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Culture shock

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Re: Culture shock

#171

Post by sweaty »

teekert wrote: post #156

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 ord…

Oh boy, I love taking my big ass F-150 Lariat down to the drive-through ATM, through a Starbucks to grab some coffee for the hour long trip just to get some lunch in Tacoma because my mother in law is driving down to Portland to visit her sister and she figured she'd make a stop there because I live close by, I might even pick up my meds at the pharmacy drive-through on the way back and while I'm there I might as well stroll into the Target right across the 2 mile long parking lot to grab some last minute groceries for dinner!

I did exactly this, as a Dutch person living in the US, not realising how ridiculous this is compared to my home country.

Re: Culture shock

#172

Post by ido »

ajuc wrote: post #137
birksherty wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not work out or time but diet that makes people obese. They probably eat fast food, sugary drinks, packaged food a lot everyday instead of unprocessed food like meat, veg, fruits, nuts. Edit: Poor people in India are thin and rich are fat, quite opposite, again due to diet. Indian poor can't afford fast food in chain restaurants daily, must cook which is cheaper.

Wealth is relative. Yes you can be so poor that you can't afford enough calories to become obese. It's rare in the developed world. But you can also be so poor that you can afford calories, alcohol and little more as an entertainment. It's easy to get obese then.

Keep in mind that unlike in Europe in the US processed food is often cheaper than fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. I always thought the US would be "cheap" in terms of consumer prices compared to western europe but it was significantly more expensive to buy fresh produce in US supermarkets than in Germany or Austria.

On the other hand stuff like coca cola is cheaper.

Re: Culture shock

#173

Post by codesections »

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…

> a Belgian friend of mine often crossed the streets of Brussels without stopping to look at the traffic, with blind faith they would just stop -- and they did.

In some cities/countries, there's also the fine art of looking without looking like you're looking — some drivers will yeild to you when you have the right of way and they aren't sure you've seen them, but will cut you off if they can tell that you know that they're there.

Re: Culture shock

#174

Post by codesections »

BugWatch wrote: post #69
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…

TMK, (fineable) jaywalking generally isn't a thing in Europe, only in USA (due to car manufacturing industry's meddling and lobbying, of course, making the cars first class citizens). One EU country's example: it's perfectly legal to cross any street/road if there is no marked pedestrian crossing within circa 50 meters, with usual common sense requirement of demonstrating one's intention of doing so to the oncoming t…

This varies tremendously by city/county within Europe. For example, there are some German cities where crossing a road anywhere other than at a marked crossing not only risks a fine but also will earn disapproving looks from other pedestrians (something I haven't encountered in the states, though I'm not ruling out the possibility that it could occur somewhere).

Re: Culture shock

#175

Post by rtuulik »

sweaty wrote: post #168

I've lived in the US for a while, this reads very nostalgic. But I never really had a sense of culture shock, I was going through the motions of course, adjusting and getting used to American culture, but the 'shock' was never really there while I was living there. The shock came after I moved back to The Netherlands and realised how strange the US was compared to it. Is delayed culture shock a thing?

I think "reverse culture shock" covers it somewhat.

Re: Culture shock

#176

Post by zdragnar »

ido wrote: post #167
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's a couple of things in there that are just correlated to the fact that the author is around young/wealthy people, like the low obesity rate, fancy cars, shirtless dudes, book-reading in public. I mean, he was on a university campus, so fit young people reading books isn't that much of a surprise. But I agree with you, US is a nation of extremes in some ways. There are places I've been in the US where quite l…

I remember visiting Atlanta for work for a couple weeks years ago (I'm not American). "Everyone" in midtown was fit. Cross the border to the adjacent neighborhood (don't recall the name but it's a lot more residential and just barely still accessible by foot from down/midtown due to how far away everything in Atlanta is) and more than half the people you see are obese. Oh and the homeless people are a lot less scary…

I cant speak to atlanta, but the police where I am (rural) and the beat cops (guys walking around) in bigger cities are generally friendly, especially if you are polite.

If the officer in a bigger area isn't a beat cop or stopping for a break, it isn't unreasonable that he was actually busy. Or, he was just a jerk and, like all humans, you'll find those in varying degrees anywhere you go.

Re: Culture shock

#177

Post by ido »

madmax108 wrote: post #138

"I don’t know how many people will agree, but striking up a conversation with an American stranger is much easier than it is with an Indian stranger." LOL, as an Indian, I relate to this so much. In India, if a stranger walks up to you, nearly 8/10 times it's either to ask you for money, directions, or to scam you. So naturally over time, you develop a thick skin to avoid strangers or keep interactions with strangers…

I wonder if it's because I was obviously foreign, but I spent 2 months in northern India in 2004 and my impression was that the average Indian on the street was very happy to talk to me?

The only bad experience I had was when I asked a lady passing by for some directions in Delhi and afterwards 3 young guys approached me and told me not to talk to "their" women (or something of that sort). I guess they assumed I was hitting on her but I really was just asking for directions!

Re: Culture shock

#178

Post by ido »

zdragnar wrote: post #176
ido wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember visiting Atlanta for work for a couple weeks years ago (I'm not American). "Everyone" in midtown was fit. Cross the border to the adjacent neighborhood (don't recall the name but it's a lot more residential and just barely still accessible by foot from down/midtown due to how far away everything in Atlanta is) and more than half the people you see are obese. Oh and the homeless people are a lot less scary…

I cant speak to atlanta, but the police where I am (rural) and the beat cops (guys walking around) in bigger cities are generally friendly, especially if you are polite. If the officer in a bigger area isn't a beat cop or stopping for a break, it isn't unreasonable that he was actually busy. Or, he was just a jerk and, like all humans, you'll find those in varying degrees anywhere you go.

Could very well be! I think it struck me as peculiar due to how friendly/helpful people there otherwise seemed to be.

Re: Culture shock

#179

Post by Fnoord »

ljiljana wrote: post #17

Great read, so many interesting and relatable points. Not all though (bathing from a bucket?), which makes it even more interesting because you get to learn about the culture of India as well!

Bathing from a bucket, I saw that in a movie about Germany (Hannah Arendt?). Apparently it got replaced by real showering after WWII, but if water is scarce, you'd still do it. And I bathe my children this way, cause its less scary for them.

Re: Culture shock

#180

Post by taurath »

ido wrote: post #172
ajuc wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth is relative. Yes you can be so poor that you can't afford enough calories to become obese. It's rare in the developed world. But you can also be so poor that you can afford calories, alcohol and little more as an entertainment. It's easy to get obese then.

Keep in mind that unlike in Europe in the US processed food is often cheaper than fresh vegetables, fruits and meats. I always thought the US would be "cheap" in terms of consumer prices compared to western europe but it was significantly more expensive to buy fresh produce in US supermarkets than in Germany or Austria. On the other hand stuff like coca cola is cheaper.

$1 “any size” soda at McDonald’s up to 40oz where I live, with free refills. Most everyone I know spent a good amount of their teen and early adulthoods surviving off of cheap food - fast food is incredibly convenient and as cheap as a healthy “struggle” meal of staples without a long time in a kitchen which you may not really have.
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