Americans
don’t always close room doors, they prefer an open-door policy
Closing or
even locking the door means: Privacy please - don’t disturb (me)
Doorknobs are,
unlike our European diversity, widely standardized and easy to
handle
Americans
don’t pull window shades in the evening or at night
They love
phoning and, since distances are quite big, often go on phoning for
hours
Going out for
a meal, not only on weekends, is more popular than in Germany
Meals are
often bigger, and cookies and sweets contain a lot more sugar - so
look for low-sugar products
In families a
hot meal or dinner is prepared in the evening, if at all
Most families
hardly ever eat together: In the morning everybody has breakfast
when he gets up, then there is lunch at work or in school, and in
the evening everybody eats when he is hungry
Raiding the
refrigerator is a common practice, and your host parents will allow
you to help yourself to have food or beverages from this family
focal point
Americans love
drinking plain water, milk or diet coke, they usually don’t have
mineral or carbonated water
Water
fountains in many public places help everybody to quench his thirst
- free
Cold drinks
are normally served with ice cubes, i.e. ice-cubes are served with
a little drink
All varietes
of processed food are on sale in the supermarkets, so why not try
them
When visiting
a friend of your host family you aren’t expected to bring a gift
Shaking hands
any time you meet people isn’t necessary - just keep smiling
Blowing your
nose at the table is considered bad manners
People do not
normally pay separately when they are with a group in a restaurant
Customers in
restaurants are expected to give a 15% tip, it can be left on the
table
Americans
leave their pets at home
Talking about
politics is out
Walking down
the street is unheard of - everyone drives everywhere
Smoking,
especially in public buildings, is out
Schoolkids
don’t carry schoolbags, they keep their books, coats etc. in lockers
at school
Air-conditioning cools down cars, stores and shopping malls so that
you won’t have to sweat on hot days
Americans use
the phrases "Excuse me" or "Sorry" a lot more than Europeans do
Americans
still esteem their traditional values: hard work, rugged
individualism, patriotic pride and the virtues of private enterprise
Americans love
cars, television, pizza ...
Americans
laugh a lot more than we do
Americans are
not afraid to communicate with you - they won’t bite either
(
Copyright by Werner Kundmülller 1997)