You've got mail!

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Many years ago, when I was 12 and barely tall enough to reach the mailbox, checking it on the way home from school was my sweet daily habit. Mail would usually come no more than 5 times a month - some bills, a newspaper and perhaps a card or a letter from whoever was still into that way of keeping in touch. Finding a piece of paper in that blue box was always exciting and something I used to look forward to.

Long gone are those days and how I do miss them! Mailboxes in the states are being spammed, junked, abused and disgraced in so many ways on a daily basis, excluding Sunday. Where do all those people, businesses and credit card agencies find my address and how do they know all the stuff about me? Making one purchase online and applying for a car loan was enough to find piles of letters in my mailbox just 3 weeks after I changed the address.

It can be nice sometimes, to come home and find an envelope with my name and address on it, to feel that I am not forgotten and no matter what there will always be some bank, store or just a local business thinking about me and sending me all the nice words and offers. This factor I can certainly appreciate!

The rest of the unwanted mail can still be pretty annoying and feel like a waste. I personally rarely even open those letter, let alone read them. Am I the only one?

Oh no, we're not dating, we're just seeing each other

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Where do I begin with this one?..

Just so it makes more sense, allow me to explain that where I am coming from there are only 2 categories of a relationship: we're together or we're not. It's black and white like that.
Even if we went on just one movie date, I would be offended it you take another girl to watch the same or a different movie later this week. Heck, I'd be mad even if you take her out for a cup of coffee or tea!
I mean, it's not luck we're engaged and you belong to me, but at least have courage to pay me a respect of letting me know you're no longer interested or don't think it's going to work out. Don't just go hanging with other girls and tell me "I didn't promise you anything!"

This is how I see it. 99% of America, apparently, disagrees with me. Just the other week on the radio a host asked a question "How many people is it OK to date at once?" The majority of callers stated "Whatever number it takes to find the perfect one!"

I mean, are you for real? So that's not considered a promiscuous behavior to be giving a phone number, sharing a dinner, discuss personal and intimate details and being inches close from each with a few different people in just one week? If that's a norm, than feel free to call me a prude.

I am still in the process of understanding and putting as much sense as I can to each step of the "dating process" done the USA-way. And it ain't easy and clear (just like the bedding story), too many definitions of what people are to each other. If I attempt to break it down, it will look something like that, in case it all works out:

We meet -> We go out -> We see each other -> We are not exclusive -> We decide that we're dating -> We are exclusive -> We are still dating -> We are engaged -> We are married -> We are a family

The scenario above is just about perfect and doesn't happen too often, from what I see and hear. In those cases when it doesn't, there's a mess of other terms and categories that people place themselves under. Insert this whole list of "9 types of relationships before they become exclusive" right after "We're not exclusive" stage.

I am done with my rant for now. May Pure Love and Exclusiveness be Always on your Side!

No Trespassing, Will Prosecute

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Oh the Americans and their love for signs! The longer I live here the more used my eyes get to seeing them on every fence, door and wall, but some still have a special spot in my memory.

This particular sign has deserved my special attention simply because it was scary to me. First of, I never came across such word as "TRESPASSING" in my life, it's just not something I was taught at school. Second, being an exchange student first time in the states, we all were warned about how law-abiding American citizens are and how we should try and stay as far away from trouble as possible for fear of being arrested and kicked out of the country.

So in case you ever wondered if these signs work, they do and I am the living proof of it! Picture me seeing a sign with words as "will prosecute" or "do not enter" and sprinting in the opposite direction. Either because I am a chicken, or the "good girl" my parents raised me to be, to this day: I pay my taxes, and I don't trespass.

Take that, immigrant haters!

#DirtyLaundry

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Question: What is one place that seemed so cool and magical in a weird romantic way from the scenes of Hollywood movies? 

Ok, I'll give you a hint: it's not that cool or romantic in any way. And most people actually hate this chore more than doing dishes. 

If you're thinking LAUNDROMAT (!), congratulations, you've just got one inch closer to seeing USA from where I stand.

Yes, laundromats always seemed to be the places where couples have their "couple time", kids are running around and having fun while their parents are happily loading and unloading washers and dryers. How many scenes from a movie can you remember when something bad happens at a laundromat. Zero, right? And how many of those do you picture where people accidentally run into each other, fall in love, share a kiss and discover some kind of truth or secret? All of them, I know.

I am not going to say that my little naive laundromat-crush was "crushed" by the harsh reality. My view of them has changed certainly, but I still have this feeling of "Look at me, I am all grown up and fancy going to do my laundry in those beautifully shiny massive washing machines". And I am still not giving up on the idea of something magical happening to me while I am folding my sheets and drying my socks... Because that's what laundromats are for, right?

Ok, that is all I've got to express in this post, which can undoubtedly qualify as the weirdest subject I've written on so far, it's official.

p.s. I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Blog Nation.

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}