women's toilet. And in one of the large shopping centers, it turns out, you can wash the pens with a view of the city from about the 30-th floor.

New Year can be celebrated near the palm trees

Фото: Depositphotos

In general, Christmas and New Year in Florida is a fun thing. Everyone decorates houses, decorates palm trees and Christmas trees, and in the evening they go to the beach to make a photo in a red hat against the background of the sunset.

Last New Year was funny because we gave our neighbors a bottle of vodka. For them it was a shock. And this year in 23: 30, when we were dressed in fine baskets of salads on the table, we knocked on the door. A nasty crowd of neighbors was surprised at our still sober look. They called us to celebrate. In the garage. Taught on your head.

I greatly miss buckwheat and herring with giblets

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

For some products, we specifically have to call in a Russian store: "Let's take the buckwheat, and something wanted sprats."

And also, when we first moved, I seriously tortured the owner of the Russian store to sell me herring with giblets (so that there was caviar, for example). She said that she would be given a huge fine if she only dared to offer the buyer gutted fish. Here it can be sold only in a processed form: firstly, parasites can be found in the insides of the same herring, secondly, Americans honestly do not understand how you can eat milk (they even treat red caviar more than cool), and Third, few of the locals know how to fish themselves.

In the kitchen sink, you can throw the leftovers and potato peel

Фото: Depositphotos

Americans in the kitchen often 2 sinks: one - for normal people, and the second - for maniacs. In a sense, there is a special thing in the sink with sharp knives for processing food. It is supposed to scrape the remnants of lunch or dinner from the plates, throw off all the waste during the cooking process. They are ground in the chopper chamber, and then they fall into the sewer through the drain pipe.

In fact, I am still afraid to get teaspoons that have fallen into this hole. So with a hand, and in my head: “Suddenly, now something will bridge, it will turn on itself, and then forgive, my fingers.”

With unaccustomed difficult to deal with traffic lights

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

“Let's go green!” - this phrase drives my children into a stupor, because the green for pedestrians is white here. “And the mother is just a color blind person,” they think.

After the publication of this post, subscribers told me how to almost always distinguish a New Yorker from a tourist. The local pedestrian sincerely believes that he is immortal, and the tourist stands out from the crowd by carefully observing all the rules, switching to white, does not swear at the drivers and does not slow down the pace in front of the car.

A quiet dinner in a restaurant? This is definitely not about America

We do not have enough nice coffee shops and good restaurants here. I'm not talking about food, but about the atmosphere. Almost everywhere there is noise and din. Often the tables are so close that you can hear the entire conversation in detail about how Ben bought a new car yesterday or Jessica made herself a new chest.

In general, tugovato here with peace and privacy. Although there are some advantages: if they sing, they all drink together, they drink the whole bar as well, and if someone sees dolphins, they immediately ring a special bell, and the whole crowd immediately rushes out to watch them splashing in the bay.

Healing fantasy that cost us $ 3 000

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

In the first year after the move, we did not have health insurance. And when my son got a stomachache, we headed straight to the hospital, to the emergency department. We were met there as relatives: we covered the rug, placed it in an individual chamber, turned on cartoons. We stayed there on the strength of 2 hours, for which my son had measured pressure, gave a pill and ice fanta. The doctor said that with bowel disorder is the best medicine.

We went home, on the way all the symptoms went away, and the child cheered up. But then it was time for parents to faint, because by mail the bill came to $ 3 000. You know, it was the most expensive fantasy in my life.

In the evening, the main thing is to sort the children home

Фото: Depositphotos

As a rule, when “common” children (ours and neighbors) walk, then one of the adults is always on the street: washing the car, talking, playing sports in the garage. Therefore, letting go of children alone is not at all scary. And our house is very often similar to the entrance yard: the friends of the children come, play, leave, open the garage, take great scooters-scooters, then leave, and others replace them.

I initially tried to follow all the movements, and then threw. And now quite often you can observe a picture: you hear that someone is playing in the nursery, you come in, and there ... not your children. And at this moment your own can quietly play with the neighbors.

From the first days I realized that Americans have a difficult relationship with plumbing

Photo: amazon / gdw1999 / reddit

Do you know what a shower looks like in America? That's right, it is bolted to the wall. This I already realized that you can buy a regular shower with a hose and just change it. Before that, washing your feet and not wetting your head was something of a fantasy.

And with the habit can be difficult when visiting the toilets. At first you think that this is someone bad forgot to wash it behind him and clogged all the pipes. It turns out that nothing of the kind, as it should be - to use the toilet, half filled with water. It turns out, or do everything neatly, or immediately go to this magic shower from the first paragraph.

But despite petty domestic difficulties, many in America feel at home.

Photo: instagram.com/olechka_medvedeva_usa

In the US, no one will look askance at you because of their appearance. It is a normal picture to meet someone in sneakers or pajamas in a supermarket. No one will be worried about your slurred English or lack of it at all. Many, by the way, here completely manage with their native language and fingers. In Florida, you can often meet people who speak only Spanish.

The following observation, if it does not follow from the first, is also associated with moving. People here are easy-going and often move to a new place. Whether their new job is calling, retiring, they just want to change their staff - there can be a lot of reasons. In this case, travels are often accompanied by the sale of everything that is acquired by overwork. Something else is being bought into a new house, often on flea market sites or garage sales.

Would you risk to move to another country and try to learn from the habits and traditions of local residents?

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