A Pill for Everything

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I'll be straight about this one - it didn't take me long to realize folks in the states loooove all kinds of pills, drugs, medicines, remedies, herbs and such. There's hardly a comprehensive and all-inclusive directory of drugs that can be found and bought here.

Honestly, I feel like there a pill for everything, and the choices are limitless. Does your eye twitching or you hear a buzz in your left ear? Go see a doctor, I am sure he/she will think of something to prescribe you. Most likely there will be more than one even.

When I had a headache as a teen my mom would tell me to take a nap and have some warm milk. Ok, may be an aspirin, in case both of the methods didn't work. If I have a headache here, I am afraid to go to the drugstore - the decision making process over which one of two dozens painkillers I should choose only worsens it. For Realz.

The scariest of all to me is when I hear of youngsters being "on meds", like that's no big deal, and everybody does that. I grew up hating cough syrup, and these teenagers take all kinds of colorful stuff on a daily basis and don't think much of it. This sounds harsh, I know, but putting a kid on medication when they are going through puberty seems just as helpful to me as spanking a child that's already crying. That's just my {very} biased opinion anyways. Who am I to tell, after all? I am no MD.

Speaking of which, just from my observation and relatively limited experience dealing with doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, medical must be one of the most lucrative industries in the USA. Am I wrong?

Stay healthy, my friends, take naps and drink milk, it's good for you!

"Party We Will Throw Now"

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This post is inspired by an impending birthday of a certain girl who is turning 27 tomorrow (pointing at self)... I started thinking about the ways people arrange parties here in the states and back home, and these ways turned out to differ enough for me to share about it.

To make things more clear and easier to  picture, let's write out 2 scenarios of how the parties are arranged in the USA and how I would have done it where my friends and family are.

How to throw a party "American Way":

pick a place and make a reservation

come up with a more or less defined theme

make a list people and send or mail invitations

the invitations give all the details: when, where and what to wear

share a wishlist/registry if there's one

now the fun part: pick the decorations, utensils, napkins and about anything else that matches the theme and the mood of the party

most unexpected: the party favors! the beautiful of saying "thank you for coming" which has been perhaps the most surprising to me

How to throw a party my way:

call, send a text to those who I think I will invite a month in advance and tell them about my plan to have a party to celebrate XYZ

I don't know the details, but I'll get back to you later

a week before the party call or send a message to half of the people from the first time and tell them "So you're coming, right?"

be mad and annoyed with those that end up now showing up

figure out what I am going to wear and what my guests are going to eat and drink

dislike half the presents I get because I was too modest to actually say what I wanted/needed and was hoping the guess will somehow figure it out

oh, and when it comes to decorations, party favors etc, it's easy - who needs those?!

That is not to say that I don't miss the parties done "my way", but I rather keep them as my dear memories than the way to do.

Everything Comes with Instructions

via this hilarious tumblr blog by Liz

Ok, just because the image in the header of this post needs to be posted  in XL size to be seen and appreciated, I am making this little exception to my "layout rules" today.
Plus, tomorrow is officially Spring, my favorite season, so I feel like I can do it (although not sure how the two are connected).

Anywho, back to the subject of this post. Which is... you guessed it, the slight obsession people in America have with instructions.
Remember those tiny silica gel packets that are found everywhere from shows to handbags? Well, back when I was a kid and saw them for the first time, I applied all the knowledge of English I had to translate and educate my sister and my parents about its meaning. Let me just say, we were all puzzled. I was pretty confident that "Do Not Eat" means exactly that - don't put this stuff in your mouth. It still didn't quite make sense - why would someone tell me not to eat something that was CLEARLY non-edible?
See, unlike here, in my country we don't have instructions for everything :)

No doubt, instructions are helpful and sometimes absolutely necessary, but in some cases they seem to be just redundant. I got more used to finding the "how to's" in the unexpected and random places, but that doesn't mean I don't smile and comment on it, like in the following examples:

On the beach: "No sleeping on the beach"
On a Starbucks cup: "Caution: very hot!"
In a 3-foot deep hot tub: "No diving"
On a flower bouquet: "Remove from packaging, cut stems, place in water"
On a liquid soap: "Use like regular soap"
On a packet of nuts on the plane: "Open packet, eat nuts"

The list can actually go on for miles, just look around. For some more fun/ridiculous signs and directions, check this collection of 15 Most Unnecessary Instructions Ever on Huffington Post and this awesome list of Stupid Product Packaging <-- Caution: it's long! {pun intended}

It's a Yes Country

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How often do you hear a word "no" on average in your lifetime? Whatever the number is, I am sure that a person that lives in the USA hears this word about half the times less often.
It's not a surprise at all why this country is world-known and referred to as a land or opportunities, a place where your dreams come true.
A child in America goes to Disneyland and sees live sharks and dolphins versus anywhere a kid growing up somewhere else and just dreaming about them. Teenagers in schools are taught to "Dream Big" and to believe that "You Can Do It".
You go to the store and spend an hour there not because you need so much to buy, but because the selection is so overwhelming that you end up being stuck in one row reading all the labels before you can make up your mind on which pack of spaghetti you want to get.
Online is a whole other world. Most people have long forgotten what it is to ask for directions and writing down business phone numbers. What do you need them for if you have Google?
You call a Customer Service number and they greet you with a "Sure, I'll be happy to assist you" phrase. You write on a company Facebook wall asking for a discount and they give it to you:

Getting a "YES" as an answer is pretty nice. It makes us believe that everything is possible and nothing is off-limits. It is also very addictive, I must warn you. Please use with caution and never take it for granted.

... Wait, what do you mean never? :)

Not-Understandings Happen

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I already shared the troubles I had to go through with understanding spoken English just when I came here. I mentioned that my best guess was to avoid direct eye contact and smile to look like I know what's going on. Today, after spending some time here I do just the opposite, which would definitely top the list of 10 Things Every Foreigner in USA Should Know (if I ever had one).

That advice is: if you don't understand something, say it. As much as embarrassing this may feel at first, it'll get easier with time and will certainly pay back. I know why I didn't do it at first: I didn't want to be viewed as a "dumb foreigner" who can't even speak English. Now that I've lived here for a while and feeling like my English is good enough as it is, I don't need to prove this point to anyone.

I think it's just normal not to know some words, not to recognize the well-known names and titles (because often they sound different from what they do in my native language) and not to get some jokes. In moderation, of course.

I've received various reactions to me admitting I didn't know a word or two:
disbelief  - my infamous "Taylor Swift minute of shame"
adoration - "Oh it's so cute that you don't know what XYZ is"
admiration - "No worries, your English is still waaaay better than my XXX language"

As to the reasons why I think if everyone who doesn't know, doesn't recognize or doesn't understand stuff they are told should pause and ask, here's why. You avoid possible embarrassment in the future, when the conversation continues to refer the object of your ignorance and you are asked to express your opinion about it. You learn something new. And hey, it makes you look cute :) jk

Come to our Pharmacy, We've Got Drugs for You

Who's next in line for booze or to pick up a prescription?
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Let me talk about CVS, RiteAid, Wallgreens. You know, the places I go to get Bacardi and Coke at 11 pm on a Friday night. Oh, wait, that's not what you normally go there for?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered:
a. Pharmacies are called Drugstores (I knew medicine and pills, I had no idea you can call them drugs as well) and
b. You can actually get drugs there, I mean, alcohol. And a nice selection too. Did I mention the deals here are much better than in your average corner liquor store?

Not that I am complaining about anything. These days I love CVS pharmacy precisely for the reasons mentioned above. But I would be lying if I say I didn't question the moral and ethical and logical standards at first when I walked in for painkillers and found myself walking around the shelves generously stacked with cheap wine.

I bet american folks have no idea that might seem strange to anyone. Good thing I'm here to share all about it.

Libraries are for Public

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Does the word "library" make you yawn? It did have this effect on me, before it changed in 2006.When I came to the states for the first time in the summer of 2006 I was a poor exchange student, working at MacDonald's and not even owning a laptop. My friend and I were looking for ways to stay in touch with the families and were told to go to the nearest public library and ask to use computers with internet access. At first I thought it was just some kind older lady that was letting young foreigners like myself use those library computers. In fact, the lady working there was very nice and patient, but I was wrong about the rest, which I   then discovered.

Ever since that summer american public libraries have had a warm spot in my heart. Not only do they provide a computer and internet access to pretty much anyone who can show an ID, the convenience of selecting, picking up and dropping off materials is still exciting to me.

Back home only weird and old people go to libraries. I am not talking about students, they don't do it by choice. Otherwise there's nothing to do there, most libraries are dusty, smelly, boring. And who reads paper books these days anyway? Just going through the library catalog is exhausting and is a very good test for your nervous system. 

Not here, though. You can browse entire library catalog online, I've challenged it several times by entering queries sort of as a joke and every time there would be at least a dozen of results. Oh and should I mention that there are not just your standard paper books, there are audiobooks, music, videos, magazines, encyclopedias? You find what you want, place a hold and tell them where to send it, sit back, relax and wait for the doorbell to ring. Well, not really, you still need to drive to the library to pick it up, but that's nothing if you think about how much time you saved already. They will send you email notifications when the materials are ready for pick up and 3 days before you need to return them.

Wait, and the best part? It's all for just $3 initiation fee (or something in that range). In other words, it's all completely and absolutely free. That's a definition of an exceptional public service, if you ask me. I am fascinated, if that's is not yet obvious. 

When was the last time you went to a library? Do yourself a favor, check it out.