Ni Hao, Здравствултe (I hope Bable fish translated that correctly, I can say the word but I do not know how to write in Cyrillic), Kamusta ka na, Bonjour!
Courtesy of Google's amazing audience tracking skills, it has come to my attention that here at the Curve Zone we have a significant global audience. I'm particularly excited that we've have an audience in Russia and the Philippines. My fiance is part filipino (or pinoy) and my great grandparents were from the Ukraine and Russia.
Unfortunately I know that I have a bad habit of speaking in excessive slang and American expressions. I also have a habit of writing things in jest or humor from time to time. So if there is ever an expression I use that does not translate well (or just seems odd), please let me know.
I pray to god that certain television shows from America have not gone overseas. For the record, if you are not an American and you have been watching "Jersey Shore" that is not an accurate depiction of American life. Other shows that are inaccurate include "The Bachelor" and "Grey's Anatomy". Unfortunately not all American doctors are exceptionally attractive as Grey's Anatomy has led you to believe.
While I'm sure many myths about American life are easily spotted, just as I can tell that travel to India will not result in colorful song and dance like that in a Bollywood movie, it doesn't hurt to point out some myths about American life.
The Reality of American Life:
-We're not that rich. While Americans do enjoy certain luxuries unavailable in certain regions of the world, we are not all as capricious as our film and television counterparts. Walmart has been successful in the US for a reason- it's because a little money goes a long way at Walmart.
-We can't afford to see "Dr. House". While I do adore Hugh Laurie- it takes an Englishman to play the epitome of an American asshole- in the real world a single trip to Dr. House would cost more than a normal person can afford. The cost of healthcare in the US is unfathomable- a single trip to the hospital can cost thousands of dollars for routine tests. Thankfully, on that note, Americans are not regularly inflicted with extremely rare and fatal conditions.
-Yes, we're fat. Unhealthy foods are really, really cheap in the US. Fruits and vegetables are rather pricey. In many US cities we don't walk either. Housing in the center of a city is much more expensive for a safe neighborhood than the cost of owning a car. As such, many Americans opt to commute and drive to work. Spending up to an hour in the car to drive to work is fairly normal in the US. However, when you drive everywhere you lose much-needed exercise and thus you get more fat Americans.
-We're much saner. Yes, there are many crazy Americans out there. However, most Americans are of more moderate opinions. Online you may see a lot of trolls depicting Americans as nasty, hateful creatures that lack both education and tact. Unfortunately the US does have an abundance of very bored teenagers who find it fun to spew crazy on the internet in jest. Although people such as Glenn Beck and Michael Moore are very vocal, most Americans are not nearly that... err... interesting? In the US there are republicans with democrat friends and democrats with republican friends.
-We're not as promiscuous as you think. Americans may seem obsessed with sex when you watch our movies and television. The truth is, scandal sells movies and television shows. Americans adore a good scandal. Sex is popular in movies and television because our country had roots in puritanism. Sex is exciting to us because it's still considered scandalous. The reality is we're usually too busy to do anything. Statistically Americans work longer hours than our European counterparts. American women do dress rather provocatively- but this is a huge caution to non-American men. In the US it is very normal for a woman to dress in a sexual manner without any intent to have sex. If a woman is dressed scantily that is not an open invitation for sexual advances. If there is one guaranteed way to piss of an American woman it is assume she is easy.
-And finally, this is a unfortunately true and not a myth: we don't use the metric system. Despite metric being more mathematically elegant and logical- we don't understand it.
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