The USA is a very diverse country. This means that you may experience a mixtures of cultures, foods and opinions. Whether you want to live in the USA, visit or just simply know more about the culture, here are some aspects of the country you may experience while visiting.
Addressing people: .
The USA is in a new wave of social justice. It’s important to keep in mind what phrases or terms may be offensive. Terms like “midget” are usually only used offensively, or will make you sound ignorant. “Dwarfism” or “dwarf” would be a better way to describe these people.
Calling someone fat or chubby might be normal in many cultures, but avoid it when talking to Americans. Sure, there are many different cultures within the US and some may normalize blunt statements about someone’s weight, but it is best to avoid it in order to make sure you are not offending anyone. Weight can be a sensitive topic for many people, so keep that in mind!
“Hobo” is a word used to describe a homeless person. You may have never heard it before, but in case you hear someone use it, don’t assume it’s ok to use it too. Homelessness is a crisis in the US right now. There’s an estimated 500,000 people dealing with homelessness currently.
Lifestyle:
Most Americans have fallen under Apple's spell and have purchased an IPhone. This phone company is incredibly popular. Of course it’s not necessary to own an iPhone but some people may be shocked at just how many Americans own one.
US citizens call air time “purchasing minutes.” This is pretty uncommon these days in the states anyways, because people are usually on a phone plan that allows unlimited calling. It’s quite an essential for phone companies to offer this now.
Daylight savings! It’s not a huge life adjustment or anything exciting. The clocks simply change twice a year to adjust the clock to follow nightfall in order to gain as much daylight as possible. The only adjustment is if you lose sleep for a day or gain sleep. There is one 23 hour period in late winter and one 25 hour day in autumn. The dates of daylight savings fluctuate each year.
Traveling by car is much quicker in the USA. Roads are more maintained and often more direct. What could take 12 hours in Guatemala may take 6 in the USA, but it’s not as much of an adventure!
Family:
The social normalities in the USA entail that young people should normally move out of their parents home from the age of 18-23 years old. There are many factors that affect the age that people move out of the house, like going to college or not going to college, hourly wage and career choices. However the USA is very expensive today, so more and more young people are struggling to move out of their families homes and be independent, pushing these average ages back.
Lots of families grow up split in two because of divorce. In the USA more than 50% of marriages end in divorce, meaning many peoples parents will be split by the time they are a teenager or even remarried.
Food:
The south is where most of the USA’s traditional plates are from. A typical southern dish May have fried chicken, collard greens and some form of potatoes (often mashed potatoes).
The hamburger is often said to be from the USA, but turns out it’s actually from Hamburg Germany. The USA definitely adopted this meal though, along with pizza and basically anything else fried and greasy. The USA is full of diversity and you can see this in the endless postivb
Holidays:
Thanksgiving is a National holiday in the USA celebrated every fourth Thursday of November. It originated when the pilgrims celebrated the first harvest once they had settled in the Americas. Today, thanksgiving is celebrated with autumn colors of red, yellow and green and with traditional foods like Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries, greens, pumpkin pie and many other amazing dished that families gather together to enjoy and give thanks for their blessing in life.
The 4th of July is the USA’s day of independence. On this day in 1776, The USA was declared independent from the monarch of Britain. Friends and families every year and have celebrate together by hosting barbecues in their backyard making hamburgers and various different types of meat, corn, potatoes and often serving fresh fruit that is available during summer. The Fourth of July and New Year’s Day are the only two days that permit the public to set off fireworks as a symbol of the battle to freedom.
Sports
The USA loves football. The NFL is the national football league that consists of 32 different famous teams throughout the USA. In 2018 there was an estimated 14.2 billion dollars made within the NFL. There is lots excitement around the Super Bowl, a anual game every year between the top two teams. Not only are fans excited about the game, but also for the advertisements on Television. Friends and family gather for “Super Bowl parties and half of the fun is enjoying all the humorous advertisements that large companies pay millions of dollars to display during the Super Bowl. According to Sports Illustrated, the average price for a 30 second super bowl commercials 2020 was $5,600,000 US dollars.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/.amp/nfl/2020/02/02/how-much-does-super-bowl-commercial-cost-history-2020
The USA is a young country, and a country of immigrants. People from all over the world have come to the USA to start lives and build families. The country’s politics are viewed worldwide and discussed around the world due to the USA having the largest economy in the world. It’s a country unlike any other with its 50 different states making each part of the country unique. There is much to read about the USA, and hear about from Americans themselves, but the only true way to understand the USA is to experience it yourself.
Citations
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2021, July 4). United States. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States.
Página de inicio de VisitTheUSA.com. Visit The USA. (n.d.). https://www.visittheusa.mx/.