The American Culture: Facts and Perception in the US
An Integr8 ‘er sharing his story:
One of the first thoughts I had, when I moved to the United States, was:
OMG – why are these people so freakin’ friendly??? Is something wrong with them, or is something wrong with me?!
And then — slowly but surely — I started enjoying it.
I thought to myself:
“This friendliness feels kind of nice….I enjoy leaving the house more and interact with strangers….
…mmhh…in fact, let me just go out to the restaurant by myself because I have a feeling I will encounter a bunch of friendly and open people.”
Conclusion: Wow- I would have never thought I would enjoy going out by myself until I moved to the US!! What an interesting finding!
What we learned about Culture in the United States
You may or may not agree with everything you will experience here, and a lot of things can be extremely different from the country you are coming from, for example:
- American customs (for example, our article on the Importance of Tips).
- Food/ Diet.
- Verbal and nonverbal gestures.
- The way people raise their children.
- Media and content on the media.
- How people act and react to each other.
- Politics.
- Ways to socialize
- And many more.
There is a whole lot to learn and to deal with when you move to another country!
Something else we observed in the United States is the expressed Patriotism across the country.
Americans are proud of who they are and where they come from, and they have no problem showing it – by hanging up the American Flag at their house, car or anywhere else.
Some immigrants can be open and adjust quickly, while others may have a harder time or even experience a culture shock.
Oh and by the way- Football is the thing here. We mean, not the Soccer Football – the American Football!
Where we come from (and really the rest of the world) Soccer is the main sport that most people love and enjoy. But not so here! You will end up loving it or hating it – or like in our case, not really caring much about sports at all 🙂
Deeply understanding Culture and Customs
Would you like to really understand Culture and Customs here in America? It is important to know the differences.
Otherwise, you will quickly find yourself in situations where you acted inappropriately or even insulted others without knowing.
The guide below is going to help you with this and will really widen your horizon on understanding Culture and Customs here in the United States:
No matter how you feel about the changes, we learned that one of the most effective things you can do to feel more comfortable is:
Socialize, Network and – keep an Open – Learning- And Accepting Heart to understand new ways of living!
It is not always easy, and therefore we are happy to post more articles on how you can achieve this goal going forward!
Read more about American Culture here:
Top 5 Activities Americans Enjoy