What did you notice the first time you came to the US.

[Anonymous]

Having to wear thick padded coats to deal with the cold winters, big cars, green grassy lawns, weird processed cheese, bland food, loads of baked goods, butter in everything including rice (cringe!), big people (both wide and tall).

Thailand. Arrived in the early 70's, first to Indiana, then to the MD suburbs.

[Anonymous]

My cousin visited from Seoul, South Korea when he was in high school and was shocked to see the squirrels in our backyard. He didn't know what a squirrel was and obviously had never seen one before.

[Anonymous]

I would love to know where you people are that you regularly see 500 lb people "waddling around in public". I've lived all over the US and can count on one hand the number of super morbidly obese people I have seen in public.

I would love to know what you people think 500 lbs looks like.

If someone is 500 lbs, waddle away, it beats sitting at home.

[Anonymous]

Not my own experience, but one I witnessed firsthand: in 1989, my uncle's brother from East Germany finally got permission to come to the U.S. and visit my uncle, after many years of trying. My family went along to pick him up at Detroit Metro airport. On our way home, my Aunt realized she needed milk and asked if we could stop at the grocery store on the way home. We all walked into the grocery store, and our East German visitor went nuts, gesturing at the fruit display and nearly shouting, looking just amazed and even slightly teary. My uncle quickly asked him in German what was wrong, was everything okay. Turns out they were his favorite food, but something he got like once a year, maybe, and not very good ones at that. Seeing giant piles of them just sitting in the produce section, for anyone to buy -- as many as they wanted -- was completely overwhelming. It made a huge impression on me as a not-very-worldly Midwest teen, circa 1989, that living in America was something very different and special. That my little town in the Midwest -- a place I thought was the backwater of the universe -- could seem like Oz or Wonderland to someone who lived in a very different part of the world. I'm not saying our abundance here is always positive; I know the externalities are huge. But gosh, I wish we could remember a little more clearly once in a while how lucky we are to benefit from it as well.

[Anonymous]

12:53 here. In my previous post, the "them" my Uncle's brother was referring to were bannanas. I do realize he probably had access to other kinds of fresh fruit on a pretty regular basis, even in East Germany, but bannanas were this huge treat for him that I had completely taken for granted. Sorry for the confusion!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to know where you people are that you regularly see 500 lb people "waddling around in public". I've lived all over the US and can count on one hand the number of super morbidly obese people I have seen in public.

Just this week, I was waiting to cross at an intersection (in NWDC), standing behind TWO people in triple-wide motorized scooters. I don't know about 500 pounds, but I think that "so fat you can't even walk" is a pretty good image of what we're talking about here. And I seriously doubt your second sentence. I see more than five morbidly obsese people each and every week.

[Anonymous]

I came from Vietnam in the early 80's when I was still in elementary school (Things in Vietnam big cities are very modernized now!). We first landed at JFK airport, and I remember being envious of the large size ice cream portions the kids and adults were eating. When we got to DC, I was flabbergasted by how the sheer number of lights that was everywhere from the roads to the stores. Also, I remember thinking how beautiful blond hair looked.

[Anonymous]

12:53, DH is from the former East Germany and eats so many bananas because of the scarcity he endured. It's like he's trying to catch up for 18 banana-free years .

[Anonymous]

The portion sizes in restaurants. They could feed about 3 people. And the number of really, really huge people. Yes, we have fat people where I'm from, but everything IS bigger in America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am American and have lived in both the Midwest, East Coast and Europe. I moved to PG county and was amazed how quickly I was dismissed by people because of where I had chosen to live. I live in a beautiful 5 bedroom home in a great neighborhood, but, I may as well be a crack whore in the eyes of those in the better neighborhoods.

I am overweight and realized I am the fattest person I know, by far, and it's not like I will need to be cut out of the house after I die from a heart attack. I run in the mornings and I do see other fat runners but I swear they come from all over to run on the same shaded path I run on.

The fact that Republican is an insult not a political choice.

The fact that people here tend to believe their opinions are facts. I have never come across so many closed-minded people and they were the ones preaching that we need to be excepting of everyone. As long as they are pro-choice, believe in welfare, went to Ivy League schools, make $300k a year, don't work from home, and wear yellow only on Tuesdays when theirs a full moon. It's all very complicated.

The poor drivers.

The diversity

The good places to eat and the Asian Markets.

The amount of green spaces.

How eco-friendly people are, with the exception of their cars.

It's rather interesting to note that of all the responses of the obvious non-native english speakers (myself included), it appears that the American from PG county is the one with the most grammatical and contextual errors in the posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not my own experience, but one I witnessed firsthand: in 1989, my uncle's brother from East Germany finally got permission to come to the U.S. and visit my uncle, after many years of trying. My family went along to pick him up at Detroit Metro airport. On our way home, my Aunt realized she needed milk and asked if we could stop at the grocery store on the way home. We all walked into the grocery store, and our East German visitor went nuts, gesturing at the fruit display and nearly shouting, looking just amazed and even slightly teary. My uncle quickly asked him in German what was wrong, was everything okay. Turns out they were his favorite food, but something he got like once a year, maybe, and not very good ones at that. Seeing giant piles of them just sitting in the produce section, for anyone to buy -- as many as they wanted -- was completely overwhelming. It made a huge impression on me as a not-very-worldly Midwest teen, circa 1989, that living in America was something very different and special. That my little town in the Midwest -- a place I thought was the backwater of the universe -- could seem like Oz or Wonderland to someone who lived in a very different part of the world. I'm not saying our abundance here is always positive; I know the externalities are huge. But gosh, I wish we could remember a little more clearly once in a while how lucky we are to benefit from it as well.

Sounds like when they took Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies to the grocery store for the first time. She was used to gathering and catching food for supper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not my own experience, but one I witnessed firsthand: in 1989, my uncle's brother from East Germany finally got permission to come to the U.S. and visit my uncle, after many years of trying. My family went along to pick him up at Detroit Metro airport. On our way home, my Aunt realized she needed milk and asked if we could stop at the grocery store on the way home. We all walked into the grocery store, and our East German visitor went nuts, gesturing at the fruit display and nearly shouting, looking just amazed and even slightly teary. My uncle quickly asked him in German what was wrong, was everything okay. Turns out they were his favorite food, but something he got like once a year, maybe, and not very good ones at that. Seeing giant piles of them just sitting in the produce section, for anyone to buy -- as many as they wanted -- was completely overwhelming. It made a huge impression on me as a not-very-worldly Midwest teen, circa 1989, that living in America was something very different and special. That my little town in the Midwest -- a place I thought was the backwater of the universe -- could seem like Oz or Wonderland to someone who lived in a very different part of the world. I'm not saying our abundance here is always positive; I know the externalities are huge. But gosh, I wish we could remember a little more clearly once in a while how lucky we are to benefit from it as well.

Sounds like when they took Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies to the grocery store for the first time. She was used to gathering and catching food for supper.

Actually, in the 80s/early 90s I heard quite of a few stories from friends and family about visitors from Eastern Europe passing out on their first trip to Wegman's. Fortunately, I myself handled Wegmans just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am American and have lived in both the Midwest, East Coast and Europe. I moved to PG county and was amazed how quickly I was dismissed by people because of where I had chosen to live. I live in a beautiful 5 bedroom home in a great neighborhood, but, I may as well be a crack whore in the eyes of those in the better neighborhoods.

I am overweight and realized I am the fattest person I know, by far, and it's not like I will need to be cut out of the house after I die from a heart attack. I run in the mornings and I do see other fat runners but I swear they come from all over to run on the same shaded path I run on.

The fact that Republican is an insult not a political choice.

The fact that people here tend to believe their opinions are facts. I have never come across so many closed-minded people and they were the ones preaching that we need to be excepting of everyone. As long as they are pro-choice, believe in welfare, went to Ivy League schools, make $300k a year, don't work from home, and wear yellow only on Tuesdays when theirs a full moon. It's all very complicated.

The poor drivers.

The diversity

The good places to eat and the Asian Markets.

The amount of green spaces.

How eco-friendly people are, with the exception of their cars.

It's rather interesting to note that of all the responses of the obvious non-native english speakers (myself included), it appears that the American from PG county is the one with the most grammatical and contextual errors in the posting.

Excuse me? I am dislexic, you bitch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to know where you people are that you regularly see 500 lb people "waddling around in public". I've lived all over the US and can count on one hand the number of super morbidly obese people I have seen in public.

I would love to know what you people think 500 lbs looks like.

If someone is 500 lbs, waddle away, it beats sitting at home.

Try any Wal*Mart in the Midwest. LOL! I'm not trying to make fun (I'm from the Midwest, and I'm fat). When my DH and I returned to the U.S. after having spent 5 years overseas, we totally saw the U.S. in a different light. Americans are fat -- or rather, fatter than most Europeans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:53 here. In my previous post, the "them" my Uncle's brother was referring to were bannanas. I do realize he probably had access to other kinds of fresh fruit on a pretty regular basis, even in East Germany, but bannanas were this huge treat for him that I had completely taken for granted. Sorry for the confusion!

That was me (and actually my whole family too) when we first came to Florida from Russia (then the Soviet Union) in the late 80's. Bananas were a HUGE treat back home, literally only once or twice a year kind of thing. So we went a little wild at first, buying huge bags of bananas every week, people at the supermarket were staring at us (how could you possibly eat that many bananas?). It passed pretty quickly, and these days I don't even buy bananas on a regular basis anymore. I had also never had a fresh pineapple, only canned, until I came here.