I’m British and I study in the US.
Through my studies I have a working scholarship so I work at my university teaching a low-level class to first year students.
In my first semester it got to the week before Thanksgiving and I was talking to couple of my students who had got to class a few minutes early. They all know that I’m not American, some of them knew my partner wasn’t born in America and they all knew I hadn’t been in America for even longer than six months.
One of my students asks me how I celebrate Thanksgiving. And I said that I don’t. She and a few other students look at me real confused and asked me why I don’t celebrate it. I think one of them even asked how people in Britain celebrate it…
That was definitely a teaching moment.
I went to Washington DC just after Christmas and we ended up at Ben’s Chilli Bowl for hotdogs (I think we’d seen them on Man vs Food) and there was a huge queue so we went to the bar next door. There were 6 of us and a little busy in the bar but we managed to find a smallish table and scrounge some chairs.
There were 3 people on the table next to us who insisted we swap tables so we sent a round to their table to say thanks. They sent a round of shots back. We sent a round again! We ended up pushing the tables together and having a great time – 6 Brits and 3 native Washingtonians (?) having an absolute ball. I mentioned we needed to grab a hotdog and one of our new friends insisting on getting the most amazing chilli dog from next door for me. Such a great night!
In person I find Americans to be the most friendly and genuine people I’ve encountered. Very polite and curious about your life too. It was a culture shock at first because as a brit if a stranger is that friendly or interested in what you have to say they are either scamming you or being fake as hell. The america you see on the news is a different country to the one you experience on the ground.
I’m a Canadian. My family goes down to Florida every four years or so. Back in 2011, or so, we went to a Dunkin Donuts. My dad asked for a Double-Double, and the cashier had the most perplexed look on his face. Turned out, a Double-Double in Canada is called a Regular in America.
As a Turk, this was probably my most memorable one.
We were out and about in Anaheim, LA. My folks stopped to buy some stuff from the pharmacy so I sat on the roof of our rented jeep. I waved at some officers parked on the other side the road, and they waved back.
Despite the shit they constantly get, Americans are super eager to get along with people.