What our people can not get used to in America after years

I have been living in the States for several years, a lot has become familiar to me, and sometimes I forget that it was somehow different in my homeland. However, I cannot get used to some things until now.

Enchanted things

Haunted houses, ghosts, enchanted amulets and possessed dolls are all very popular in America. Maybe we have all this, and I just haven’t crossed paths with ghost lovers, but in the States everyone knows about such things, and it’s clear that they take it very seriously. A house with a ghost is more expensive in price, just like an antique doll that has been possessed by a spirit. All kinds of enchanted things, as well as devices for communicating with spirits, are sold and bought here very actively.

When I shared with an American friend that I did not believe in such things, she became serious and said that the spirits would soon show themselves and I would believe in them. I'm waiting now.

Do not drink tea

There is no such pastime as “drinking tea” in America. Firstly, they don't like hot tea. Iced tea is a favorite drink, but hot tea... As a result, there is a lack of any choice of teas in stores. Yes, you can buy packaged in the most basic variations: black or green with jasmine. But loose, large-leaf, with wild berries, sea buckthorn or anything else interesting - go home. Russian stores help out a little with bagged greenfields, and that’s all.

I also “like” the reaction of waiters in restaurants when you ask for tea. Tea!?! - they are surprised and, without even asking what kind of tea I need, they thoughtfully go off in search of a bag lying around in the kitchen. And don’t be happy if they have a tea bag! It may well be filled with not boiling water, but simply hot water. A cup with a bag of unidentified tea in semi-cold water (from which such white foam still appears on top) and a waiter smiling with 32 teeth, who has coped with a difficult task and expects an increased tip.

Americans do not tea, do not eat various goodies with tea and do not talk heart to heart, adding a third and fourth cup of tea. There is no such thing.

To smile

For Americans, a smile is an addition to everything they do. I, a person who is not used to wearing a smile, need to learn this. Americans put on a smile and can flaunt it all day long. I need to constantly remind myself: “smile, smile,” because as soon as I relax, my face immediately takes on a calm, thoughtful expression, which Americans call gloomy, but here they are wary of gloomy people.

But even when I smile my most sincere smile, I cannot smile the way Americans do. Almost all of them smile, showing their teeth. It was interesting to observe when they took photographs of my daughter’s school class. The photographer shouted: “let’s smile” - and all the kids showed a toothy smile, and they all looked so organic and natural.

When receiving a work permit, according to the procedure, I had to take a photo. The photographer commanded: “smile” and I tried very hard, but the photographer was dissatisfied with the result. “No, no, no,” he said, “let’s do it again.” After the eighth time and eight “no, no, no,” I said “that’s enough” and asked him to put any of those at his discretion. I understand perfectly well that he wanted to see a beautiful “toothy” smile, but I only got (and still get, by the way) a grin. But I'm working on it!

Cooking is reheating

The word “cook” in the understanding of most Americans means something completely different from what we mean by this word. Remove store-bought lasagna from the freezer, remove the packaging, and place in the oven for 10 minutes to reheat—this is COOKING dinner. It is considered a special skill to prepare their dry mixtures, because they need to be diluted and only then subjected to heat treatment. Let’s take, for example, America’s favorite “Mac and Cheese” – macaroni and cheese. The set contains pasta and a bag of dry mixture for cheese dressing. The bag should be diluted with water in the indicated proportions and, after pouring it over the pasta, put in the oven. The same is true for waffles and pancakes: there is a box with a dry mixture that needs to be diluted with water, as indicated on the package, and poured into a waffle iron or frying pan. By preparing such a labor-intensive recipe, you will be considered a cooking guru. I wonder how they would react to the proposal to take an egg, milk, flour and make real waffles?

My ten-year-old daughter coped herself with cooking pasta with cheese and said that after our pancakes she had nothing to fear!

And in the USA, waffles and pancakes from a mixture, beans and sausages from a can, frozen ready-made meals - all this is called “cooking”. I think that they wouldn’t be able to boil our dumplings, because there are dough analogues on sale here (ravioli and dumplings), which are already boiled and only then frozen. You can eat them by heating them in the microwave or in a frying pan.

Отопление

Heating in American homes is usually arranged completely differently from what we are used to. There are often no pipes and batteries, but there are small holes in the ceiling, wall or floor, from which warm air periodically starts to blow, and it heats the apartment. Just a week after such heating, you begin to feel dry skin and nasal congestion (this is all dry air).

In our first rented apartment was a ceiling electric heating. Such options in the States are also quite popular. With the help of the regulator on the wall, you can increase or decrease the temperature in the apartment (and thereby increase or decrease the electricity bill). But also with ceiling heating, and with air, we lack the batteries we are used to. To dry wet, after a winter walk, children's mittens or boots, you need to go to the laundry and turn on the dryer.

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