Personal experience: 5 things I lost in the USA

Фото: Depositphotos

Moving to another country, we gain a new social circle, invaluable experience and a chance to start life from scratch. However, at the same time we lose something, first of all, of course, illusions. But not always these losses are worth regrets. Today I will tell you what I lost in the US in six months.

1. Belief in big words

Americans constantly use strong words in completely ordinary situations, and from this the meaning of these words is erased.

For example, the phrase “I appreciate it” serves as an indispensable supplement to “thank you”, regardless of what thank you are for — for sending the cake recipe or for the work that took a lot of time and effort.

At first, of course, it is very pleasant to hear that people are grateful to you for any, even the most insignificant service. I even thought that if my former Russian chiefs had entered a similar phrase into their vocabulary, in most cases I would not look for another job. But after a couple of weeks of living in the US, I realized with dismay that this I appreciate it - no more than a form of politeness, and this phrase has lost all meaning for me.

They became invisible to me and such words as “amazing”, “cute”, and even “love”, because in America people distribute them, like promoters are leaflets.

I am even curious how Americans react to situations in which such words would be really appropriate. For example, what does my friend David, who exclaims “Fabulous!” Say in response to a message from an auto repair shop employee, say, winning a million dollars in a lottery, that they are waiting for him at a scheduled inspection for the 5 watch?

And what words for an explanation with the future partner in life can be found in a girl who confesses in love to all nice hats and shoes met on the way? And how will a man take her words? It seems to me when you hear all the time from strangers I love your bag, you risk not to notice how someone close will say I love you.

But this loss turned into an important advantage: now I assess the attitude of people towards me solely by their actions, not paying attention to the words. And this is useful in any country.

2. English proficiency

Learning English by immersion in the language environment was one of the most important goals of a long visit to the United States. But in fact, in the 6 months my English has seriously rolled back. Cause? There were two of them.

Фото: Depositphotos

First, the motivation to learn grammar has disappeared. Why should I remember how times are used 16, even if native speakers themselves use 5-6 by force?

Secondly, I did not take into account that in such a multinational country as the United States, the language environment may be far from English. For example, I settled in an area where you cannot buy sausages without Polish knowledge. The result - now I do not care, listen to the radio in Polish or in Russian.

But the language barrier is now removed for all languages ​​at once. If you have a chance to screw up your ten words in Spanish, I will not miss this opportunity.

3. Complexes

In the US, people look so different that you immediately realize the stupidity of any attempts to conform to some kind of canon of beauty for all and begin to accept yourself as it is. Moreover, you begin to appreciate what makes you different from others. From this and the mood improves, and wrinkles are smoothed. As a result, after six months, they began to give me 5, or even 9 years less than my passport.

By the way, the fact that nobody in the street calls out the murderous Woman! Also contributes to the spiritual harmony and the effect of rejuvenation.

4. Love for cakes and sweets

In America, sweets are so sweet that I stopped eating them. And even the fact that in New York at every corner it smells of either baking or chocolate does not cause me any more impulse to stop by.

The first time, of course, in the pastry shops, my eyes ran from the abundance of multicolored, beautifully decorated desserts.

I was fascinated by the cakes and did not know which one to choose. However, after trying a few, I realized that they put so much sugar in it that it practically outperformed the taste of other ingredients, so it’s hard to feel the difference between blueberry and cherry cakes.

With a variety of chocolates and American-made chocolates, practically the same story came out - too sweet for my taste. But no one bothers, of course, to buy chocolate from Switzerland or France, since he is also here in a huge assortment.

However, I switched from baking and chocolate to farm ice cream. At least there, besides calories, there is calcium.

Фото: Depositphotos

5. Hope that grass is greener somewhere

When you live in the United States not as a tourist and face the same problems as in your own country, you very clearly realize that the promised land does not exist.

For example, it was a great disappointment for me to learn that American rentiers are not much different from Russian, they also do not rush to the first call of the tenant to repair the dripping valve and poison insects and mice.

Spammers call and send advertising messages to defenseless cellular network subscribers at any time of the day or night, just to blacklist them and forget about them in the US is impossible. At least that's what they told me at the point of sale. T-Mobilewhere I came to complain about spamming calls on 3-4 times a day.

I don’t want to say at all that everything is bad in America, it’s just that there are pros and cons, like everywhere else. Of the main advantages - the fact that the ratio of income and expenses in the United States differs markedly from the Russian for the better. But this is not a serious reason for me to want to change my red passport to blue.

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