American Ways

This is not the first time I am coming to US and I thought I knew a lot about the American ways, having spend hours watching the American shows and movies. Hell, I know how Americans talk, how they behave, their eating habits and I have American friends! But surprise, surprise! It seems there were many funny and weird things that I had either forgotten from my last trip (after all, it was 12 years ago) or didn’t notice. So here goes the list of funny and weird things that only Americans do:

• They talk a lot! Coming from me, this is really something. I love to talk to people, and Americans can talk to anyone about anything 🙂 Within 5 minutes of the remark ‘wow, it is so cold’, you can know the entire story of their lives. Blessing for a writer like me, if only I could write down all of the plots I keep hearing every day!
• They are loud! I am just about half way there too. I too speak clearly and loudly, but not in private conversations. So whatever part of the story you could not gather while talking to an American friend, you can hear in their telephonic conversations or a friendly chit-chat with another stranger. I have heard about medical issues, boyfriend trouble, dogs, dirty jokes…everything, just by being there! Funnily enough, when a doctor is telling you your diagnosis, then it is preferred to have privacy ;-P Although I must point out, they are still so polite even at the top of their voices.

• The have huge food portions! Seriously, what’s with the portion size. When I go out with my Indian friends, it’s becomes so tough to choose between ordering for everyone and wasting food and ordering only one dish and being labeled ‘miserly Indians’ ;-P Thank God though that in this country, you can carry the leftover stuff home without being seen as cheap.
• They drink flavored water! Really, this one’s the hardest to get adjusted to. I like my water taste just like water, I don’t want grape-flavored, berry-flavored, lime-flavored, any-flavored water…give me just plain water. I won’t mind sparkling water once in a while, but my thirst quenches with only flavorless, plain old water.
• They put cheese in every thing! I was never a cheese fan (though I used to love cheesecake), but it seems like if I stay in US for a long time, I will literally start hating cheese. There is cheese everywhere…omelette, potatoes, soups (broccoli with cheddar…gimme a break!!!)
• They love sugar! We Indians have desert on special occasions, well, most of the times. Though I am a person who likes sweets, but since coming to US, I have hardly thought about desert. One doesn’t really need it here, every single meal has something sweet…especially the breakfast in my hotel has either sugary food or potato or carbs! How is a vegetarian supposed to have a hearty meal?
• Their metric system. This one makes me feel stupid sometimes. Whenever someone says it’s only so many miles, I start converting it to km in my head. And, I don’t know if I will ever get used to of the degree Fahrenheit though…it’s not even a simple conversion! Funny thing though a friend didn’t feel cold in Chicago ’cause he thought it was 18 degree Celsius when it was actually -7 degrees 🙂 As soon as I burst his bubble, the weather became suddenly chilly for him!

Despite and for all the above, I love US! It is a wonderful country with very nice, chatty and friendly people. Someone at the front desk of the hotel told me she was sad that I would be leaving in a few days and it was a pleasure to have me 🙂 Yes, Americans love to talk, but that’s really a very good thing 😉