Selasa, 10 Januari 2012

Ask a Korean! Wiki: What is Weird About America?

Dear Korean,

A friend posted this link to his Facebook profile a couple weeks ago. I had no idea that supermarket checkout-baggers were such a weird thing, that nobody uses checks anymore, and "that so much American cheese is coloured orange." It was mentioned a couple of times in the posting that most of the contributors were from Europe, which is fairly similar to the States, shared culture, politics, history etc. 

I guess I'd like another perspective on "America's Quirks." I would love to hear the substantive, as well as the off-base insubstantive comments. What are the most striking differences you've noticed from living in the States for so long? What do Koreans living in/visiting the states bitch about when they're blowing off steam over a $13 (!!!) bottle of Chamisul?

Just Curious

Just off the top of his head, and keeping strictly on the frivolous side, here are a few things the Korean has found peculiar about America:
  • Wearing shoes indoors. HATE HATE HATE it. So disgusting. The Korean will never get over this.
  • Insane amount of soda drinking. The Korean is pretty certain that in his first year in America, he drank more soda than he ever drank in his life at age 16.
  • Ridiculous portions of food. (Discussed in this post.)
  • Ice in every drink. 
  • Excessive use of napkins.
  • General preference for cooler temperature in everything (ambient, food, drinks, etc.)
  • Drinking alcohol only (i.e. without eating something at the same time.)
  • Music too loud in bars.
  • Cell phones have the same area code as any landline, instead of its own prefix. (In Korea, all cell phone numbers begin with 010 no matter where you live.)
  • To address a mail, going from small to large (i.e. "Number-Street-City-State-Country-ZIP") instead of large to small ("Country-Province-City-Number-ZIP").
The Korean will add more to the list as he thinks of additional items, but let's hear from the readers. What do you find peculiar about America?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

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