If you're not a tourist, read this article as though you are. If you're a tourist, then great, read it normally.
What if everything you’ve ever known as ordinary changed? Well, something a little like that will happen when you visit the United States of America. Everybody in the U.S has known the heritage and culture by heart, but tourists do not. Restaurants, shops, and people are different in America. When other tourists come to the United States, they feel like they entered a whole new world because of the different things to get used to first.
In the U.S, restaurants tend to be very distinct. First of all, in this country, we serve very large helpings of food. Many people often eat what they can, and then take the rest home as leftovers to eat later. Then, when your meal is done, it is common to tip your server a large tip, about 15-20%. If it’s too late, and you can’t go to a formal sit down restaurant, many places are open 24/7 (Sorenson). These 24 hour restaurants are normal fast food restaurants, with American food like cheeseburgers, but classic American food consists of hot dogs, meatloaf, potato chips, and mac & cheese (Zimmermann).
If your walking around town, and going places, you’ll probably notice a few things. Maybe you’ll be waiting at a bus stop, and some stranger starts talking to you. In the States, people tend to just randomly create “small talk,” which is just a random conversation about random things. (10 Things to Know About U.S. Culture). People in the U.S. tend to be pretty friendly, outgoing, and go after what they want. (Sorenson). Also, you’ll notice people walking around always eating on the go. Americans are always occupied, always going from one thing to the next, so you’ll see people walking with coffees, or drive-thrus full with people rushing, and more (10 Things to Know About U.S. Culture). If you’re on a road trip, things will start to stand out. In most european countries, you can drive across the whole country in barely anytime at all. But in the USA, a trip across the other side of the country would take days. If you have to stop at a gas station on your road trip, you’ll get a different price than what the price tag says. The price tag just says the price that the retailer is selling it for, then the tax is added later (Meltzer).
Hopefully, now when you come to the U.S, it’ll be easier to understand the basics of American life. Other countries wonder why certain small things like restaurants, shops, and the people have always been different in The United States of America. The country is considered a “melting pot” where are all cultures mix together. (Zimmermann). New ideas from mixed cultures are what makes the States so great. It’s why all the small things are the way they are. It just has always been the ‘Merican way.