In Orange County, I was the kind of person who would bury my nose in a magazine to avoid chatting with a hairdresser. I rushed through the checkout line and never said, 'How are you doing?' to someone I didn't know. If small talk was ever forced upon me, I gave away as little about myself as possible.
You get a coffee. The barista tells you how much you need to pay. You say thank you. They take your card for payment. They say thank you. They give you the coffee. You say thank you. They say thank you for your thank you. Then you say thank you for their thank you. By this point, the words thank you have lost all meaning, and both parties are exhausted by the pointless stream of politeness.
My husband Edwin comes from a big Colombian family, which is very different from the kind of environment I grew up in, and it leads to conflict between us. I had one sibling, a brother, but he passed away in a car accident when I was nine. My mum died a couple years ago. I grew up quite detached from my parents and was never that close to my father. As a result, I'm very independent and I like my own space.
From "chockablock" to a "full Monty," the Brits have a wide range of interesting slang words. You don't want to be described as "dim," "a mug," or "a few sandwiches short of a picnic." If you're "zonked" or "cream crackered," you might want to take a nap. Americans might want to mind the gap when it comes to discerning what these British phrases actually mean.
Since we started dating, and way before we had kids, my husband has always been the one to bring the holiday spirit to our home. From getting me my first ugly sweater to buying a tiny tree to fit in our Brooklyn apartment, he loves the holidays and wants to lean in fully. I, on the other hand, kind of don't care.
There is a survey by the American Automobile Association that found 73% of drivers consider themselves to be "above average." 1 In another survey of faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68% rated themselves in the top 25% for teaching ability, and 94% rated themselves as above average. 2In yet one more study, 87% of Master of Business Administration students at Stanford rated their academic performance as above the median. 3
I realized that I still loved her and knew this would be our final goodbye. Then I experienced a feeling, a new feeling I had never felt before, about her. Although she had left me three times and I had spent the past 18 months convinced that, for that reason, we had no stable future together, I realized that all of that emanated from my mind and that my heart had never stopped loving her.
Entrepreneur Frederick Tudor started sending ice from American bodies of water all around the world in the 1800s. It was seen as a luxury to be able to afford and cool or preserve your food and beverages with ice. When Tudor still had leftover ice from his export business, he'd give it to American taverns, who popped chunks of it into drinks. People loved how refreshing those chilly drinks were, and then wanted to buy ice from Tudor - a genius marketing plan.
When people ask me what it's like to live as an American in the U.K., I often use the example of going to '80s night in London. One minute I'm dancing along, singing all the words to "When Doves Cry," "Thriller," or "Material Girl," and the next minute Heaven 17's " Temptation " comes on and all the British people lose their minds shouting every lyric to a song I have never heard in my life.
It's no secret that Europeans and Americans have very different lifestyles. From shopping habits to sports preferences to work culture, we often fall onto different ends of the spectrum. I experienced these differences firsthand as an American traveling around Europe for six months, spending time in places like the UK, Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Here are the five European lifestyle choices I'll be integrating into my life in the States.
A few months in, and her French has barely improved, her roommates are gross and rude, and she has to work two jobs under the table to make rent. She's also making the entire United States of America look bad by insisting on making Stove Top stuffing for Thanksgiving. That is our special thing as Americans, and no European mind will ever comprehend that, Belly. You should have just made them gravy because that is at least something they all understand.
Italian friends of Rick Steves praised American breakfast for its variety and abundance, with conversations leading to toast 'to bacon and eggs,' reflecting appreciation for this morning meal.
The transition from the Gold Coast to Melbourne illustrated a desire for more culture and substance in life, moving to Bright brought new challenges regarding family proximity.
"In Korea, there are really not many transgender [people] who have come out and are actors, and there [are] just a couple of gay [actors] who have come out publicly, so it was physically difficult to find a transgender actor who could really play the role. It was, realistically speaking, nearly impossible."
No team from Africa had beaten England before and it did not matter it was a friendly. The scene in the visiting dressing room was probably best described by Thomas Tuchel.
Shopping for groceries in the UK has thrown me for a loop, with major differences in product availability and business hours compared to my experience in the US.
Having professional experience internationally is valuable, and luckily, I work for a global company, which is partly what attracted me to moving from Chicago to London.
Making an adult child pay rent in their parents' home. They're not contributing to the total rent of a rented house or towards bills, which would be reasonable if they have a job, etc., but are paying rent on an owned property. I'll never understand that.
