Facts About The United States | American Surprises Every Foreigners

Facts About The United States | American Surprises Every Foreigners

What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America | Well, I know there are many answers here, and I couldn't read them all, so I would probably be repeating some points. 



I will mention that I am from India and that I am writing from an Indian point of view, and what I found unusual based on the notions that I had built after watching both Hollywood and television series.

GPS unit: I knew people who went to the office every day since the last 5 years and could not know how to do it without a GPS. It was incredible! I made some friends there and they were so impressed that I was able to return home without the help of a GPS.

Cashless society: coming from India, where we only need cash because the cards are not accepted in most places, I was very surprised by the cashless system in the United States. 

All places accept credit cards. Even at a small picnic I went to, which had an entrance fee, had some kind of mobile application and a connected device to accept credit cards. It was incredible.

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Obsession with tanning: I'm adding this late, as I had previously forgotten. In India, we have an obsession with "clear skin." Skin lightening, skin whitening, anti-tanning ... etc. In the United States, it was the opposition. 

Each block has a tanning salon and pharmacies have tanning creams and sprays instead of the anti tanners available here. 



I thought I was pretty screwed up that in every part of the world, the cosmetic industry makes a way to make money with people's insecurity.

EMI for everything: it's like the people who live there with EMI. Cars, phones, everything. And even the lower middle class can afford these things. It's like everyone has an iPhone. 

Which also reminds me of the extremely bad coverage provided by AT&T. I am used to better coverage in India. I almost forgot! The worst part was being accused of entering. Calls and messages! It is like a nightmare for the Indians.



Baby safety seats, strollers: the extremely confusing rules and regulations prevailing in the United States were already too much, but the emphasis on the seats and strollers was something new.

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 I don't think there is a car seat in India. And parents take their children mostly, most people can't afford the strollers here. In addition, the cost of child care in the US UU. It is surprising because of these things that keep adding.

Tipping: enough has been said about this, but I also hated it, so I'll include it. Especially for services such as a haircut. So I pay you for cutting my hair ... and then I tip you because you were kind enough to cut my hair?

Public toilets: Indian public toilets are generally in unmentionable conditions, and this was a refreshing change. Especially because half of the material was automated. I remember thinking at the beginning, that Americans are so lazy that they don't want to pull the chain: D



Cashiers talking to you: each cashier will greet you with "How are you today? Do you think it's okay?" with a smile, and you are surprised the first few times.

 Also, I had a great cashier at Harris Teeter who gave me discounts because he always came out at his desk :) Really nice people! In general too, people were extremely polite, and many also congratulated you!

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The previous point reminds me that Americans find it very strange if people use words other than them, such as British English, for example. 

people looked at me weird when I asked where the "chemist" (pharmacy) was. Biscuit (Cookie), Billing Accountant (Cashier), Cilantro (Cilantro), Gasoline (Gas) are others.

Impressive traffic: Coming from India, I found it surprising how traffic behaved without any intervention by traffic policemen. Only all following the rules. 

It was a bit bad in New York, but not even comparable to where I live now (Kanpur, India). People don't try to cut you. People let pedestrians cross. In addition, parallel parking is really efficient. The roads are very well maintained and the landscape is always beautiful.



Speed ​​Limits: US UU. It has really high speed limits for people who follow the metric system. The highest speed limits are around 75 mph or 121 kmph, which I thought was excessive speed. But it contributed to large units!

General safety: I was traveling in Manhattan, late at night, on the subway, when a group of loud and drunk people came in, and we were a little scared. 

Immediately at the next stop, two New York police officers entered and stood at the doors until they were in the car. It was incredible! I felt quite safe in general, I didn't even expect.

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Chocolate quality: it's just not that good. Sorry folks, but a Hershey bar is the most overrated I've tried. And Kit Kat was horrible. The chocolate was oily. 

Yes, oily. I have no idea why. (This reminds me of my trip to Walmart. I knew it was great. I just didn't imagine it would be that big! The amazing variety of almost everything is overwhelming)

Incredible waste: I was horrified by the amount of things that people waste every day. Food, electricity, water, paper ... in India, we reuse things until they can only be thrown away. But on the positive side, recycling is great there, so I guess it is partially mitigated.



Obsession with fitness: I saw many people running / jogging on the sidewalks. Many people I knew pedaled or ran marathons for more than 50 miles. However, this was a stark contrast to the average person I saw who was generally overweight.

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 (I attributed it to crazy portions, as mentioned in an answer. I always ate the same sandwich for lunch and dinner)


McDonald's is not up to par. This was a surprise to me. McDonald's is like one of the best-known brands in the United States, and the quality is possibly worse than what I get here. 

And I am not vegetarian. The hamburger is nothing like your photos. A (very bad) option for vegetarians, and that was it. I went there once and didn't want to go again. 

On the other hand, Starbucks seemed totally valuable to me. They have good coffee.



Patriotism: the flag was everywhere. Literally. I came to know that students are supposed to swear allegiance to their flag from kindergarten. (I can't understand how to pronounce loyalty). 

On the other hand, they are happily unaware of the rest of the world (a high school boy thought Taj Mahal is in Washington DC). But I loved how all the students participated in some kind of extracurricular or other activities.

The uncomfortable experience of public transport: it's so bad that I can't even say anything. (Not the big cities) My exits were severely interrupted due to this. Taxis were incredibly expensive. And it could kill the taxi drivers who asked for advice on top of that.

Monotonous cities, cookie cutter homes: this is my personal opinion, but the downtown areas of almost every city looked similar. Give or take some things. 



All suburbs looked the same. The Cookie Cutter Houses missed me so much, and everything looked like the same person had built it. In addition, it was fun to know that the entire construction was made of wood. The sound traveled too much. 

And I hated the strange landscape. It seemed that the whole country is inclined. Even the apartments were built on slopes. I found it very funny. In India, each city looks different. Very different!

Street artists: Street artists from Union Square and Times Square were really entertaining. And I was surprised how much money they raised. I saw people give 20 years. I doubt that Indian street artists will ever see that kind of money.

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Religion: I always thought that the United States should be very relaxed about religion, like Europe, but that was not true. And one of the weirdest things I found was a Jewish person (in the black suit) who preached us in the subway to believe in God, and Revelation or something, and gave us "billions of dollars" notes with these written things at.



I think I've written too many points. All points are based on my experience and perception. If you disagree with anything, do not hesitate to tell me about it in the comments. :)

P.S. I was very excited to know that almost everyone I met knew the IIT. "It's like the best school in India, right? I saw a documentary!", And I said "Oh, yes!" :P

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