The first glance is always the most straightforward.
About ten years ago I flew to another continent for the first time, namely the USA. What surprised me about this country from the first days of my stay in it? Yes, sometimes it never ceases to amaze to this day. And we must pay tribute that in this country there are more positive emotions and facts to be surprised by than negative ones, but, in my opinion, the latter also exist.
My first flight to the USA was with a transfer in Atlanta. From the very first steps I was struck by the huge airport, from the runways of which numerous planes take off and land at minute intervals. In one of the airport halls we saw a large black piano. The keys pressed themselves, beautiful music sounded, and... without a pianist! I froze in surprise and for a long time could not take my eyes off such a piano.
Then I found out that in 2007 the airport named after. Hartsfield-Jackson became the busiest passenger airport in the world, with passenger traffic of 89.4 million passengers per year. For comparison, this figure for Domodedovo Airport (Moscow) is about 30 million people, and for George Bush Airport in Houston – 45 million people.
The airport grounds in Houston are always crowded with cars and buses, they come one after another, but to my surprise I am not suffocated by exhaust fumes or the smell of gasoline. Later I was convinced of this several more times. One day I was going to walk with my granddaughter in the yard of the house, but I heard a tractor working on a neighboring plot. A house was being built there and a tractor was leveling the site. Out of habit, I wanted to give up the walk, fearing gas pollution, but just in case I stuck my nose into the yard. No matter how much I sniffed, I did not smell any gases from the working tractor, and this again surprised me. Then I stopped being surprised, deciding for myself that this was probably because gasoline in the USA is different, of higher quality.
My next surprise was about gasoline prices, which directly depend on the price of oil. Oil prices are falling, and so are gasoline prices. In Russia, gasoline prices are always rising.
Another pleasant surprise was the multi-lane roads with numerous junctions with clear separation from oncoming traffic and underground traffic light regulators at intersections with secondary roads.
Houston was struck by the lack of people walking along the sidewalks. The streets are practically empty during the day and this was an unexpectedly new phenomenon for me. It turns out that Houston was originally designed to be a city for motorists, not pedestrians. And in this city, if the store you need is opposite, but on the other side of the highway, you will never get into it directly. There are areas where there are no sidewalks at all. But in all retail outlets, in museums, in cinemas and theaters, in institutions, there are ramps and elevators for people in wheelchairs.
In Russian stores, they usually ask at the checkout when handing out purchases: “Do you need the package?” and if the answer is positive, they charge a fee for it. A completely different approach in US stores. It would never even occur to anyone to ask such a stupid question; at the checkout, purchases are immediately placed in large branded bags without paying for them. I won’t say that this surprised me very much, I knew it from Europe, but still the difference in this regard from Russia caught my eye.
From the very first days in the United States, I was struck by the large number of toilets in public places, and free of charge. In Russia, toilets in large supermarkets are also free, but in parks, on the streets, on highways, as a rule, they are paid.
But the strongest impression on me was made by a fact that my Russian friends still don’t believe: the absence of dust in houses and apartments. I “fight dust” in Russia once a week: I wipe window sills, shelves, paintings, polished tables... Although you can do this every other day, since the dust comes from no one knows where. And if you shake the blanket against the background of a ray of sunlight, you will see many small dust particles. In the USA, shake or shake the blanket - you won’t see any dust in the sun’s rays. There is no dust and that's it. And dust cleaning can be done once a quarter, or even less often.
Another incident struck me. From the car we saw an art dealer right on the side of the road. One painting interested me, and we turned into a nearby gas station to approach an art dealer. We bargained, he dropped the price and... withdrew the required amount from our card and gave us a receipt on a special device. This is where I was completely amazed. Street vendor - and a check in hand, everything is as it should be!!!
Later I was amazed by the electronic ballot boxes on one university campus. Hidden sensors are installed in garbage containers that record the amount of garbage they contain. At the same time, the garbage is compacted to certain limits, and the signals are sent to a central base, where they are processed and it is determined where and when to send the garbage trucks.
In Russia, on the basis of the American corporation Cisco, a project of “smart” garbage containers was developed at Kazan University in 2014. If they are implemented, the city will be much cleaner.
As a doctor, I was surprised by the attitude of pediatricians towards babies. In the United States, it is not customary to monitor a newborn child at home, the so-called patronage. Parents place the baby in a special car seat and take him to the doctor, where while waiting for an appointment he comes into contact with other children, including sick ones.
In Russia, a doctor visits a child at home; moreover, it is believed that in a sitting position, such babies will develop spinal curvature at an early age, so they try not to sit children less than three months old. Patronage is provided free of charge at the address of actual residence, regardless of registration and availability of a medical insurance policy.
After discharge from the maternity hospital, information about the child is transferred to the children's clinic.
In the first ten days of the child’s life, the local pediatrician or visiting nurse should come daily. The next visits occur on the 14th and 21st days of the newborn’s life. On weekends and holidays, the doctor on duty at the children's clinic may come.
My everyday opinion is this: if in the USA medical care was accessible to all segments of society and free, and if doctors visited sick people at home in the first days of illness, and if there were no problems with insurance companies regarding payment for certain medical procedures, then the USA could be called one of the best countries in the world to live.
Irina Kinger,
This is the story of how a Russian woman, who had long left for the States, suddenly decided to return to her native Moscow. To Russia, one way. It turns out that you can experience culture shock from your homeland, especially if you haven’t been there for a long time. And become Russian again - “from scratch.” Diana Abroskina says:
It doesn't matter whether it's down the street or across the country, any move will always be hectic and exciting. For me, moving has always been a joyful event that opens up new opportunities and brings various changes into my life.
Getting used to your surroundings, exploring nearby supermarkets and cafes, meeting new people and feeling newfound freedom are experiences that are sure to enrich your world.
However, the most exciting changes happen when you leave your comfort zone and decide to travel around the world.
I spent most of my adult life in the United States. However, one summer day, I found myself at John F. Kennedy Airport with three huge suitcases and a one-way ticket to Moscow.
I have not been in Russia for so long that I have managed to completely absorb the American type of thinking and way of life. I flew to my homeland, feeling more like a foreigner than a citizen.
Becoming Russian again, starting practically from scratch, is an experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
During this adventure of returning to my homeland, I had to get rid of some American habits that were already imprinted on me on an unconscious level. With such habits that made up my daily life.
But mostly I had to change the way I perceived the world around me.
1. Drink unlimited amounts of good coffee
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a good coffee shop in Russia, even in Moscow. When I lived in New York and traveled to California and other states, I was used to the fact that there was a coffee shop on every corner, with all types of coffee from around the world.
In Russia it is difficult to find a coffee shop where you can spend an evening and drink good natural coffee. And the further you get from the western part of the country, the less the coffee tastes like coffee.
2. Yoga
Yoga is a relatively new activity in Russia. The types of yoga that I saw can be divided into 2 types. The first is the spiritual practice of Hindi yoga, where Kundalini yoga focuses on opening and cleansing the chakras.
The second type is yoga exercises; you can sign up for such classes at your local gym. Women who are obsessed with aerobics usually go there to lose weight. Vinyasa, Ashtanga and Bikram, so popular in the USA, practically do not exist in Russia.
Here people still prefer to work out in the gym rather than spend time on proper breathing and asanas.
Yoga practice in America includes a certain lifestyle, eating clean organic food, being peaceful and focused, wearing special Lululemon yoga clothes and drinking coconut water before practicing yoga.
I enjoyed this lifestyle and I really missed it in Russia.
3. Get together with friends often
If you are over 25 years old and still not married, you can forget about going out to the club with your friends. 90% of them are already married or in a serious relationship.
They won't go out with you on a Friday night or to Sunday brunch.
Family is the most important thing for a Russian man, which is not bad, but some Russian women literally have no time for their friends. On weekends they clean, cook and spend time with their children and husbands; girlfriends are in last place.
I moved to the USA right after university, and when I returned, all my friends from school and university had already gotten married and had children. Some even had two children, others managed to get divorced and get married again. I realized that I was very behind them in terms of family life.
4. Taxi
What's going on with taxis in Russia?! In New York, we have the privilege of taking a taxi anywhere we want, just by raising our hand, and it costs pennies.
But in Moscow, you need to call a taxi in advance (which means you should always have a charged phone with you), wait until it gets to you (if you don’t know or can’t explain, your problem) and then the taxi driver himself invents a price (this is a scam).
Taxis are very expensive, especially on Friday and Saturday, and most likely taxi drivers will try to scam you to take even more money from you.
5. Happy hours
When I asked my colleagues what good places to go to during happy hour here, they looked at me with expressions of complete bewilderment.
There is no concept of "happy hours" here. Russia has a completely different mentality. After work, people immediately rush home to cook dinner and spend time with their family; they can only afford to drink with colleagues at special events and corporate events. Boring!
6. Constantly seeing people of different nationalities
I'm a super social person and have tons of good friends from all over the globe. I'm proud of it.
In the USA, I am used to seeing people of different nationalities every day. I enjoy watching mixed (interracial) couples, with mixed children, immigrants talk about their journey to the American dream. Russia, however, is not so colorful.
Russians are a white people. Although, now, more and more often, you can meet immigrants from the former Soviet republics coming to Russia to fulfill their dreams, which are similar to “American” ones.
However, I would like to meet more people of different nationalities to liven things up and broaden my perspective.
7. Smile
A smile is a necessary attribute for Americans. They try to smile all the time, even if they are sad. I don't see anything wrong with constantly seeing smiles around you. It’s great to be friendly and polite to the people around you, but not in Russia.
Estonian about Russia: We produce bunkers to escape from Russian aggression
Maybe because of the climate, maybe because of the quality of life, Russians tend to hide their emotions under stern facial expressions, and smile quite rarely.
When I arrived in Moscow, I automatically continued to smile left and right for the first weeks, until I began to notice misunderstandings and sidelong glances in my direction.
People don't understand why you smile and think there's something wrong with you. If you don’t want to seem crazy, then it’s better not to bare your teeth in all directions if you’re going to Russia.
8. Go to restaurants
In Russia, eating out is a big problem. I had a really hard time finding a good restaurant there.
Of course, there are branches of world-famous fast foods here, such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFS, etc., but if you want to taste real Indian Cuban or Chinese cuisine, you have to be content with a parody, and even with inflated prices.
In Russia, I developed the habit of cooking at home. At least I know what products I need and whether they are expired.
9. Speak loudly
Americans love to talk loudly. I attribute this habit to a sense of freedom and comfort in my own country and a lack of desire to pay attention to what people around me think. In Russia, speaking loudly is a sign of pompousness and sounds like “showing off,” especially if practiced in public places.
Here people don't like extra ears, as if someone is spying on them. Who knows? However, watch your language.
10. Affordable regular shopping
If you are a shopaholic and a lover of branded clothing, Russia is not the best place for you. Clothes, shoes and accessories here are two, if not three times more expensive than in Europe (not to mention the USA).
Be prepared to forgo the occasional shopping trip at the mall after work to treat yourself to a new pair of jeans. Russians go shopping rarely (of course, depending on their financial situation) and on a practical basis.
My advice is to bring as many clothes as you can. Shopping here is expensive.
When international students come to study in the United States, they often experience various types of emotional and physical turmoil in the first months of their stay in a new country. This feeling of being unwanted and unhelpful, better known as culture shock, tends to fade after a while, although some students suffer longer than others.
Research shows that this “migrant disorder” will be more easily tolerated by those students who clearly follow the intended goal, are psychologically mature individuals, have experience living in other countries and have a good level of language proficiency. Of course, if students do not speak English well, the language barrier will be an obstacle for them to acquire the communication skills that are so necessary in their new environment.
First of all, while trying to adapt to the customs and traditions of the country, students may find that their usual pace of life has now become a problem for them. This is especially true for students attending classes in big city schools, because life in big cities in the United States moves at a breakneck pace. People try to be on time everywhere, and it seems that they do not need time to rest at all, with the exception of weekends. Family members rarely have dinner together, and some don't have dinner at all, being too busy and trying to do everything at once.
Another problem is the fact that most students lack the same social support that they had in their home countries. Friends can help an international student overcome many difficulties, and it is especially important to find friends among native English speakers. However, although North American students seem very friendly, it is all rather fake and insincere. “Let’s meet sometime,” they say, without giving an exact date. "Hi, how are you?" - they ask without waiting for an answer. Americans seem to be too self-centered towards foreign students and are not interested in making new friends.
Also, each culture has its own national beliefs and value systems, so many students begin to feel awkward and uncomfortable living in a society whose values are alien to them. Some students may consider American relationships too loose in terms of moral principles if, for example, a guy and a girl have a close relationship and live together before marriage. Although, according to statistics, a very large number of emigrants manage to find their soulmate during their studies. Due to the fact that in America the organization of wedding celebrations is not expensive for visitors, this is an additional impetus for the wedding.
And finally, the light food of North Americans is popular with students, whose national cuisine is characterized by an abundance of spices, healthy products and a variety of dishes. Eating hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, and French fries every day can quickly become boring, and these foods are not as healthy as fresh fruits and vegetables or rice and peas. Many students do not eat during the first months of their stay in the USA because they do not like the food. Therefore, quite often they lose a lot of weight during the adaptation period.
Despite various challenges, most international students adapt to their new surroundings quite easily, adopting their skills and learning more about their values and customs. Gradually they get used to the lifestyle in the USA, make new friends, and learn to enjoy life abroad. In fact, culture shock can be a great life experience, helping to change a person. By the way, students who have adjusted to North American culture may experience culture shock again when returning to their home country.
Almost 10 years ago, after working for five years in one of the largest foreign oil and gas companies, and spending an indecent amount of time traveling and in places that normal people do not want to be (at least for any long period of time), I was so tired of everything that I came to my boss, an Albanian, to resign. I remember how he shook his head knowingly all the time that I expressed to him about the difficult conditions of my working life. And after listening to me, he only told me these 5 words: “Do you want to work abroad?”
Well, of course, I wanted to work abroad - after all, why did I study English for half my life? The thirst for knowledge has always drawn me to places where I have not been before. And I agreed. Of course, I tore up my resignation letter. And after just a week I received an assignment to work in a tropical paradise... in Nigeria. Then I thought: “of course, not the most ideal place to work, but everything is better than Siberia” (my former location).
As a result, due to the worsening security situation in Nigeria, I never got there - the taking of foreign hostages by rebels became more frequent there. As a result, instead of Nigeria, I ended up in “that other Africa” - Sudan (fortunately for only a month), and from there, and for a long time - in the USA. And not to some Oklahoma, but to the most special city in America, the homeland of Tom Sawyer and Louis Armstrong - New Orleans. Work on floating drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
And this is exactly what we will talk about today. Or rather, about what stages of adaptation I had to go through.
My relationship with this country began (however, like any other serious relationship usually begins) with a “honeymoon”. Everything seemed wonderful and beautiful, the sun the brightest, the trees the greenest, the people the kindest (but this feeling, unlike many others, never went away).
But just a few weeks later, my mind began to miss small portions of reality, and my honeymoon with the country suddenly ended. And what came after it, I would characterize as nothing more than “culture shock.” And in describing this particular period, I would like to spend a little more time, if only because it will be the most fun for you.
Research on this topic suggests that approximately three months after arriving in a new place, the differences between the old and new cultures become so obvious and glaring that they can instill anxiety and constant irritation in the immigrant.
To be honest, I don't remember being constantly irritated. Of course, there were things that at first sometimes caused outright bewilderment. For example:
1) Huge cars.
For a long time, I just couldn’t understand why everyone drove pickup trucks and huge SUVs. And this is in the south of the country, where there are almost no dirt roads left, snow falls once every 5 years and lies there for exactly half an hour (to the wild delight of the children).
Ford F Series. America's best-selling car.
2) Public transport
in the southern United States it is almost completely absent. Or rather, it exists, but in a completely rudimentary state, so getting anywhere with it is almost impossible. America is definitely a car country, and this can be explained by historically cheap gasoline and affordable car prices.
Unreal highways of Houston. America is a car country.
3) And, of course, fast food restaurants
Or as the Americans themselves also call them - junk food or garbage food. No, here I don’t even mean McDonald’s and Burger Kings, which are simply on every corner there, and to which we have long been accustomed in Russia. Enough has been said here for me.
I would rather like to mention the purely American invention “drive through” - a service in any fast food restaurant where you can buy food without leaving your car. I personally take the process of eating food quite seriously, and the whole idea of eating in so-called “restaurants” where you don’t even have to get out of your car seems blasphemous to me. By the way, there is one fast food chain in America that I promise never to visit. This is Sonic. In this “restaurant” you won’t even be given a chance to lift your butt off the car seat, since the entire restaurant consists only of “drive though”.
A restaurant where you come to... eat in your car is an amazing invention.
4) And the last thing I would like to end with is cases of extreme obesity.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not talking about overweight people here, or even very overweight people. I mean cases of extreme obesity. In fact, it makes a demoralizing impression on a person who is not used to this kind of thing since childhood.
When friends from Russia came to visit me, I took them to Wal-Mart (a huge supermarket behind my house) as an excursion - to see people moving around the store on special electric carts designed for the disabled. Basically, of course, it was not disabled people who moved on these carts, but people who were too lazy to walk around the store with their own feet. I can say with confidence that this was the apogee of my culture shock.
People from Walmart are far from being the “face” of America.
About six months after I began to think that my new country of residence was the most abnormal of all possible, I began to get used to it. Behind the fat people, I began to see their incredible kindness and truly American friendliness and friendliness. I'm used to traveling everywhere by car. I realized that New Orleans has a huge number of wonderful restaurants, without Drive Through!
And little by little everything else became “the norm” for me too. I adapted to the new environment and spent some truly wonderful years there. I made friends who were close to me in spirit and way of thinking and who led a healthy lifestyle.
In general, despite the fact that I openly disagreed with the policies of their government, and sometimes did not hesitate to express this, I never had any problems with ordinary people, who, more often than not, are not at all politicized. They don't care what their government does or where it does it. And many of those around me were openly against the policy of wars and intervention.
The level of politicization and prozombification, I would say, on average in the USA is less than in Russia, but in poorly educated circles it is definitely present - American rednecks are not much different from Taganrog Belyakov (Svetlakov) from “Our Russia”.
One day on the Internet I came across an article written by a doctor who immigrated from somewhere in Asia a long time ago:
“There is nothing in the world that comes close to life in America. Ultimately, it all comes down to people - no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to find a better person than the average American - the ordinary person on the street. I live here, and here I will die.”
To be honest, I have never been distinguished by a fanatical love for this country (read - for the foreign policy of its government), but having lived in almost all parts of the world, I cannot but agree with this. In America, any person can find happiness, since real America is not at all what we are usually shown on TV. Just like Russia - it’s not at all what they show on TV there.
Stay tuned
Mark Svoboda.
P.S: But I bought myself an SUV only after 5 years of living there. And before that, he got by with a “modest” Toyota Camry.
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About Author
Mark
Simon Black is an international investor, entrepreneur, perpetual traveler, free spirit, creator of the Sovereign Man. In his free daily messages, he shares his life experiences to help you achieve greater freedom, financial and personal.
People often get asked about how to adapt and overcome culture shock. Let's first look at what culture shock is and see how you can overcome the discomfort it causes and adapt to life in a new country.
Culture shock- this is emotional or physical discomfort, disorientation of an individual caused by finding himself in a different environment and encountering a different culture. The most common problems include information overload, language barriers, generation gaps, and decreased ability to respond adequately to external factors. There is no one-size-fits-all way to avoid culture shock, as everyone is different and reacts to changes in their lives in different ways.
If we talk about acute culture shock among new immigrants, which is caused by moving to a foreign country, then it usually consists of several phases: honeymoon, disappointment, adaptation and adaptation. Since people are very different, both in terms of psychological personality type and level of preparation for life in a new country, not every new immigrant goes through all phases of culture shock.
1. Honeymoon
During the first few weeks of being in a new country, a person sees the world around him through rose-colored glasses - everything seems wonderful and beautiful. He admires the world around him in the same way that newlyweds admire life during their honeymoon. A newly arrived immigrant likes everything or almost everything: local food, customs and rhythm of life.
He can feel happy that in any supermarket he can buy everything he needs for life, prices for most everyday goods and food products are lower than in his homeland, and the first strawberries appear not in May, but at seven o’clock in the morning, as soon as The store starts working. During the first few weeks, most new immigrants become excited about the new culture. However, like the honeymoon, this state ends sooner or later.
2. Disappointment
This is the most difficult period for beginners. About three months into your new country, the differences in the old and new cultures that you admired on your honeymoon may begin to irritate you. Such feelings especially develop in people who cannot communicate effectively due to poor language skills.
In addition, any differences in habits, customs, and laws can be additional sources of irritation and stress for new immigrants. This could be anything from traffic conditions to the size of a doctor's or lawyer's bill. Your memory begins to helpfully suggest that in your home country you had free healthcare, a subway ticket was several times cheaper and you didn’t have to pay a thousand dollars a month for apartment rent.
If you can realistically assess your condition and understand that it is caused by a radical change in the conditions of your life, then it will be much easier for you to cope with culture shock. As they sometimes say, you just have to be patient and try to look at life with optimism. It is very important in such a situation to be able to get hints or advice from people who have already gone through all the stages of culture shock and understand your feelings.
Sometimes, instead of speeding up the process of adaptation to life in a new country, new immigrants do everything to slow it down. For example, they isolate themselves in communicating only with people from their native country, do not try to learn a new language, and continue to watch television programs and films only in their native language. I don’t want to say that we should completely stop maintaining contact with our native culture. Of course not. But if you want to truly adapt to life in the USA, then it is vital for you to learn English and communicate with the locals.
Very often, many local customs and laws may seem awkward or even stupid to you. There is only one piece of advice here: the sooner you begin to respect them, the more successful your adaptation process will be.
If you need assistance in obtaining business and/or work visas, then you can contact Bay Immigration Law, which has a very good history of opening all types of business visas in the United States for entrepreneurs, managers, investors and their families.
3. Device
Depending on individual characteristics and the efforts made, most people begin to adapt to life in America after 6-12 months. They begin to understand the new culture, what can be expected in certain situations, and how to effectively solve emerging problems. All this leads to the fact that you cease to feel like beginners and your positive attitude towards the surrounding reality begins to prevail again. At this stage, life begins to return to more or less normal, as it was before the move.
4. Adaptation
At the final stage, culture shock is completely overcome. You begin to feel comfortable in a new cultural environment and communicate fully on all levels. This does not mean complete conversion to a new society, especially for people who moved to another country at an advanced age. Immigrants very often retain their habits from their native culture, continue to speak English with an accent, and communicate in their native language at home.
