Things ours can't get used to in American apartments
'20.01.2021'
When moving to the United States, many prepare to plunge into a new culture, study it, and generally come prepared. But there are everyday things that few people talk about and few people pay attention to. But sometimes it's hard to get used to them. The author told about such things blog "Where do we live?" on Yandex.Zen.
“My friend Mariam has been living in the States for six years now. The first time she visited the United States on the Work & Travel program as a student, and then every year she began to participate in the green card drawing and once won. Together with her husband, they moved to the States and now live in New York, - says the author. “Mariam truly loves the United States, and life in this country is a dream of her entire adult life, but she admitted that after living for some time, she began to notice the shortcomings.”
No swing windows, but there are air conditioners
People who grew up in the USSR and the post-Soviet space are used to the fact that the windows in the house can be opened completely and the apartment can be ventilated. Especially on hot summer days. But in the USA everything is different. The windows here open halfway and mostly upward. And the wide open windows replace air conditioners.
The United States took the design of the windows from Great Britain. In those years glass was expensive, so the windows were made in small squares. In addition, Americans are very fond of coolness, so air conditioners are an integral part of any house or apartment.
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“We rented several apartments, and in all there were terrible little windows on which there was an old antediluvian air conditioner, of course, if you have your own house, you can do everything there as you need it, but in rented accommodation, like most in the States, windows such. I still don’t like them and I can’t get used to the fact that you cannot open the windows so that fresh air comes in, to ventilate properly, ”said Mariam.
No kettle
All our people love to drink tea. Similarly, Mariam, she brought herbal and berry teas with her.
“Even when I was living under the exchange program, it was a tragedy for me to boil water in a saucepan. The family in which I lived did not understand what I was arranging for dancing with a pan, then they got used to it. And when we moved completely, then, of course, we bought ourselves a kettle, but, in general, the absence of kettles in apartments is still nonsense for me, we even have them in student dormitories, this is something like a light bulb in an apartment, the same necessary ", - said Mariam.
Few tiles in the bathroom
In many countries, bathroom tiles are an indispensable part of the decoration. At the same time, it is made in different ways, with drawings, in different colors. This is not only a Russian feature, in Europe they also love beautiful tiles, for example, all over the world they value Italian tiles of beautiful colors, shades and excellent quality.
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But in the US, bathroom bleaching is a little easier. Tiles are far from everywhere, and if they are, they are in neutral colors - white or beige. For some reason, this feature is very annoying to Mariam.
“In every apartment we lived in, the bathroom reminded me of a hospital. I think I'll never get used to it, ”added Mariam.
No washing machine
The history surrounding washing machines in the United States is very strange. The fact is that even Americans themselves do not always know why in many houses it is impossible to put a personal washing machine in an apartment.
Someone explains this by the fact that it is impossible to carry out communications in order to connect a machine, others explain it by the fact that the matter is in the noise that can interfere with neighbors, others are sure that this is just a matter of habit.
“In some cases, objectively, it's just a habit, I lived for some time in an apartment where I had to go to the laundry. I do not know how you can get used to the fact that you need to go somewhere to wash with dirty things. It is inconvenient, especially if you suddenly need some thing tomorrow, I did it on my hands, and now we have an apartment with a typewriter, ”said Mariam.
The original column is published in blog "Where do we live?" on Yandex.Zen.
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