THINGS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU WHEN YOU VISIT THE US
Added on: 5th Feb 2016
AEROSOL CHEESE IN CAN
Also known as the spray cheese or easy cheese, the canned aerosol
cheese is something that many non-Americans consider pure
gastronomical insanity (all be it, a delicious one). Forget about asking
a Frenchman or a Dutchman what they think about this thing.
ANTIDEPRESSANT TV COMMERCIALS
Occasionally, a TV commercial advertising some common drugs
or medications appear in most countries, but antidepressants are
usually available on prescription only and seeing these drugs
advertised on TV may seem unusual to some people.
DRIVING EVERYWHERE
The U.S. is known for one the highest numbers of cars per capita
(4th highest in the world, to be precise) and Americans really like
to use their cars. Therefore, tourists from countries where public
transport is the most popular form of transit, can find driving
a few blocks to visit a friend a bit odd.
PERCEPTION OF DISTANCE
On the other hand, driving two hours for a lunch or five hours
to the beach, is something that people from small countries don’t
understand either. For a person from San Marino (a country that
can be literally walked across in about two hours), driving somewhere
more than 10 minutes seems a bit crazy.
FREE DRINK REFILLS
To many non-Americans, soda cups in fast food chains are weird
enough mainly due to their large size but once they find out the
cups come with unlimited refills (in most restaurants anyway)…well
this may prove a bit too much to handle.
SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT
This has been a point of contention for many people, and is a
question that may never find an absolute answer – why do
Americans insist on pounds, inches, miles, gallons and other
units while the rest of the world uses the metric system?
SWEET BREAD
Another food-related thing. While in most countries, bread – no
matter what ingredients it’s made from – usually tastes neutrally or
slightly salty, the American bread appears to be sweet, which is
very unusual to foreigners.
UNCAREFUL APPROACH TO CREDIT CARD SECURITY
In many countries, people guard their credit cards meticulously,
caring for their security as much as they can. However, in the US,
the signatures don’t matter and hardly anybody uses PIN.
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