This blog is to keep track of my writing (from Oct. '14 onward), saving tips and tricks I find, little rants or raves, and so on. If you don't like it, kindly leave. I am a fangirl and reviewer, so do tend to post on that note as well.
Whilst browsing throughout some pins on Pinterest, I happened upon something quite interesting. I know, personally, how weird being an American is and how it looks to people around the globe - I was so embraced in Korean and just general foreign culture and how my global friends pointed out things weird about my country. So, I'm going to go into more detail.
1. Portion sizes. || To me, I never care for portion sizes, but I know what they are and how they work and yeah, they're pretty darn weird. Nothing too weird though, because I don't think everyone goes stir-crazy from them or that they're that weird.
2. Flags everywhere. EVERYWHERE. || American freedom, bruh. Ahaha... but no, seriously, there are flags everywhere and if you're where I am, you will not only see American flags, but Confederate flags, Native American flags, and much more. :D
3. Price tags without tax included. How do you know how much you're spending until you get to the cashier? || Hahahaha- you guess. Guesstimate. Unless you want to be the genius in the room and have the taxes on hand and add it up, much like I've witnessed my own Meme do on rare occasions... I digress.
4. Tipping: It was incredibly hard for me to wrap my head about how much is appropriate for the service. || When I learned you don't tip in a lot of foreign countries, I started wishing that it wasn't so normal here! You have no idea how crazy it can be until you live here your entire life. If you give a small amount, your waiter may do something to your food or be rude or get upset, and if you leave too much, you may be hurting your bank account. And it differs from place to place. It's absolutely ridiculous and actually sad how some places that that is how they make their money - off of tips!
5. Advertising prescription drugs. That was the weirdest one for me. "ask your doctor for brand x antidepressants" type commercials on TV. In the UK, your doctor tells you what drugs you should take, not the other way round. || Honestly, that's not how it really works, but a lot of ways that's how it can go. Most of the time I've only seen doctors prescribe from their office and not having someone walk in with an idea of what they need. People always guess when it comes to their ailments, so it's weird seeing that. But they advertise for the money and to gain ground on their meds - companies are like that. They want you to buy their drugs.
6. Everything being designed around cars. || What- I know we have billions of commercials regarding cars, but... is it that car-centric?
7. The sheer amount of commercials on the television, and their lack of quality. || Trust me... they're only getting more and more ignorant as they search for original content for commercials. So, I completely agree. Plus, it's all about money for us, so commercials get the dough to places and for their product's TV time... why not air fifty million?
8. Aerosol cheese. Like seriously I would try it at least once, but that shit looks like cancer. || HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA true.
9. A visiting Italian friend was very puzzled at Americans' use of the phrase, "Oh, really?" group conversations. Somehow he took that as a person challenging his opinion, when in reality, it's jsut some habit a lot of us have that basically means, "Interesting. Can you elaborate?" The guy was red in the face after an hour because he literally thought everyone in our group was challenging every single thing he said. || That's pretty interesting. I understand though because on the internet, if you say "Oh, really?" it sound like a challenging thing and completely sarcastic.
10. Your toilets are too low down and the stalls have massive gaps around the door so that people can see in. You can put a man on the moon but can't design a setup whereby I can have a dump in comfortable privacy. Sort it out America. || I laughed hard at this because WE KNOW. There are so many people who avoid public toilets because of the lack of privacy and even if it's an emergency (like I've experienced) there are generally rude ass people who either comment aloud or give you looks- like, excuse you, not my fault I feel terrible and the stalls are so public?! I don't know why we have them so open... it's ridiculous.
11. Pickles. Your hidden love for pickles. I have been in the states for like 8 years and you guys give a pickle with everything. || It's not really a secret. More of an obsession, really.
12. I find it really weird how college football players are kind of celebrities. They're scrutinized and have fans and do TV interviews, and it just boggles my mind so much. They're just students that do an extra curricular activity! I don't understand. || I don't either, honestly. It's not just football either.
13. Jaywalking is a crime? || Yeah, no one follows that law.
14. Why is bread in the USA so sweet? Sandwich bread, hamburger buns, taste like cake but Americans have no idea what you're talking about because they're used to it. || I... I didn't realize it... whoa. This changes my life.
15. Soft drink is free flowing, everywhere. || Actually, in some places it isn't and we find that ridiculous.
16. You are all so loud! But friendly. || If you're shy around here, it's weird, so it's a social norm for Americans. Being loud is the absolute norm - nothing less. Although I'd prefer the not-so-loud kids because I was one. But now... I'm loud.
17. A very blase approach to credit card security. Signatures don't matter and no one uses a PIN. || Life of Americans; cause our own problems then blame the Government who ultimately cause our problems and-- yeah.
18. The pledge of allegiance is creepy. I know most Americans just say it because they have to in school but if you listen to the words it sounds strange to have children just chanting it off. ||
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." It is pretty damned creepy, I'll admit. We serve our government or we die, simple.
So... there we go. Weird things. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more, especially here in Oklahoma. I should ask my global friends some things and see what they think is weird. I know we've compared our religions and schools; I can name a bunch of differences with those two. Otherwise, I'm back to the rest of the interweb to see what I can find.
Whilst browsing throughout some pins on Pinterest, I happened upon something quite interesting. I know, personally, how weird being an American is and how it looks to people around the globe - I was so embraced in Korean and just general foreign culture and how my global friends pointed out things weird about my country. So, I'm going to go into more detail.
1. Portion sizes. || To me, I never care for portion sizes, but I know what they are and how they work and yeah, they're pretty darn weird. Nothing too weird though, because I don't think everyone goes stir-crazy from them or that they're that weird.
2. Flags everywhere. EVERYWHERE. || American freedom, bruh. Ahaha... but no, seriously, there are flags everywhere and if you're where I am, you will not only see American flags, but Confederate flags, Native American flags, and much more. :D
3. Price tags without tax included. How do you know how much you're spending until you get to the cashier? || Hahahaha- you guess. Guesstimate. Unless you want to be the genius in the room and have the taxes on hand and add it up, much like I've witnessed my own Meme do on rare occasions... I digress.
4. Tipping: It was incredibly hard for me to wrap my head about how much is appropriate for the service. || When I learned you don't tip in a lot of foreign countries, I started wishing that it wasn't so normal here! You have no idea how crazy it can be until you live here your entire life. If you give a small amount, your waiter may do something to your food or be rude or get upset, and if you leave too much, you may be hurting your bank account. And it differs from place to place. It's absolutely ridiculous and actually sad how some places that that is how they make their money - off of tips!
5. Advertising prescription drugs. That was the weirdest one for me. "ask your doctor for brand x antidepressants" type commercials on TV. In the UK, your doctor tells you what drugs you should take, not the other way round. || Honestly, that's not how it really works, but a lot of ways that's how it can go. Most of the time I've only seen doctors prescribe from their office and not having someone walk in with an idea of what they need. People always guess when it comes to their ailments, so it's weird seeing that. But they advertise for the money and to gain ground on their meds - companies are like that. They want you to buy their drugs.
6. Everything being designed around cars. || What- I know we have billions of commercials regarding cars, but... is it that car-centric?
7. The sheer amount of commercials on the television, and their lack of quality. || Trust me... they're only getting more and more ignorant as they search for original content for commercials. So, I completely agree. Plus, it's all about money for us, so commercials get the dough to places and for their product's TV time... why not air fifty million?
8. Aerosol cheese. Like seriously I would try it at least once, but that shit looks like cancer. || HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA true.
9. A visiting Italian friend was very puzzled at Americans' use of the phrase, "Oh, really?" group conversations. Somehow he took that as a person challenging his opinion, when in reality, it's jsut some habit a lot of us have that basically means, "Interesting. Can you elaborate?" The guy was red in the face after an hour because he literally thought everyone in our group was challenging every single thing he said. || That's pretty interesting. I understand though because on the internet, if you say "Oh, really?" it sound like a challenging thing and completely sarcastic.
10. Your toilets are too low down and the stalls have massive gaps around the door so that people can see in. You can put a man on the moon but can't design a setup whereby I can have a dump in comfortable privacy. Sort it out America. || I laughed hard at this because WE KNOW. There are so many people who avoid public toilets because of the lack of privacy and even if it's an emergency (like I've experienced) there are generally rude ass people who either comment aloud or give you looks- like, excuse you, not my fault I feel terrible and the stalls are so public?! I don't know why we have them so open... it's ridiculous.
11. Pickles. Your hidden love for pickles. I have been in the states for like 8 years and you guys give a pickle with everything. || It's not really a secret. More of an obsession, really.
12. I find it really weird how college football players are kind of celebrities. They're scrutinized and have fans and do TV interviews, and it just boggles my mind so much. They're just students that do an extra curricular activity! I don't understand. || I don't either, honestly. It's not just football either.
13. Jaywalking is a crime? || Yeah, no one follows that law.
14. Why is bread in the USA so sweet? Sandwich bread, hamburger buns, taste like cake but Americans have no idea what you're talking about because they're used to it. || I... I didn't realize it... whoa. This changes my life.
15. Soft drink is free flowing, everywhere. || Actually, in some places it isn't and we find that ridiculous.
16. You are all so loud! But friendly. || If you're shy around here, it's weird, so it's a social norm for Americans. Being loud is the absolute norm - nothing less. Although I'd prefer the not-so-loud kids because I was one. But now... I'm loud.
17. A very blase approach to credit card security. Signatures don't matter and no one uses a PIN. || Life of Americans; cause our own problems then blame the Government who ultimately cause our problems and-- yeah.
18. The pledge of allegiance is creepy. I know most Americans just say it because they have to in school but if you listen to the words it sounds strange to have children just chanting it off. ||
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." It is pretty damned creepy, I'll admit. We serve our government or we die, simple.
So... there we go. Weird things. I'm pretty sure there's a lot more, especially here in Oklahoma. I should ask my global friends some things and see what they think is weird. I know we've compared our religions and schools; I can name a bunch of differences with those two. Otherwise, I'm back to the rest of the interweb to see what I can find.
Name: Zoe Patterson
Known as: Cat Lady - jk! KissDromeda, KissDromedaGirl, Juliane (rp), Hyunchul 현철(rp), Sohee/소희.
Age: Nearly two decades old!
Lives at: Tumblr, AFF, blogspot, Twitter, and currently Evexia.
Country: USA
Favorite Colors: Pastels, Lilac, lavender, any shade of purple basically, white, silver, black, any shade of gray (however, Christian Grey isn't one), clear, any shade of blue, teal, coral, salmon.
Language: English (native), Korean (good enough), Spanish (good enough), intros in Italian, Japanese, Greek, and tagalog.
Hobbies: Writing (ofc), browsing the web, taking care of my cats, drawing, thinking up ideas, playing either Sims or Star Wars, reading, reviewing, dancing, singing, composing.
Favorite Quote: "If you believe in yourself, you're unstoppable."
Likes:
♥ Cats [this is a cat basecode so ofc this is here]
♥ Anything artistic
♥ Korean stuff, and many more cultures, too. I wanted to be an Egyptologist.
♥ Rapping and dancing; composing or choreographing
♥ Tumblr, Twitter, ifunny, etc.
Dislikes:
✖ Haters and fakers
✖ anxiety and depression [suffering from both]
✖ dealing with a lot of stress
Exchange Links
The current linked as "Zahra, Tsabbita, and DianeeyA' are the basecoders for this blog, so they get the creds! The rest are ones I like, my friends, and so on.
Random things since this is already here from the basecode. Check it out, and if it's empty, head on over to my Tumblr tags and browse around. eue Scroll down to the Others section!
I found myself in Wonderland, got back on my feet again - Alice by Avril Lavigne
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