Changed perspective

[Deleted]

Are you ever shocked about something culturally when you go back to where you are from? We were in TX for two weeks and I was really shocked at how fat the people were! Not a few big people, but a LOT of really obese people and young ones too. I feel like a while back TX had a lot of 40-50 yr olds who were heavy, but now there are lots in their 20s or even children. My family and friends said that I looked thinner, but I've been at the same weight for a few years now. It is just that everyone else is bigger.

I was also shocked at how horrible their driving was. Nobody followed the rules, like slow people on the right and fast ones in the left lane. They were all over the place with a cellphone attached to the ear.

Anything that shocks you now that you live a bit as an outsider? Do you find your perspective has changed?

[aMrsin09]

I am laughing about the driving.

When H describes driving in the states he always says "over there the rules of the road are just suggestions!"

[potatopie]

yeah, we noticed the fat people too. and sloppy. sweat pants everywhere!

I always have a bit of a shock as to how EASY everything is in the States. I know where to go for what and everything/everyone is always reliable. Often, one place has everything you need.

[elenetxu]

I feel thin back home, but I feel like a blimp here.

[Cheesecake]

I'm really pretty damn fat here and can't really shop in regular size people sections, while in the US I can shop everywhere. The shopping everywhere is nice, BUT, I do consider myself ovese, while the US just considers me 'not thin'.

And yeah, the sloppiness. I've been picked up from the airport by friends wearing their PJ's, because really, they weren't going anywhere anymore anyways. I've never seen something like that here. I actually wouldn't even walk outside to dump my trash in my PJ's here. In sweats I will, but not in my PJ's.

[Deleted]

Oh my list of shocking truths about Italy goes on forever, it's quite sad.

[crimsonandclover]

Jan 9, 2013 9:39:47 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

I'm really pretty damn fat here and can't really shop in regular size people sections, while in the US I can shop everywhere. The shopping everywhere is nice, BUT, I do consider myself ovese, while the US just considers me 'not thin'.

And yeah, the sloppiness. I've been picked up from the airport by friends wearing their PJ's, because really, they weren't going anywhere anymore anyways. I've never seen something like that here. I actually wouldn't even walk outside to dump my trash in my PJ's here. In sweats I will, but not in my PJ's.

Same. If it's Sat am and we're still in our pjs when a package comes, one of us will run and throw on some clothes to get the door.

[Wanderista]

I've spent enough time outside of America that I can participate in this subject. This sort of thing is exactly what I mean when I say that I don't feel like a "typical American". I totally have a different perspective on stereotypical America than most Americans. I love America and it's my home country but I often get the feeling that I don't really fit in exactly - in DC to some extent, yes, because it's one of the most cultured and educated places in the country but, even so, yeah, I can definitely relate to the sentiments in this thread.

I don't mean to sound arrogant at all. Frankly, even back in high school, I felt like a bit of an odd duck a lot of the time in American culture. Also, I've always gotten along really well with diverse people, minorities, expats, foreigners, etc. It's not quite the subject of the post but I feel like a bit of a "hybrid" person because of the effect of various cultural influences on me. There is plenty that I love about America and American culture. I have debated plenty of foreign critics of America and will do so readily, but I definitely do have plenty of problematic feelings about some aspects of America.

The "Honey-Boo-Boo; let's arm schoolteachers rather than having reasonable gun control; it's my God-given right to supersize that triple Big Mac; what? Am I supposed to use turn signals when I drive? Screw you, dude, I'm in a gas-hogging megaton SUV, it's your fault that you aren't, eat my tailpipe dust," side of the culture is one that I don't really connect with and kind of roll my eyes at. But yeah, I think that every culture has its pernicious stereotypes and downsides as well as many people who defy those stereotypes.

[VillainV]

We notice people talking on cell phones EVERYWHERE in the US -- line at the grocery store, table next to you in a restaurant, treadmill at the gym. This doesn't happen the UK (at least not that we see). We also notice American kids doing everything they can to tune out the world, like listening to their iPod while out to eat with the family.

[frlcb]

I see a lot of these stereotypes in many places I travel outside the US, I don't find them to be US specific.

[popcorn]

Jan 9, 2013 12:41:40 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I see a lot of these stereotypes in many places I travel outside the US, I don't find them to be US specific.

I was thinking the same thing. Except about the pajamas...I don't think I've ever seen people wearing pajamas out of the house on a regular basis like I have in the US anywhere else.

My biggest culture shock when going back is how rushed meals out usually are since they are trying to fill tables and the way the waiters hover trying to give great service to get a great tip. Just very different from dining out experiences I've had in Spain and Germany.

[clogged]

I open the door in my pajamas and take out the trash. I feel my front porch and car port and are extension of my home. I wear jammies in my home. But not outside my home. To an airport!?! What!?! I am not worth throwing a pair of jeans and a tshirt on for!?!

My neighbors do too, by the way. At least I hope to hell those neon blue plaid monstrosities my neighbor wears all the time are pj's and not REAL pants. *shudders*

[allibally]

Jan 10, 2013 0:04:56 GMT -5 clogged said:

I open the door in my pajamas and take out the trash. I feel my front porch and car port and are extension of my home. I wear jammies in my home. But not outside my home. To an airport!?! What!?! I am not worth throwing a pair of jeans and a tshirt on for!?!

Meh. I wore my "pj's" (usually sweatpants) to the airport to pick up friends. It was 2am. I was picking them up and bringing them back to our place where their car was parked. It was my bedtime. ;P

[Cioccolato]

I really hate how people dress in the US, a large portion look like slobs.

[frlcb]

I don't know if I live in some alternate US universe but I never see people out in their pajamas. And while I do see people in workout clothes (assuming they are going or coming from working out) I cannot say I think people dress and slobbier here than what I saw people wearing when I lived in London

[Cioccolato]

I saw people out in their pajamas last week, but then again I was in St.Louis...

[frlcb]

Where do you see people in their pajamas? I truly can say I have never seen people out and about in their pajamas here. Actually we saw lots of women out in their pajamas in Cambodia and never did figure out why, like fancy pajamas. It was weird.

[anna7602]

Are people counting yoga pants as pajamas? Because I ran errands and was out and about in yoga pants a lot in the U.S., but change right back into regular pants after yoga classes here in Paris. (That's only partly because of judgment here, though, the other part is that my butt doesn't look as great after all the croissants!)

Besides that, I am with frlcb that I haven't seen a lot of public pj-wearing in the U.S.

[Waffles]

I live where I'm from but H keeps getting food/going out related culture shocks when we go to the UK... he often jokes he's all continental now :-)

It's things like closing times of pubs, the measures served, what time people go out at (direct link there, get more beers in ;-) ), no (cooked) sauce with your steak, having to ask for mayo for chips, etc.

[crimsonandclover]

I'm not saying I see pj's in public all the time in the US, but I have seen people in flannel pants and a t-shirt (= my pjs) at the grocery store plenty. I think another big contributing factor to Americans looking more "slobby" when they go out are sweatshirts. They are perfectly acceptable public attire in the US but I very rarely see anyone wearing one in Germany, and if I do, it often turns out they're American (lots of exchange students in my town). I don't know what the sweatshirt culture is in other European countries, though. :- )
And Anna, whether or not I would count yoga pants as pjs depends on the rest of the outfit, I think. Paired with a t-shirt, yes, probably.

[Cheesecake]

Yoga pants are not pajamas. I'm talking about soft, fuzzy, losse clothes that are sold in the sleepwear section. Often with some sort of print on them.

I was picked up from the airport at 7pm in Dallas by someone in PJs, and saw my cousin's neighbor walking their dog all the way to the end of the neighborhood in Redmond, WA in her PJ's - mid afternoon. She told my cousin, before my cousin asked, that she'd been rained on and just wanted to be comfy (so at least she excuses herself a little).
I've seen enough people in PJs in public in Colorado as well.

Whether I'm in the US or NL I'll wear my yoga pants home from the studio, but that's out of the studio, in to my car and out at home. When I plan to stop at the store (or are using public transport) before heading home, I change into jeans or so. In NL I'm the exception who doesn't change, in the US I'll be the exception if I do change.

[echo]

I do think that often Europeans dress more formally than Americans.
And where I come from in the US people do actually wear pajamas out in public.
But I prefer pajamas that cover you to pants that show off half of your underwear,which are favored by some of the teenage boys here.
I also really don't understand how people do not know the difference between trousers and leggings,they are not the same thing,and they are not worn the same way.
There are so many young girls here who wear tights like they are regular pants,with short shirts,see a whole lot more than you ever wanted.
I do not see much difference between cell phone usage here and in the U.S.
Here people do not respect the no smoking areas.In the U.S. I have never seen someone smoking in a non smoking area.I am sure that it happens,but probably less than here.
I think there is more of a difference between the mentalities ,than the day to day life.
And I agree with whoever said things in the U.S. just seem so easy after living abroad....

[aMrsin09]

I don't count yoga pants as PJs. When we were in France I left the house "not dressed" ONCE. I was in black fleece pants and sneakers. It was snowing/raining/wind bowing like stink out and I ran across the street to the train station.

Here, well, we don't discuss what counts as public appropriate here. Lets just say PJs would be an improvement.

In the states I even saw pink fuzzy slippers and not only PJ bottoms, but actual nightgowns at the grocers.

[Cioccolato]

Americans eat dinner way too early!!

[frlcb]

Jan 10, 2013 7:13:54 GMT -5 Cioccolato said:

Americans eat dinner way too early!!

Really? All of these generalizations make me laugh. It is so regional, clearly, so to say all americans are x,y or z is just incorrect. We do eat dinner early because we have kids, so we eat by 6, but if we don't have the kids or we eat out with friends we eat at like 8. And most people i know without kids eat between 7-8.

Maybe Atlanta is a weird bubble but I never see people in pajamas here

[Deleted]

I was more just wondering what people found different or shocking where they are from in a regional sense than the 'lets generalize about all americans' thing, frlbc. What I saw in Dallas was surprising to me because I never noticed it that much before. I was also surprised at how overprocessed the hair was, and how big the boobs got. But then again, boob jobs are really popular in Dallas

[GilliC]

Jan 10, 2013 7:30:46 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jan 10, 2013 7:13:54 GMT -5 Cioccolato said:

Americans eat dinner way too early!!

Really? All of these generalizations make me laugh. It is so regional, clearly, so to say all americans are x,y or z is just incorrect. We do eat dinner early because we have kids, so we eat by 6, but if we don't have the kids or we eat out with friends we eat at like 8. And most people i know without kids eat between 7-8.

Of course it dexpends on where you're coming from as well, but I definitely felt this one when I moved back from Paris! My dorm stopped serving dinner at 8, and I kept missing meal service and eating instant noodles.

Is Atlanta really that different?! In both Indiana and Texas most restaurants close around 10 (and often stop seating a while before that), but we rarely dined before 9, and on weekends restaurants were still packed at 10.

[frlcb]

Jan 10, 2013 13:18:42 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Jan 10, 2013 7:30:46 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Really? All of these generalizations make me laugh. It is so regional, clearly, so to say all americans are x,y or z is just incorrect. We do eat dinner early because we have kids, so we eat by 6, but if we don't have the kids or we eat out with friends we eat at like 8. And most people i know without kids eat between 7-8.

Of course it dexpends on where you're coming from as well, but I definitely felt this one when I moved back from Paris! My dorm stopped serving dinner at 8, and I kept missing meal service and eating instant noodles.

Is Atlanta really that different?! In both Indiana and Texas most restaurants close around 10 (and often stop seating a while before that), but we rarely dined before 9, and on weekends restaurants were still packed at 10.

I am not sure what you are asking. Do people in Atlanta eat late? Yes, you can seated at restaurants here after 10, and many of the popular restaurants here will be booked after 10.

[Cioccolato]

Frlcb, chill out. You're on a international forum, this isn't America bashing! I could say the Swiss eat too much fondue, but is that bashing? No!

[Cioccolato]

But really, most restaurants in STL close at 10. Maybe Atlanta is totally different.