Exploring North America

Since American Culture is a big part of my English course at university, I was encouraged to look for “facts about America that foreigners find hard to believe” on this website: 

How Americans Are Different

I have been to America in summer 2012 (I visited distant relatives in Michigan, Chicago (IL), Las Vegas (NV) and Toronto and travelled along the West Coast). As a result, I decided to pick five points that were mentioned a lot on this website and that I personally can relate to and summarize them for you.

1.       CARS (nobody walks)

People go everywhere by car. This claim was made by many people who commented on the website I mentioned before. Personally, I noticed too that many people use their cars for long as well as really short distances and even to get to a nearby gym (kind of ironic, don’t you think?).

However, what amazed me even more, were drive-thru pharmacies and banks. Concerning drive-thru banks, for example, I could not believe that people actually drive to a pillar (often they cannot even see the teller but can be watched by him through a camera), have their deposit slips or cheques sucked up through a tube and get their money or receipt a few seconds later through the same tube!

In this funny videoclip Nancy shows you how it's done: 

2.       INTEREST IN GUNS AND MILITARY

People in the US can buy guns without much of a background check. Many American citizens are kind of obsessed with their guns and carry them around, because it makes them feel safe. However, some people also don’t hesitate to use them and I think this is where the big problem lies. Every now and then we hear stories about shootings on the news. Recently, such events triggered some serious discussions concerning the NRA (National Rifle Association), a nonprofit organization that is based on the idea that firearm ownership is a civil right and concerning owning firearms in general.

Also, what surprised me when I visited the US was the public interest in military. In Austria, military personnel are not treated differently than anybody else, but in the US they are. When I went to a baseball game, after playing the national anthem all veterans and people who currently serve at the army were asked to stand up and were given a flag as a sign of respect. Furthermore, I once watched a TV show called “Stars Earn Stripes”, in which celebrities accompanied real soldiers on a simulated fight, in order to show how dangerous and exhausting the job as a soldier really is.

       3.       HUGE AMOUNTS OF EVERYTHING

Everything is just bigger than in Austria – the stores (e.g. Walmart), the sizes of products sold there (even the cereal packages ;) ), the cars, the food portions served in restaurants,…

However, this is somehow understandable, since the US is much bigger than Austria. AND I have to admit that usually there are smaller sizes and amounts of things available as well, you just need to know where to find them.

4.       FRIENDLINESS

People are super friendly. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you can be pretty sure you will interact with at least one nice person a day (at least that was my impression). Americans like to make small talk and usually their first question is “How are you?”, followed by a welcoming smile. If, for example, you are wandering through a city, having a lost expression on your face, there will almost certainly be somebody who approaches you and offers to help you. Let’s face it – how often does this happen in Austria?

5.       DIVERSITY

One of the things that fascinate me the most about the US (and Canada for that matter) is the diversity of cultures, climate, landscape, people, beliefs, … basically everything.
I met a 70-year old man who loves to travel but has never been outside the US, because he thinks that there is enough to see and experience in all the different parts of the US. Even though I think every part of the world is worth visiting, I am sure he will never get bored.