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16 People On Things They Couldn’t Believe About America Until They Moved Here
Thought Catalog ^ | 11/13/2013 | Michael Koh

Posted on 11/13/2013 9:34:38 AM PST by Responsibility2nd

A lot of people around the world have ideas of what America is like, possibly thanks to Hollywood, or their local news channels, and maybe from what they’ve heard from families and friends. But then, they came here, to the grand old United States and their minds exploded. Taken from Quora.

 

1. Rakib Islam

I am originally from Bangladesh and here are a few things that I find hard to explain to peeps back home.



TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Travel
KEYWORDS: america
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2. Triya Bhattacharya

Okay, so I know that there’s loads of answers here, and I couldn’t read all of them, so I’d probably be repeating some points. I’ll mention that I’m from India and that I’m writing from an Indian point of view, and what struck me as unusual based on what notions I’d built up after watching so much Hollywood and TV series.


1 posted on 11/13/2013 9:34:38 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
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To: Responsibility2nd

14 other takes at the link. Things we take for granted freak out those who come here.


2 posted on 11/13/2013 9:35:27 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd
America is literally HUGE. My home country is roughly the size of Florida, one of the fifty states.

Each one of those states has its own constitution, legal standards, and tax policies.

3 posted on 11/13/2013 9:39:59 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Responsibility2nd
That you cannot purchase alcohol unless you are 21 but can purchase a gun if you are 18.

I knew it. There HAD to be complaining about guuuuuuuuuns!

And in my opinion, the idiot MADD 21-year-old law is nonsense.

4 posted on 11/13/2013 9:40:04 AM PST by backwoods-engineer (Blog: www.BackwoodsEngineer.com)
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To: Revolting cat!
People don’t really care about the FIFA World Cup even though USA qualifies.

Can you believe it???

5 posted on 11/13/2013 9:40:56 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Responsibility2nd

A common theme....

•Obesity and food portion – It is easy to find obese people in USA. Some people are so obese that they require a special electric scooter to carry them around. This sighting can be seen easily in Walmart where obese people use scooters to shop more … food.
•And yes, typical food portion in America is humongous. I can easily share one meal with another guy and do not feel hungry for hours to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

lolol. They find that amazing?


6 posted on 11/13/2013 9:41:49 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

The woman who mentioned cell phone coverage was right. After paying out the wazoo for the privilege of an iPhone on AT&T, In the UK I pay £30 a month for a Galaxy S3 with unlimited text and data and coverage in Western Europe is 100 time better than I ever had in the states

Here you don’t pay for incoming calls or texts, only the person making the call or text pays.


7 posted on 11/13/2013 9:43:37 AM PST by AnAmericanInEngland
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To: Slings and Arrows
Baby Car seats, Strollers – The extremely confusing rules and regulations that pervade America were already too much, but the emphasis on car seats and strollers was something new. I don’t think there’s any such thing as a car seat in India.


8 posted on 11/13/2013 9:44:27 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Bump


9 posted on 11/13/2013 9:45:50 AM PST by BunnySlippers (I LOVE BULL MARKETS . . .)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Taj Mahal is in Washington DC? Ridiculous, everyone knows Trumph built it in Atlantic City.
10 posted on 11/13/2013 9:45:51 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Responsibility2nd
"America is literally HUGE."

Had a friend from Israel over - he had visited most of Europe, but couldn't stop talking about how immense America is (flying coast-to-coast is not the same feeling you get when looking at a map).

11 posted on 11/13/2013 9:46:01 AM PST by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: Revolting cat!
Incredible wastefulness – I was aghast at the amount of stuff people wasted every single day. Food, electricity, water, paper…in India, we reuse stuff until it can only be thrown away. But on the positive side, recycling is big there, so I guess it is mitigated in part.

I hear that most people in America only use one side of a sheet of toilet paper. Maybe Sheryl Crow is right!

12 posted on 11/13/2013 9:47:52 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Irish friends wanted to come over and hang out with crazy American rednecks, tear through mud, swamps and woods in a humongous American SUV while drinking beer, and go to a steakhouse in a humongous American Cadillac. That they did, sent pictures to all their friends and relatives, and had a great time in a place they’d never really even heard of but loved enough to want to come back again. America is huge, they said it too, it just goes and goes.


13 posted on 11/13/2013 9:49:54 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Responsibility2nd
I especially liked this comment by the gal from India:

Really nice people! In general also, people were extremely polite, and many just complimented you too!

After living in Japan for 14 years before returning in 2002, I had exactly the opposite impression-- people were so rude!

14 posted on 11/13/2013 9:50:46 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: SoCal Pubbie
There are opulent taj mahals in most rat controlled cities. Here in Houston that was the name for the school administrators' building (which they eventually tore down to replace with another structure elsewhere in town).

The UN building in NYC might qualify and they want more land.

15 posted on 11/13/2013 9:54:23 AM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: a fool in paradise

That’s just what NYC needs, more third world miscreants with diplomatic immunity.


16 posted on 11/13/2013 9:56:19 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Responsibility2nd

The food portion comment is also a pet peeve of Mrs.JimSea. The lack of world knowledge is common to both USA and Thailand where geography was not taught when she was in school. The traffic is very orderly and polite here in comparison to Thailand or Southeast Asia in total. Most of the other observations are dead on.


17 posted on 11/13/2013 9:56:20 AM PST by JimSEA
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To: Responsibility2nd

This guy misses the irony in his points......

•Yes, you can buy guns without very much of a background check. When I was driving around yesterday I saw a guy walking out of a gun store with a bag, possibly enjoying his purchase of two new pistols. It was great!
•People really are afraid of socialism. This seems to be especially true the less they know about it, or believe it means turning their car in to the state. It also turns into fear of Obamacare being some sort of socialist plot, which is hilarious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He thinks owning guns is great - yet he thinks socialism is also great.

If he only knew Obama not only wants Socialism in our healthcare but he also wants Socialism to force us to turn in - not our cars - but our GUNS to the state.

And about that turning in our cars to the state. That is in fact the goal of Obama’s brand of socialism. It began with cash for clunkers and the bailout and takeover of GM. Add in the money they give you to buy a Volt and the Unions and the CAFE standards and a thousand other regulations and you end up with what? That’s right; Socialism in our auto industry.


18 posted on 11/13/2013 9:57:53 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: AnAmericanInEngland

Yeah, I’ve heard the US lags way behind Europe and Japan in cell phone technology.


19 posted on 11/13/2013 9:59:15 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: backwoods-engineer

I don’t know if that’s complaining about guns or the bizarre “phased adulthood” we practice in America. It is really goofy that we make drinking the “final stage” of being an adult and it’s so dramatically delayed from things like buying guns, serving in the military, entering contracts, getting married and driving.


20 posted on 11/13/2013 10:01:21 AM PST by discostu (This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.)
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