gil-n-joy

I still get a laugh when I think about my wife's first few months here. She has been here one year next month. some of the things she found weird:
1. No real visible security at the mall or banks.
2. 24 hour major stores
3. No deposit or withdrawal slips
4. You can get your money back when you return something.
5. Internet shopping (yes she now has it mastered).
6. Military discounts
7. Limitless refills on drinks at restaurants
8. People don't care about your middle name on documents.
9. American teenagers and their freedom
10. Even poor people have a car
11. Black Friday shopping adventure
12. What kids wear to school, (we have two high school daughters)
13. Shooting sports (she now has two rifles and is getting quite good)
14. Lack of public transportation, (we have no busses or taxi's where we live)
Last but not least, never ending ED commercials. She asked me who Ed was. When I told her, it was the first time I had seen a filipina blush.

Oh, in addition...
1. She is surprised that she knows better English than most Americans. She was an English teacher, but still shocked. She is amazed she has to correct and spell words for her co-workers when a sign has to be written. She is shocked that Americans dont know the meaning to bigger words that she uses, and she has to define the meaning of the words to people when she is comfortable using those words.
2. She complained, at first, that people here "swallow their words" when speaking...because of the accent I guess. She had a difficult time understanding them at first, but now understands perfectly well.
3. She had one of her first experiences recently with racism. A woman she takes care of at an assisted living did not like her (or other people working there from foreign countries) because of speaking with an accent and looking different. It was a rich white woman who was like that.
Brian in Tennessee

For Anna it was:
Mail:
* - Almost every day? Really?
* - You're joking right? Just put a stamp on and leave it in the mail box to send it?
The washer, dryer & dishwasher.
The fridge is so large.
The only restaurants she can get rice the way she likes it are Asian.
High School girls wearing "Pek Pek Shorts" everywhere.
A 2,900 sq ft house occupied by just 5 people.
Central Heating & Air.
People actually TALK on their cell phones.
Unlimited Texting on cell phone plans, how do they make any money?
Seeing parents ask their kids to Please behave and not act like insane wild animals in public, "In the Philippines the parents would just smack them if a child ever acted like that"
Getting a receipt for service calls, repairs & installations.
Really? I can just return it if I don't like it?
The manager cares that we waited 30 minutes for our lunch to be served and comped us our meal!
The brand name stuff is legit and counterfeits can't be found in every corner.
The power grid is reliable, why don't we have black-outs every other week?
The list goes on...

Mine are: (first 3 are on my day 1 in US)
1. It's 7pm and it's not dark yet. I didn't really understand longer days 'til I got here.
2. US flags(big and regular) everywhere.
3. No people walking on the street, maybe one or two that's it.
4. Drivers seldom honk their horns.
5. Half an aisle of spices on grocery stores.
6. Leaf blower.
7. Freeways.
8. Signs giving exact bridge clearance. e.i 20.1
9. Lots of four way stop.
10. Laundromats. I like them.
11. Drive-through banking.
12. Difference between who shops at Wholefoods and who shops at Walmart.
13. Movies cost more. Can only watch once. Can't bring food too.
14. Students are wearing shorts to school.
15. A wreath on someone's car during Christmas time.
16. People say "hi" a lot.
17. Some people stealing grocery carts.
18. Beggars with nice clothes on the street.
19. Buildings have addresses on their walls.
20. Apartments giving one month free.
Yeah, I have asked my husband a lot of whys and hows in the first few months. I still do sometimes.

At a 4-way stop. Everyone stops and takes turns very orderly.....She was shocked.

philippines is actually very americanized. it's almost the same. like the banking system, the online shopping, and actually found out that we have more sophisticated ways of doing things than u guys here in u.s. do. like our movie theater in the philippines are huge, and we have 3d and now 4d movie screen.
i should say it depends on where ur partners lived in the philippines. i lived in a very well off city in the philippines and now i'm stucked here in midwest with nothing but fields. although it's pretty here, i still miss the sky-scrapers and the beauty of both city-country life.
but one thing that really amazed me -- an almost a 100 year old ppl can still ride a tractor and combine and drive a freaking truck. =)