Things in the US that are "different"

Haha, you didn't think I would post an update so soon, did you? Psych! No seriously, this is not like my normal updates, but after five (!) weeks here, it is now time for the differences between Europe (or more specifically Holland) and America. So here's a list of things that are "different" (because that's the political correct term).

1. Taxes

Freaking taxes, man. I think I should start off by saying that the taxes here are a lot lower than in Holland. It doesn't matter what you buy the taxes are always 7,89% and that is pretty cheap. One thing that our American friends don't understand, though, is that if you sell something you should show the price WITH taxes. Because right now all the prices (on menus, in the supermarket, etc.) are shown without the taxes, so when you go to the check-out counter you have to pay more than the price-tag said. For example: the first week I wanted to buy some water and the price-tag said two bottles for two dollars, when I wanted to pay, however, I had to pay more. It's the same in restaurants and that can get pretty annoying when you're with a group and you have to split the bill. You have to take the price of your food and add not only the taxes but also the tip. This has led to quite some discussions, because some people have completely forgotten how to do math since they finished high-school. (Not me, though. Because like some f-ing crazy person, I calculate exactly how much money I can spend each week). So yeah, that's different.

2. "Hi, how are you?"

At first this really bothered me. It's not that it annoys me that someone asks me how I am, but it bothered me that you have to reply with a really long line yourself. Most times you're walking and then it can be really awkward, because you either have to stop to reply (that's just weird) or you don't reply with all the lines and you risk coming across as rude. Let me explain this, this is how it's supposed to go:

A: Hi, how are you?

B: I'm fine, thank you. How are you?

A: I'm good. Thanks.

As you can see, that is a relatively long exchange and as I said it leads to pretty awkward situations. This especially happened to me a lot the first week or two, because it took some time getting accustomed to. Now it just comes naturally, but when you constantly have to remember what you are supposed to say, it can be very exhausting.

3. Food sizes

I recently saw a photo online of a pizza menu in Germany, the sizes where: small, medium, large, extra large, American. This might sound like an exaggeration, but it is not. You can order an appetizer and use it as your main course and with your main course you could feed a family of four. Seriously, I've eaten in a restaurant a couple of times and I managed to finish my meal only once. The sizes are ridiculous and I honestly don't know how people can finish their food. I can easily see why obesity is such a big problem here.

4. Cheap fast-food

Another factor contributing to the obesity is the fact that fast-food is a lot cheaper than healthy food. E.g: a bottle of water is around a dollar, a dollar fifty. A can of coke, however costs about half a dollar. And this is not the only example a salad in a restaurant is almost twice as expensive as a burger. I found the most extreme case here at the organic foods store. The chocolate coated cranberries cost two dollars. The cranberries without chocolate, however, were six dollars! I don't know what's wrong here, but that just seems stupid. The organic food here is cheaper than the organic food in Holland though, so that's a plus.

5. People are generally nice

This actually came as quite a shock. Not that I expected Americans to be complete bitches, but people here are a lot friendlier than I'm used to. In Holland it's a surprise when a cashier is really nice to you (not just the mandatory niceness, because you're a costumer), here it's the standard. People are warm and welcoming. I've got to say that I have yet to meet an unfriendly American. I don't know, maybe it's because of the "hello, how are you"s or the fact that they use a lot of big words (amazing, awesome, lovely, fantastic, etc.), but the people here just seem so full of life and it is really enjoyable.

6. The fear of Communism

We discussed this during class today and my teacher almost had a heart attack when I told her that we actually have socialistic political parties in the Netherlands. Apparently Socialism equals Communism here and Communism is the big evil. Our (SPIN)teacher grew up in Texas so she was thought to be a republican (conservative, about capitalism, etc.). When she was little she had nightmares about the Communists. She would dream that the Communists came to take her brother and sister and we were all so confused. People here view Socialism as bad and social security is for losers. Health insurance is for suckers and if you're poor, it's probably because God hates you. They think that if you give people social security, they'll get lazy. If you want to be rich, you've got to work for it. That is the main reason why the gap between the rich and poor people here is so big. People here only get one week of paid leave and most of the times they don't even take it, because they're afraid that they''ll be fired. You can just be fired if you're not part of an union, your employer doesn't even need a valid reason. So living here is great, if you're either rich or famous, or both.

7. A screwed up educational system

Now, this is a big issue here. Education has become a luxury for the rich only. A high-school degree equals a MBO degree. If you want to be a teacher or journalist, you have get a better degree, so you go to college. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you have to go to college and after that you have to go to University. So when you're finally finished you're about 26/27. That might sound O.K, but only then you can start repaying your debts. Those debts have gotten up to about half a million dollars. HALF A MILLION! You don't even have work, hell, you're barely out of your diapers and you have a debt of half a million dollars. How are you supposed to pay that back? Even if you only go to college you end up with a lot of debt and that's just ridiculous, because most of the time a college degree doesn't guarantee a job. Why? Because most entry-level working positions require two years of experience. Experience that you don't have after finishing college. So a lot of people with a college degree end up waiting tables or selling hamburgers, which is really sad. The meanest thing, though, is the fact that foreigners get payed to go to college or uni here. (Especially if you're from a county that's a part of the EU). I don't know America, but I think it's pretty hypocrite to try and kick all your immigrants out, while trying to coax other foreigners from Europe to come study here. Besides, it seems to me that your own students need the money more than we do. 

8. Diversity

On a brighter note, the US truly is a melting-pot and especially NYC. I've seen, Indian people, Muslims, Black people, Asians, Simpsons, painters, poets, business men and women, drag queens, gangsters, hippies, etc. You name it and it's there. I love the diversity and it makes me feel like I'm actually seeing the world. Of course, being a student of an international language school I see different people every day. During dinner I hear seven languages at the same time and surprisingly enough I can understand at least four of them!

So that's about it, if I think of some other points, I'll post them in my next update. Hope you liked it!

Yours truly,