It's a different world. And very different to what I had imagined, not that I am sure what I had imagined.
People here are very friendly, hospitable and polite. Everyone seems quite self confident and proud.
They welcome foreigners to their shores, as they are very proud of America! (And I believe quite isolated from the rest of the world) They show their patriotism by displaying of the Flag everywhere...just in case you forgot which country you were in...
Some weird and wonderful observations:
- There are no international news on TV!!! For 3 days the breaking news was about the courtcase of a polygamist of a sect, and of course Obama's budget announcement!!! - Welcome to America
(Obama is not really liked in the States, everyone is giving him a hard time) - There is junk food and fast food chains everywhere!!! People are more concerned about healthy pet food than healthy food for their kids!!! - Welcome to America
- Plastic is fantastic, they looove their plastic bags, individual plastic wrapping, plastic plates and spoons!!! One item is packed into one plastic bag, I am horrified!!! - Welcome to America
- There is nowhere to exchange foreign moneys - the lady at the Western Union outlet called all the cities around Aiken - de nada!!! She suggested I travel 3 hours to Atlanta International Airport to exchange my money into US$!!! - Welcome to America
- There is no public transport in and around Aiken (we are in the country!)!!! You have to have a big gas guzzling car/truck to get around!!! - Welcome to America
- You can buy your groceries and also your guns (called 'sporting goods') at the same time at 'Wal-Mart'!!! - Welcome to America
- The houses are very pretty, and picture perfect. Made in China, cheap and plasticy looking. Everything looks the same, no individualism!!! You can buy one of these pretty houses for around US$150,000- what a bargain, never mind it will all disintegrate within 10 years!!! - Welcome to America
- Customer Service: friendly, but seems over the top and artificial. Wait staff especially, live on a minimum wage of 2.5US$/hour, no wonder they demand their 10-15% tip!!! - Welcome to America
- They use funny words like: gas (petrol), cash back (cash out), looking around (browsing), sherif (police), food market (supermarket), the list goes on... I need an interpreter!!! - Welcome to America
- They don't have to have a number plate on the front of their cars, only in the back!!! - Welcome to America
- The numbers for mobiles are the same as for landlines, hence when you call a mobile no. the receiver also pays for the call!!! And... they haven't heard of roaming or Canada.... I asked the question and got a blank look from the staff!!! - Welcome to America
- They serve hot coffee (and refills), but not hot black tea only 'sweet tea' i.e. iced tea!!! (Mind you I am getting to like my iced tea!) - Welcome to America
- They have historic train museums in every town!!! - Welcome to America
- They air bad weather warnings over the tv! Funny story: I sit,watch tv (millionaire matchmaker - never know your luck in a big country...), a thunderstorm and lightning and lots of rain passes through, electricity cuts for a few minutes, everything goes back to normal, storm moves on.... Suddenly... at least an hour later, sirons go off on the tv and a hazard warning comes up. There is me: where is the bunker??? quick take the rations and run.... (and don't mention the war!)... How utterly ridiculous.... I loved so hard, never seen anything like it!!! - Welcome to America
S & D
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