'Cozy Utah and practical Minnesota': a Russian-speaking immigrant spoke about life in different states of the USA

Lesya Bebeshko lived in the USA for 5 years and on her blog for Englex She told which staff she liked the most. They turned out to be Iowa, Utah or Minnesota. She also told about her travels in the States.

Фото: Depositphotos

Next - from the first person.

To understand a country, one must live in it for at least a few years. This will give you a tremendous opportunity to experience the culture of using the language - to learn relevant stable expressions and phrases. I happened to get such a practice during my life in the USA, which I will discuss in this article.

The measured and uninhabited Iowa

In 2006, I got married. At that time, my husband worked in the USA, so I moved to him. He worked in Iowa on a large farm, where we lived. The farm was located near a small village, where there was one small shop, a fire station, a police station, a post office and a library where you could use the Internet for free.

I helped my husband, worked as a manager on a farm - made orders for food and medicine, filled out paperwork, went to exhibitions. The landlady ran the maternity ward, and I often helped her with the piglets. As a child, I dreamed of being a doctor, so for me it was an opportunity to make a dream come true. They paid me about 7 dollars per hour, while providing free housing. People who farm are fans of their craft. They take an active part in exhibitions and competitions.

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In our free time, we went to visit neighboring farms, fished, once a week went to the city for shopping, visited the Chinese buffet - a favorite place of Americans: you pay 10-15 dollars and eat as much as you want. Iowa is a sparsely populated state, but the population is welcoming and hospitable; they like to chat and listen to country music. However, life away from civilization leaves its mark - the main topics of local conversations, of course, farms, feed and marketing of products. A big event for them were trips to Miami (Florida) and Las Vegas (Nevada), but for many residents this is an overwhelming cost. In 2007, the peak of the financial crisis came, and at that time the virus was walking around the state - animals were dying out, and many people were left without livelihoods with big debts.

The positive side of life in Iowa was being in the middle of nature, far from the hustle and bustle. This is the place for people who love privacy.

Cozy and beautiful Utah

Soon, the Iowa farm went bankrupt, and we moved the Utah city of Provo. Pleasant warm climate, comfortable and cozy towns in the valley, wonderful views from the windows to the mountains - this is one of my favorite states. Life here is completely different, everything is behind the scenes subject to the laws of Mormons. Mormons are a religious group based on family values ​​and close bonds between generations. People here are especially welcoming and friendly, often arrange family dinners. Their families are large, very many, in addition to their children, bring up foster children. Children are required to do charity work once a week. For example, on Mondays, they organize sporting events or dance competitions, where they sell pastries and crafts, and the money is transferred to African countries. Also, a tenth of their earnings is given to people for the benefit of the poor.

At first, when you don’t know all the nuances, you can get a fine for not following a rule. For example, on Sunday it’s strictly forbidden to swim in the pool, it is preferable that the woman has her shoulders closed, the dress cover her knees, etc. But over time, it becomes comfortable to live in a place where there are no special locks on the doors - state residents very observant and vigilant, and if something arouses suspicion in them, they will certainly contact the police. A big plus of this state is a healthy lifestyle: alcohol and drugs are prohibited here, and if necessary, the church helps addicted people.

Фото: Depositphotos

On the recommendation of my friend, I went to study at a free English language school from the Mormon Church. I like to study, for me it was a pleasant pastime, the opportunity to communicate with different people. Soon, I began to conduct classes there myself as an assistant teacher, helping underperforming students. They paid me 12 dollars per hour. In parallel, I worked at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in different positions: hostesses and waitresses. There I even completed free cook courses. I received 2 dollars per hour and gratuities (once before Christmas one table left me 100 dollars as a tip).

There are a lot of students from different countries in Provo, which is why the city has a lot of entertainment for young people, often organize tournaments and concerts. But people behave and dress with restraint: girls do not wear miniskirts, T-shirts with an open belly button, even summer sundresses on thin straps are worn over t-shirts. Utah is famous for its world-famous ski resort Park City, Arches National Park, warm geysers, endless forests with waterfalls and clean air. A six-hour drive from Utah is the famous Yellowstone - an indescribable beauty place where buffalo graze freely, in the mountains and forests you can meet moose, deer and other animals.

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If they asked me now where I would like to live, I would choose Utah. In this state, one can feel the culture and austerity of life style, reverence for elders and respect for each other.

Practical and expensive Minnesota

In the future, we decided to move to Minnesota, where there is more freedom of action and more Russian. The locals have a completely different outlook on life. The state is large, we lived near Minneapolis. And, as in all big cities, everything is subject to money. It is unrealistic to rent an apartment and live on one salary, that's why many people rent together with someone, live in mobile homes or work on several jobs. I myself combined work in a restaurant, in a kindergarten and a nanny in Russian families. It was not hard for me, as the type of activity was constantly changing. There is a different attitude towards children, they have more freedom: from an early age they go to restaurants, concerts and other events, engage in sports sections.

In Minnesota, it’s hard without a car, because public transport is not developed. Obtaining a license is easy, if you have driving experience, it is enough to learn the oral part. In Utah, it was more difficult, because you had to provide documents on residing in the state for at least three months and be sure to take a driving teacher, even if you know how to drive. I got the rights, and my friend and I bought a car that 3 used the year. Traveling around the United States by car is a great pleasure: smooth roads, diverse landscapes and interesting places.

Locals love to travel north to Duluth, a port city located near the Canadian border. In autumn, they go hunting with their families, and in winter - go fishing, setting up tent camps directly on the ice. Hunters can process meat or fish on their own, but most often they give the loot to people who do it professionally - they make sausages, dry or dry the meat.

Traveling in the United States

Of course, I wanted to visit different places in the USA. It is best to travel by car or in a mobile home - this makes it possible to see places that tourists do not always get to.

We traveled to South Dakota, where the world famous Black Hills Mountains (Black Hills) are located - the name was given by the Indians (Paha Sapa - Black Hill), for whom this place is a shrine. This attraction attracts hundreds of tourists from all over the world, here is the famous Mount Rushmore with the faces of the presidents. You can also visit very beautiful lakes and a park - the nature and air here are very soothing. In the park we went down to a cave with minerals to a depth of about 200 meters. Tragic events are also associated with this place. When gold was found here, the indigenous people were sent on a reservation, to which the Indians responded with war.

Фото: Depositphotos

We managed to visit Hawaii: they caught shells with pearls (they can be immediately inserted into a ring or earrings at the local market), visited Dole pineapple plantations, rolled around the island and saw the difficult life of the indigenous population, which huddles in tiny houses behind huge hotels. Huge turtles live on the island, but they cannot be touched, for this you can get a huge fine. In Hawaii, there is a huge market where dances and various performances for tourists are held every evening. Here you can also eat freshly prepared fish and meat according to local recipes.

If readers have fans of the Lost series, visit the filming location - the beautiful island of Oahu. The island is windy and the water in the ocean is cool, but for surfers the place is great!

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Miami and Key West are the favorite places for tourists. It is very warm here, the ocean is just magical, I have never seen such warm water anywhere. But be careful - barracudas are frequent guests here, and they really love shiny jewelry.

Interesting facts about life in the USA

I will share some interesting facts that I noticed:

• In Iowa, as in Minnesota, English is light and crisp. People use beautiful classical speech, slang expressions are rarely used. English in Utah seemed to me difficult in terms of pronunciation - all the words merge together, the locals pronounce them vaguely. African Americans have their own way of speaking: melodious, many of their expressions.
• In the United States, customers are valued, so they can offer you free coffee or even give flowers.
• Americans love to buy everything at a discount, so they collect coupons for purchases.
• I was interested in observing the gastronomic habits of the locals: some go to a restaurant every Friday to eat fried catfish and fries, while others go to a cafe every day to have breakfast with oatmeal and read a newspaper.
• A popular pastime is a trip to the harvest farm. It is interesting and much cheaper than buying everything in a store.

The United States will not leave anyone indifferent. If you have the opportunity to live in this country, I highly recommend doing this. It changes a person, you will never be the same. Fortunately, I met only positive examples of people who moved to live in the States - they are constantly evolving, and they transform all failures into lessons for themselves.

There are a number of difficulties in US life. For example, in this country is very expensive medicine, so it is important to have insurance. But if it is not, you can be treated at a medical university. Universities have departments where graduate students do internships, and they can provide you with qualified assistance much cheaper. Since students are inexperienced, the treatment procedure can be long, but it is important that the professor always supervises their work. I treated my teeth so-so, and the fillings have been holding for more than 10 years.

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It is important to carefully select the words when discussing social topics. Even if you simply express your opinion, you may be accused of discrimination and dismissed from work.

Some at their own risk and risk come and live illegally, work, have families, give birth to children and wait for them to come of age, so that the child provides the parents with documents. It also happens that parents are deported, and the child is left in the country, since he is an American. US law is very strict, and every year it’s harder to get into this country. Of course, in the USA one must live only under legal conditions and abide by the rules, otherwise one may end up in the process of deportation, even with a green card.

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