Cultural Differences in the States?

lil_lisa

Don't expect anything to start on time in Southern California. People don't go by the Coordinated Universal Time over here. Most use their own personal clocks and get places when it suits them!

InTheTrees

Yeah I was amazed at how tardy people were in California when I moved there. All those stories about American efficiency etc etc.
Its the same in Washington State as well. Turn up on time to anything and you'll be waiting because everyone else will be late.

:mad:

Palmy

You will meet the nicest and rudest people here.I work for a Large Home Improvement store and one lady refused to get her paint mixed because the Girl in the paint department didn't have a 4yr college degree in PAINT.The same week a lady came in with her 16yr old daughter and pointed out to the same girl in the paint department and said "This is where you will end up working if you don't listen to your teachers at school"straight in front of her.It seems if you don't have a college degree here (In Florida anyway)you are looked down on.Plenty of people working for us have college degrees.I think it is absolutly crazy for someone to spend $70,000+ for a BA degree.Half the staff are crippled with student loans.For god sake it cost $15-20,000 to do a part time associates degree online.
I have had to hold my mouth quite afew times not to say something to certain people that think they are above you, i fell like saying who the f do you think you are.

Killer Wench

InTheTrees wrote: »

Yeah I was amazed at how tardy people were in California when I moved there. All those stories about American efficiency etc etc.
Its the same in Washington State as well. Turn up on time to anything and you'll be waiting because everyone else will be late.

:mad:

It's interesting because I experienced that when I lived in Ireland. Don't get me started on morning tea breaks.

Killer Wench

Palmy wrote: »

You will meet the nicest and rudest people here.I work for a Large Home Improvement store and one lady refused to get her paint mixed because the Girl in the paint department didn't have a 4yr college degree in PAINT.The same week a lady came in with her 16yr old daughter and pointed out to the same girl in the paint department and said "This is where you will end up working if you don't listen to your teachers at school"straight in front of her.It seems if you don't have a college degree here (In Florida anyway)you are looked down on.Plenty of people working for us have college degrees.I think it is absolutly crazy for someone to spend $70,000+ for a BA degree.Half the staff are crippled with student loans.For god sake it cost $15-20,000 to do a part time associates degree online.
I have had to hold my mouth quite afew times not to say something to certain people that think they are above you, i fell like saying who the f do you think you are.

I think only 25% of the American people have a college degree or something like that. It is ridiculous that there are elitists out there that won't interact with people less educated, and it is equally ridiculous the amount our college education costs. It was cheaper for me to move to Ireland and attend TCD for a Master's degree than it would have been to pay out of state tuition at the University of Washington. Yet, I tend to be a bit cold-hearted when it comes to those who seek online degrees without doing proper research on those type of schools.

InTheTrees

Killer Wench wrote: »

It's interesting because I experienced that when I lived in Ireland. Don't get me started on morning tea breaks.

ha ha ha!

I think one of the primary reasons people leave Ireland is that they feel they can get things done elsewhere!

Its like half the people get it (and a lot of them leave) and the other half blissfully continue with that "unique" sense of time that tourists love so much.

My sister in Galway for instance... Time? Schedules? Appointments? They're just rough guides about when to give something a little thought...

Admittedly a little worse than California. It wouldnt do to turn up to a meeting in silicon valley a day late.

Palmy

It really is crazy the price of college education here.I watched an ad on t.v for a mechnic school for a full one year pre trade course.I looked it up online and they want $40,000 for the course and your not even qualified at the end of it.Same goes for the hospitals here,a girl in works daughter was very sick and in hospital for a month.Her insurance covers 80% but the final bill was just over $1mil...:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

dave2pvd

Palmy wrote: »

Same goes for the hospitals here,a girl in works daughter was very sick and in hospital for a month.Her insurance covers 80% but the final bill was just over $1mil...:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Sounds like a terrible insurance policy. Usually there are 'out of pocket maximums' that cap how much you pay. Without that in there, you're in deep trouble.

Keep in mind that the 'costs' you hear are like 'MSRP' or 'list' prices. Insurance companies do not pay these amounts when settling. 25c on the dollar is more typical.

I had a fairly big bill from an injury recently that required physical therapy sessions beyond what insurance would pay (I was capped at 20 sessions). I ended up settling with the clinic for what the insurance company would have paid. I think it was ~22% of the bill.

Palmy

Her plan was $750 deductable insurance through working for a major Home Improvement chain.Her daughter also required 60 physio seasons(20 covered by insuranse) at $1200 a day.Her own expenses not covered by insurance is well into the hundreds of thousands.People are even ringing her in work looking for money and shes only back a week..Good luck i say.I told her pay them a hundred bucks a month thats all you can afford to pay them..:D
Florida is $500 to call an ambulance and $750 at a+e before they even look at you.

dave2pvd

Palmy wrote: »

Her plan was $750 deductable insurance through working for a major Home Improvement chain.Her daughter also required 60 physio seasons(20 covered by insuranse) at $1200 a day.Her own expenses not covered by insurance is well into the hundreds of thousands.People are even ringing her in work looking for money and shes only back a week..Good luck i say.I told her pay them a hundred bucks a month thats all you can afford to pay them..:D
Florida is $500 to call an ambulance and $750 at a+e before they even look at you.

Again, all 'list prices' and extremely negotiable. Especially that $1200/day - in fact that doesn't sound right at all.

Palmy

She had water on the brain so i think thats why it was so expensive for the type of physio.She was in ICU for over three weeks.I know if i was paying id do what you did and offer them a reducted amount for sure:o

DesperateDan

This is actually one of the main things that would put me off moving to the US, insane and terrifying medical care costs. I haven't been to the dentist in 10 years and thats only a couple hundred depending on what's needed!

looksee

My daughter has been in the US for the last 6 years or so, and goes to the dentist when she comes home!

dave2pvd

I've got great dental insurance.

I never go.

I saw Marathon Man :eek:

Palmy

If you don't have insurance here they still have to treat you by law.They will just take you to court and you will just have to pay a certain amount that the judge thinks you can afford.I don't have insurance at the moment even though i could get a reduced rate through work.Still it would cost me $300 a month.Personelly i would rather put $3600 a year away in a rainy day account and hope to never us it.After three years thats over ten grand saved.I am in my mid thirty's with a wife and one child,as the other poster said you can bargain them down to about 25% of the cost if you have cash and settle.We have people at work who are 70 yrs old and the only reason for working is because they can get a massive reduced insurance rate.Once you get older in life they sky rocket your insurance payments anyway....It's just a big scam really.
I was at a friend of a friends house a few weeks back who was a doctor and he wasn't much older than me and his house was worth about $1.5mil on the water, brand new Porche 911 turbo in the garage ,5 series Bmw and a Range rover.Now i give it to him and doctors train hard and i don't hold it against him but when it cost $15-20k to have a baby here it's nuts how much they charge. You can drive past the doctors office's here and see Porches and Ferrari's parked next to each other..

dave2pvd

Palmy wrote: »

If you don't have insurance here they still have to treat you by law.They will just take you to court and you will just have to pay a certain amount that the judge thinks you can afford.I don't have insurance at the moment even though i could get a reduced rate through work.Still it would cost me $300 a month.Personelly i would rather put $3600 a year away in a rainy day account and hope to never us it.After three years thats over ten grand saved.I am in my mid thirty's with a wife and one child,as the other poster said you can bargain them down to about 25% of the cost if you have cash and settle.We have people at work who are 70 yrs old and the only reason for working is because they can get a massive reduced insurance rate.Once you get older in life they sky rocket your insurance payments anyway....It's just a big scam really.
I was at a friend of a friends house a few weeks back who was a doctor and he wasn't much older than me and his house was worth about $1.5mil on the water, brand new Porche 911 turbo in the garage ,5 series Bmw and a Range rover.Now i give it to him and doctors train hard and i don't hold it against him but when it cost $15-20k to have a baby here it's nuts how much they charge. You can drive past the doctors office's here and see Porches and Ferrari's parked next to each other..

You might want to think about taking out a low cost high deductible health plan policy. Or just take that $3,600pa and opt in to your employer's plan (sounds like an OK deal). Think about it, one ER visit for a broken bone (God forbid) and you've blown far past the $3,600. You're taking a big risk there, IMO.

Something to keep in mind: many docs make very little. Think of ER docs in regional clinics or attendings in AIDS clinics. Docs that carry out 'procedures' tend to make the big bucks (neuro, orth, plastic surgery...).

The profit taking in healthcare is in the phara/med device industry. Also, in the health insurance 'layer' of profit taking.



....have we gone off-topic a bit?

Palmy

Touch wood never broken a bone in my body and played Rugby for 14 years..:D ...yeah i think we are a little off topic..:P:)

RGM

Just to echo something said earlier, the cultural differences just within the US itself are vast. Keep in mind that there are about 40 states larger than the whole of Ireland. Think of the differences between the different regions of Ireland, and then realize the US is well over 100x as big.

You can't really generalize about the whole country.

HavingCrack

Apologies if this has been mentioned, haven't read the whole thread but never, never, never use the c word, in San Francisco anyway. Every other swear word is acceptable but one of my Irish friends used that in a drunken conversation one day on a bus home and the whole bus literally went silent.

The other thing, which is a very California specific thing, maybe even San Francisco specific thing is the obsession with healthy, organic food which is absurdly expensive which means you end up paying ridiculous amounts of money doing your grocery shopping or else eating fast food.

Oh and buying good ham is impossible.

[-0-]

This thread is great.

A few points to note:
Each state is like it's own country, so if someone has a bad thing to say or a bad experience, they must realize it's not like that everywhere. Likewise with good experiences.

I live in Nashua, New Hampshire which is about 39 miles from Boston.

Pros
1. The quality of living is in a different league to back home. This is due to a million and one reasons. Weather, facilities, etc.
2. The weather is great! We actually have 4 seasons in New England, although too much snow will make you crazy.
3. If you have health insurance then the service you get is outstanding. I've had several procedures done since I got here, the hospitals were like 5 star hotels. Obviously not like this everywhere & if you don't have insurance.
4. The Americans love the Irish accent - especially the women.
5. The Americans are a friendly bunch all round.
6. No tax on income in NH. My salary is probably double what I got in Ireland doing the exact same thing and I pay LESS tax than I did there. Granted property tax is high in NH to compensate but I don't have a house yet so that does not bother me for now.
7. Land is cheap depending on where you are. You can buy a 30 acre farm and build a house on it in Tennessee for 100 grand or even less.

Cons
1. The drivers are terrible. If you're not going 10 miles OVER the speed limit people will beep at you to go faster. Very aggressive drivers, often run red lights. Bad driving can be seen everywhere, they constantly speed up & break, speed up & break instead of going the one pace.
2. Good Guinness is hard to find; unsurprising - it is America. I've seen it all - 1 pint pour to 7 pint pour. One guy tried to sell me a pint with a inch of blank and the rest was head. In saying that, there is a few nice places in Boston with perfect Guinness, same goes for two places in Nashua - you just have to catch the right fella / girl behind the bar at the time.
3. The food is too nice. Why the hell should this be a con? Well, if you eat out you're going to get fat, fast. The portions are huge and really bad for you. On the plus side, I would rather have this than have crap food, but it's why people are so heavy here.
4. Fast food joints everywhere!
5. Adverts on the TV every 5 mins or so. Adverts in general are crazy here. We have Bloomberg on in work all day and the amount of viagra adverts is insane. I use a Roku 2XS at home so I don't have to watch adverts at home.
6. Bible bashing baptists are insane. I went to a Baptist church once to experience it; the pastor was telling how people used to murder innocent children who misbehaved. Mounds of thousands of burning kids could be seen for miles around. I saw kids there looking at each other scared to death. Terrible stuff.

Darren1o1

HavingCrack wrote: »

Oh and buying good ham is impossible.

Not True. Foodireland.com has some but I go to a butcher in South Boston (may be a bit of a trek for you lol).

Darren1o1

[-0-] wrote: »

2. Good Guinness is hard to find; unsurprising - it is America. I've seen it all - 1 pint pour to 7 pint pour. One guy tried to sell me a pint with a inch of blank and the rest was head. In saying that, there is a few nice places in Boston with perfect Guinness, same goes for two places in Nashua - you just have to catch the right fella / girl behind the bar at the time.

I agree with almost all you have said. As for the Pint, we need to get you up to Keene (NH). You can get a good pint of Guinness or Murphy's off a corkman to go with you breakfast roll! I was actually down your way last week for a suit fitting!

[-0-]

Darren1o1 wrote: »

I agree with almost all you have said. As for the Pint, we need to get you up to Keene (NH). You can get a good pint of Guinness or Murphy's off a corkman to go with you breakfast roll! I was actually down your way last week for a suit fitting!

Are you serious?!?! Oh man. I have a friend visiting this weekend and we could take a trip to Keene. Do you remember the name of the bar?

southsiderosie

Palmy wrote: »

If you don't have insurance here they still have to treat you by law.They will just take you to court and you will just have to pay a certain amount that the judge thinks you can afford.I don't have insurance at the moment even though i could get a reduced rate through work.Still it would cost me $300 a month.Personelly i would rather put $3600 a year away in a rainy day account and hope to never us it.After three years thats over ten grand saved.I am in my mid thirty's with a wife and one child,as the other poster said you can bargain them down to about 25% of the cost if you have cash and settle.We have people at work who are 70 yrs old and the only reason for working is because they can get a massive reduced insurance rate.Once you get older in life they sky rocket your insurance payments anyway....It's just a big scam really.
I was at a friend of a friends house a few weeks back who was a doctor and he wasn't much older than me and his house was worth about $1.5mil on the water, brand new Porche 911 turbo in the garage ,5 series Bmw and a Range rover.Now i give it to him and doctors train hard and i don't hold it against him but when it cost $15-20k to have a baby here it's nuts how much they charge. You can drive past the doctors office's here and see Porches and Ferrari's parked next to each other..

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

$300 a month for insurance is VERY cheap! And if you have to go to court, you will not only be stuck with the bill, but also the court costs. Plus 25% of $100,000 is still a hell of a lot of money - ONE DAY in the intensive care unit can cost over $10,000, and that does not include your medication and doctor's fees. I really, really urge you to get insurance - one accident and you can end up financially crippled for life.

LenaClaire

Hazys wrote: »

Culture in the US varies vastly from region to region. I live in Boston and i've pretty much had the complete opposite experience to Silja.

-Car Culture. I've been living here almost 4 years and i have never been behind the wheel of the car.

-Gun Culture. Gun control is very strict, nobody carries guns.

-Politics. Boston would be mostly democratic. I feel the people here would be more liberal than back home, possibly because of the large student and academic population.

-Religion. Discussion of religion is not very prevalent here. I'd say you'd have more or less the same percentages of religious and atheist people as you would have back home.

Yes, Chicago is very similar to this. If you are living in the city having a car is not necessary, you can get anywhere on the CTA and cabs are plentiful if you are out at night.

Guns were just this year made legal to carry in the city - this means that pretty much only criminals and cops carry in Chicago.

If you are living in the city it is predominantly liberal/democrat but if you are living in the suburbs it trends more conservative/republican.

Darren1o1

[-0-] wrote: »

Are you serious?!?! Oh man. I have a friend visiting this weekend and we could take a trip to Keene. Do you remember the name of the bar?

Waxy O'Connors. Let me know and I could show you the ropes :P The bar was made in Ireland and shipped over. Nice and dark, plus the premiership starts this weekend so a few of us may be down!

southsiderosie

OP, I grew up in Chicago, and lived in Ireland for about a year, so here are the key cultural differences/similarities as I see them.

First, people from the Midwest are VERY friendly. While I generally found the Irish to be much friendlier than other Northern Europeans, even other Americans comment on how friendly and polite Midwesterners are. So this may take some getting used to.

Chicago has a pretty comprehensive mass transit system, but the ease of getting from point A to point B - and the safety of that trip - is highly dependent on where you live. So the American 'car culture' doesn't necessarily apply here if you live in the city, and it isn't really desirable since parking is expensive and/or scarce. If you are in the 'burbs, you will probably need a car.

One major difference is that there is a shocking level of violent crime in Chicago. While the US in general has more violent crime than Europe, Chicago is extreme even for the US. Most of this violence is confined to relatively poor neighborhoods infested with street gangs, but it does occasionally spill over into quieter areas. So regardless of where you live, I think you need a lot more situational awareness and attention to personal safety than in Ireland; for example, I would not recommend walking home late at night from bars if you don't live in the immediate vicinity - take a taxi! - and if you are on the train, be aware that for some lines, you have to go through a 'bad' neighborhood to get to a 'good' neighborhood (from Downtown to Oak Park, for instance). While this is fine during the day (the train is full of commuters), it is something to be mindful of at night.

Chicago is a very diverse city, but residentially it is extremely segregated - it is historically the most segregated large city in the US. This is often disconcerting for people, especially those who come from places where residential segregation is essentially by class, not race.

However, Chicago's diversity is one of its strengths: there is something for every taste. Speaking of taste, the restaurant scene is AMAZING: there are so many different options from all regions of the US and all corners of the globe, and at any price point. Swedish bakeries, Irish butchers, soul food joints, Chinese dim sum, sushi, tapas...and Mexican food. OH, THE MEXICAN FOOD. SOOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS. Some of the nation's best restaurants can also be found there, and Alinea is in the Top 10 internationally.

Despite all of its flaws and the brutal winters, I love Chicago, and at the first chance I get to move back, I will do so in a heartbeat. (Oh yeah, that's another thing - we Chicagoans are VERY partisan about out city!). There is no better place in the world to be in the summer - the entire lakefront is public park space, and there are miles of public beaches and bicycle trails. Chicago has more public park space per capita than any other city in the US, and once the temperature is above freezing, WE USE IT!

Final random thoughts:
1. Don't ask a person from the South Side if they are a Cubs fan :mad:
2. In the wintertime, if there is a storm and people have to 'dig out' their cars, you will notice in some areas that people put old chairs in 'their' space once they have dug it out. If you are looking for parking and you see this, DON'T MOVE THE CHAIR (unless you want your tires slashed).
3. Despite the different political systems, in practice, the Democratic Machine Party of Chicago is a not-to-distant cousin of Fianna Fail. This may be reassuring or horrifying, depending on your political persuasion.