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Culture shock

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Re: Culture shock

#151

Post by Aeolun »

makerofthings wrote: post #148

I have travelled a fair bit in the US. I don’t think anywhere in the US gives a realistic representation of the US. It’s all different, you need to visit a few different states and types of city and think about the whole. It’s Vegas and NYC and Portland and Salt Lake City and Austin and Mountain View and a whole bunch of other places mashed together. I don’t get this as much with other countries. If someone on here t…

I think bigness is everywhere though. At least I felt dwarved both in Vegas and Nashville, which are the only two places I have experience with so far.

Re: Culture shock

#152

Post by no1lives4ever »

fellellor wrote: post #70
ameen wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an Indian in the states - my observation was that obesity in the US seems like a class issue. Most well-off folks are fit and working out is woven into their lifestyles. Others can't as they're probably working 2-3 jobs to make ends meet.

Are there no wealthy people, over there, who just don’t want to work out?

Nothing like that. There are a large number of wealthy people in India who are into exercise and keeping fit. But there are also a a huge number who are overweight because they can afford to stuff themselves with a lot of food.

Poorer people in India end up getting more exercise and being either undernourished or eating just about enough calories to not get fat. As a general rule, poorer people will not be using cars or other forms of mechanised transport for shorter trips and will be more into manual work than the richer people. Also, the average poor person in India can not afford junk food or aereated sugary drinks.

Re: Culture shock

#153

Post by dafoex »

The bit about road names borrowing from other places is true in the UK, but it has a function: London Road will, eventually, lead to London, as will most any road with another city for it's name. I imagine this couldn't be possible in the states due to the absolute vastness of it all, so unless New York Street grows four extra lanes and magically becomes an interstate, it's surely just named in homage to New York.

Re: Culture shock

#154

Post by kylehotchkiss »

I (random non-Indian American) spent a little time in Pune and thought it was a really special spot - people were very well mannered (I’m used to the bigger cities), driving was more comfortable, weather was really mild, very green overall. And cars moved over for ambulances! That blew my mind (again, used to bigger cities where that doesn’t happen). I don’t know if I’m reading this the same was as residents but it seems like Mr. Poonawalla has contributed back to his city nicely.

Fun to see the perspective of Pune resident in USA.

Re: Culture shock

#155

Post by no1lives4ever »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #42
kodah wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Driving to the south and midwest, I mostly just saw immensely massive parking lots for Walmart, Dollar Generals, some liquor store, and other big box markets. If you're just driving through, as you stated, and never actually stopped or lived in any of these towns then I'm not surprised you have that impression. What OP was mentioning is this: > There’s no kiraana stores (i.e. small local stores) that sell grains an…

> What immediately came to my mind was feed stores mixed with a farmers market which there's an abundance of in rural areas. What. Where are you getting any of interpretation this from? The post mentions: > small local stores > that sell grains and rice and vegetables here > small stationery shops > or shops of any kind I can literally walk out my door and in 5 minutes have pictures of all of these on my street. http…

The kirana stores of India are essentially small grocery shops owned by a individual that sells a variety of grocery and daily use items. Mostly they are limited to dry and packaged items. Things like rice, lentils, breakfast cereals, chocolates, sauces, spices, pickles, jams, condiments, cheese, cooking oil, eggs, milk, packaged drinks and other such items. They will almost never sell things like coffee, tea or ready to eat food items unless they are pre-packaged. In most parts of India, the so called kirana stores will not sell vegetables, meat or fish, but they will very likely be stocking up on eggs. They are typically different shops from the kirana shops.

Re: Culture shock

#156

Post by teekert »

Very recognizable, but OP is talking about 1 specific state or 1 city even. When you start to travel you will be marveled much more!

I found the people to be very nice and helpful everywhere. The most obese people I saw were in Texas, with one woman in St. John's Lake I just couldn't keep my eyes off of, but people seemed to ignore it, almost surreal. Portions of food are always huge, here in the Netherlands I'll order a sandwich if I'm hungry, two if I'm really really hungry. In the US I often tried to eat the whole serving but it usualy left me feeling like I was about to explode. It takes some getting used to to decide to stop eating something when you are used to eating everything. The nice thing is, it's highly acceptable to take food home. When I just arrived I felt like everything, all the food, all the beverages were sweeter, but you get used to that quickly. As for the friendlyness to pedestrians, that is also a local things, I have had some very weird experiences walking around Galveston Tx. people think you are a criminal for walking. I was even shouted at for walking into a drive-in Wendy's, but the restaurant itself was closed! So it seems like you need a car for food at later hours. And yeah, things are big, and there are drive-through ATMs! And sometimes you can only get to the other side of a road with a car, so something can be like 100 meters away and you can't figure out how to get there. Oh and turn on the TV, I found like 3 out of 50 channels to have preachers saying things like "Yeah, I know you're poor but Jesus will reward you if you give money anyway" ...Now I really understand that song by Genesis.

But I really like going there, I never felt threatened (except when walking into the Wendy's drive in), people didn't try to screw me over (try taking a cab as a tourist in a big city in Asia) and they know what service is (arguably because tipping is expected, which also takes getting used as is being presented prices without taxes, why?!).

Re: Culture shock

#157

Post by no1lives4ever »

kodah wrote: post #51
NikolaeVarius wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What immediately came to my mind was feed stores mixed with a farmers market which there's an abundance of in rural areas. What. Where are you getting any of interpretation this from? The post mentions: > small local stores > that sell grains and rice and vegetables here > small stationery shops > or shops of any kind I can literally walk out my door and in 5 minutes have pictures of all of these on my street. http…

A stationary store sounds like a mom and pop store. Yes, a kiraana from what I read sounds like a neighborhood grocer but pictures also show them looking a lot more like farmers markets. Feed stores can be like that, but it probably depends on what the area offers.

Stationery store as mentioned by the op here is a shop that sells stationery items. Things like books, pencils, pens, crayons, printer paper, etc. These are typically stores that will not sell you food items. Kirana stores are mostly those that primarily sell food items.

Re: Culture shock

#158

Post by no1lives4ever »

nomad225 wrote: post #134
kodah wrote: post #4

> Sugar here is powdered, it doesn’t come in tiny cubes like I’m used to. It’s very easy to confuse salt and sugar (as I have done) because they look exactly the same. Made me snort. I grew up here and I've still mindlessly done this. > There’s no kiraana stores (i.e. small local stores) that sell grains and rice and vegetables here, it seems. (Or small stationery shops, or shops of any kind.) Almost all shopping has…

Also Indian here. If the OP is used to cubes of sugar, he’s probably quite wealthy in India. Indian middle class consumers usually use granulated sugar as the cubes are more expensive, and middle class Indian consumers are usually quite price sensitive.

I think what the OP was trying to refer to here is the granulated sugar that is more popular in India. Mostly the sugar has crystals that are .5-1mm thick while in the us it is closer to the consistency of powdered table salt.

Re: Culture shock

#159

Post by no1lives4ever »

LegitShady wrote: post #62
the_af wrote: post #44

Is the car respecting pedestrians a thing everywhere in the US, or just where this person has been? My very limited experience in the US (NYC, San Diego and Miami) has been hit or miss regarding traffic, and I wouldn't trust drivers to stop. I know the story in some European cities is different. I was impressed in London, and a Belgian friend of mine often crossed the streets of Brussels without stopping to look at t…

The traffic thing is night and day different from india. Go look up youtube videos of crazy india car traffic. It seems like nobody follows any rules of traffic there - if there's room to fit their car they just go. The rudest american driver is friendly and accommodating by comparison.

And yet there are a shit ton of unwritten rules that help us indians navigate our crazy traffic with very few accidents ;-)

Re: Culture shock

#160

Post by stillblue »

screye wrote: post #102

> police lights are bright Completely agree. U.S. police lights are actively disorienting. loud sirens and the lights make me feel a high degree of anxiety each time I see/hear them. > Most cars will immediately stop if they see you’re about to cross the street. It takes some getting used to at first. Pedestrians are given first priority, a concept alien in India. Disagree. Indian cities are a lot more pedestrian fri…

> Disagree. Indian cities are a lot more pedestrian friendly. Parts of US Northeast are the exception, not the norm. In India, you just kinda walk and the trafffic stops/ manouvers around you.

I've lived almost all my life in India, several towns and cities at that and there is not a single place that is pedestrian friendly. I think you're mistaking walking into traffic and causing a mini panic for the oncoming vehicles vs actual pedestrian friendly roads.

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