US: survival guide

future of this blog

2008-11-30T04:38:00.002-05:00

I'm no longer in the States, I hate living in the past and writing post about what was in the States or comparing to the past a lot, so I'm not really blogging now.
I have an idea for a new blog, which will make sense taking into consideration my life at the moment.
I'll keep this blog, cuz I might get to the States again... So, maybe it's not dead completely.

All of you, who read this blog, know that getting in touch with a blogger is easy, so keep in touch if you need. Or if you know me personally, you probably one of my friends on facebook and have all my contact information.

Best,
Red Foxy

ethics in journalism

2008-08-16T01:43:00.004-04:00

There are probably certain rules of writing an article, making a show or conducting an interview. Of course media is supported by advertising revenues and advertising is important and should not be skipped. But I am sure there are certain rules of placing an ad. When the whole episode in no longer 4 minutes there is no need to break it into two parts. There is also no need to pretend being sick and coughing. Well, maybe the reason for that is not to let some information out?
Anyway, here's example from Fox News for using commercial break in the middle of a very short interview.

glamor

2008-08-15T07:41:00.004-04:00

A very interesting phenomenon can be observed in Russia now. Although Russian language is very rich, it is adopting many international words (which do have equivalent in Russian) and sometimes these words are not changed at all. There is one very interesting word. It is GLAMOR. We have a noun, which is glamor, and we have both an adjective and an adverbs with the same root.
This word is interesting because barely anyone can define it, although hundreds of people, music channels, men/women magazines are now using it in everyday conversations. I guess adjective or adverb can mean something trendy, nice, cool, up-to-date, fashion, shiny, bright, lovely and so on - many many different qualities. When it comes to a noun it can be something from beauty to luxury or exclusive thing. Everything can have some glamor as well as everything can be glamorous: glamorous dress, glamorous look, glamorous dog, glamorous toothpaste, glamorous toilet seat and so on. It's like a fashion for using this word.
It seems like this word does not really have any meaning that it can add to the idea, but it shows that you are either one of young cool people, gay or lesbian, or one of celebrities or someone who is crazy about life of celebrities.

"she thinks my tractor is sexy" or something about changes in music economics

2008-08-12T11:33:00.006-04:00

I have quite a collection of country music by now, I just love it, not everything of course. I've just noticed a song tittled "she thinks my tractor is sexy." I have no idea what it is about, I didn't have a chance to listen to it yet and I am not sure I would ever will. It's probably something either very funny or very stupid. Anyways, that got me thinking about some changes that might occur or are already happening in music industry.
It used to be, that just one or two hit songs were enough to sell the album. Since everything was sold in a bundle, artists could get away with something really bad, maybe something as weird as song about someone sexually attracted to a tractor.
Not, with iTunes and other sited where you can get albums or singles, artists seem to invest more effort and their talent into every song on their album. Song would never get sold if it's bad, so even producing it would be costly and revenue would probably never justify the efforts and resources spent on producing it (I guess costs are now calculated or might be calculated for each song separately, not just total for a production of an album). Which is great for us, for users, who may be more confident in buying an album and expecting lots of good stuff on it. Each song now is a a single product (with all the costs and revenue involved) and a competitor for an album. And as we know competition should increase the quality.
Economics of productions has definitely changed! I love that!

rules and bureaucracy

2008-08-12T11:02:00.003-04:00

I've noticed that bureaucracy and red tape cause problems almost everywhere, although the way it happens is different.
In the US there is a rule to follow something as it is written on paper, even in situations when the rule seems not applicable at all. I have to communicate with different government and non-government agencies and whenever we would get to the point which is not described exactly in their rules they would get stuck. It's like machine that got an error message on the screen and needs to be rebooted. The same thing happens when they ask you for something which is unrealistic or inapplicable in a certain situation, but, they have no other choice but follow instructions word for word. It's like Sprint requires me to present them with bill for utilities from my home country with my name and address on it. It is just not done this way here, there's no way I can get the real one for them with all that stuff on it. And they are not able to work out any solution, although there are many other possibilities for me to prove that I'm outside the US now... they just do not care.
As for our bureaucracy, rules are just general guidelines and if something is not in there (of course when it comes to little things), people would act just in accordance with logic and common sense. But since nobody wants to take responsibility, more and more paper is being used, which may slow down the whole process considerably.

too busy to care

2008-07-22T02:25:00.002-04:00

Coming back to issue of fake Pepsi products in IKEA. Having not very tailored to receive feedback from customers website it took me more than 20 minutes to figure out how to contact them concerning this issue. Since I love Pepsi as a brand I decided to help them by telling them about threat to their brand. Well... their response was very short. They did not say anything that would mean that they would try to take care of it. They've provided me with some contact info of Moscow office and asked me contact them. They didn't do it themselves. What does that tell me? Does that tell me they care about their brand? Probably not...

selling water

2008-07-19T07:57:00.002-04:00

I went to IKEA today and they had some very little cafe or a restaurant. The options for food were - hot dog (very, very,very bad one) with an option of mayonnaise-mustard souse only, very-very awful piece of pizza and a doughnut (can't say anything - I haven't try it). As for drinks they had production of Pepsi Co. and they had free refills. The problem with drinks was - they all were mixed with water! Can you imagine Pepsi or Mirinda with water? It was so gross! Basically, they've been selling halp-product & half-water for the price of product. I hope at least they've been using filtered water... Although I doubt that.
I wonder if Pepsi company is aware about damage that IKEA is doing to their brand?

toothpaste

2008-07-18T01:01:00.002-04:00

I had a chance to try a really weird toothpaste yesterday. It tasted absolutely like toothpaste, actually it had many very great herbs in it. The only weird thing about it was its color. It was very dark brown. After spending many years brushing my teeth with regular while (or white+green, blue, red), this one looked totally weird. I think it would be difficult to sell something like that in the US in the regular grocery store (not in whole foods). The dark brown color just does not correlate with the white teeth that you should get as a result (Although there's no logic. How a color of toothpaste would correlate with color of teeth? There's no correlation at all!).
And how would company-manufacturer even advertise that (in the US)? There's no way you show the paste itself or show someone brushing teeth... would be too scary... brown foam...
But it sells here, people are still more open to difference in color of toothpaste. And I am sure there will be other examples of things like that.

peanut butter

2008-07-17T04:41:00.003-04:00

I still haven't found it here and I'm still craving for it.
Actually, while I was in the States I had a chance to talk to many Americans who lived outside the States for some period. One of the things that they missed a lot while living not at home was PEANUT BUTTER. There's no such thing in my country. (I've heard I can find it in some very specialized stores... but I haven't found it yet... no luck so far)

humor does not travel

2008-07-17T04:36:00.003-04:00

That's exactly what one of my professors said and that is so true.
I watched "The Office" yesterday. It was translated into Russian. First of all, some jokes did not sound like jokes at all in Russian. Second, people who was dubbing sounded like they were chained to their hospital beds for at least 1 year. Can you imagine Michael Scott talking like he's about to die? No energy, no emotions, nothing.
It was not funny at all; actually, it was a very sad TV show.

welcome to Hogwarts!

2008-07-15T09:08:00.003-04:00

I've finally received my diploma or certificate that states that I have completed my education. It was packed just like those packets that owls would deliver to students of Hogwarts - in a form of scroll. The only difference - my scroll was red&black - two official colors of the university I have attended.
And this is not the only example of similarity between my university and Hogwarts. There are few more. 1) When it was a graduation day everyone was wearing gowns just like in Harry Potter. The commencement ceremony was just like a scene from the dinning hall of Hogwarts.
2) City where my university is situated also has invisible train! If you get a chance to see it - you are probably very lucky. Although there is rail road going through the center of the city I haven't seen any trains during my first year studying. It was totally invisible, invisible to regular people... and during tornado times you could only hear a train and never see it. Magic!
3) The city itself was magic. First, you would never find it without a map and even if you have a map and talk to educated people they probably would be confused about what city you are talking about. Think to yourself. It's called as the capital of Greece and yet it's not there. It is in the north-west of one Caucasus countries, and yet it is in the States. It's like 9 and 1\2 platform. It's there, but it not at the same time. Second, this city is full of spirits and different magic liquids that exhausted students consume to get through classes. Every night, downtown becomes a place of mass magic with tons of student getting literally out of mind. And once it's 2 am, magic is over. Done. Time to fly home.

confusing English

2008-07-11T12:31:00.003-04:00

There are some words in English when you are not completely sure if it's single or plural form of a word. And even if you are sure about that, you never know how you should treat it.
For example, word "media." It's definitely plural form of the word "medium." But if you google for "mass media" you'll find it's used as both singular (mass media is) or as plural (mass media are).
Another word is "news." There's no new as a noun (we do have it though in Russian). But then... is it singular or plural? Should I say "the great news is" or "the great news are"?
I'm in a need of help! So if my dear reader knows, could he/she be so kind to explain it to me?

how much fat is enough?

2008-07-11T12:23:00.003-04:00

I remember going to grocery shopping in the US looking for non-non-fat (regular) milk and normally fat yogurts. Unfortunately I could never find anything fatter than 2 or 3%. Today I went to the grocery store here to get some milk. I got 6% milk. It tastes sooooo good. And as for 2% milk it is considered low-fat, while in the US it was almost a normal fat concentration. And 2-3% yogurts are not as popular here as in the US. We prefer something like 5-13% yogurts. Yummy!
For some reason Americans truly believe that fat in milk products translates directly in their fat. They would better look for ingredients instead of percent of fat.

And the great news is: I've got home, got back to normally fat products and started to lose weight!

does title really matter?

2008-06-27T12:21:00.003-04:00

I remember from one of my first classes at the university our professor told us that title of paper is very important. It should tell a possible reader what the work is about. It cannot be totally irrelevant. It's logical, isn't it? I've got used to follow titles and names to understand the essence of any product.
'Rule' about titles works in the US quite well (unless it's some TV-shop thing). This rule used to work perfect in groceries stores back home, but not any longer. Here's the saddest example: I love butter and I buy it quite often. It is much more expensive than margarine and demand for butter is so much greater than for margarine, so some companies started to mix the two and sell it named as 'butter.' Fake butter! That is so frustrating. Unfortunately the rule of reading ingredients doesn't work well here too.

being unique vs. being one of the mass

2008-06-27T12:08:00.002-04:00

When I was in the US I've noticed that being unique is a key to success. Everyone is trying to be different in any possible way. Even professors encourage their students to explore their personality and bring something unique to their projects and homework. Providing an example from personal life is totally fine for a class discussion, while back home only example where situation is true not only for one person but for many counts as a good example. Cultivating uniqueness is still not at its peak here. Everyone is still a part of mass although some are slightly different.
I was reading an article today which was telling about a girl. It said something like this: this girl is so talented: she 's a wonderful artist, she writes poems, she's one of the best in her class at school - well, basically like many other kids around. First part of a sentence is fine, but second part is some kind of equalizer. I guess it is still not completely acceptable to admit uniqueness. Even when people talk about their successes in life they would add at the very end, that it's just normal, just like what other people have or achieve. There's a strong tendency to refer to oneself as one of the mass. This is a great cultural difference.
Americans say 'I', Russians say 'we' and 'people.'

lost in translation

2008-06-16T05:58:00.003-04:00

When people translate something they may change the meaning due to the lack of knowledge or their desire to form a new reality(well... those who do not understand foreign language will act upon their translation as being reality... social interactionism)
Anyway, here are two examples:
1) it was interview with some black rap star on Russian MTV. They've asked him what he would prefer to have more while he was on his tour or concert in Moscow. He said "maybe more weed," they've translated "more attention of fans." Thanx for such a translation! Teens do not really need to know about weed.
2) I have Windows XP which is translated into Russian at home. When you turn on your computer, Windows says "Welcome" if it's original version and it says something like "welcoming or greeting." It does not welcome you, it just tells you that this is a welcoming page.

ways to show talent

2008-06-16T05:34:00.002-04:00

Once again, things are very different in different countries. I was really shocked watching Russian MTV and another music channel. Once you in the US you think the way Britney, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan or some other pop stars are dressed is too much; actually too little... too little things on. Well, come to Europe or post USSR countries and see how pop stars are dresssed. Some of them are barely dressed at all. In several european videos I saw naked bodies and in one they've show completely naked girl's ass. It looked perfect, and still it was naked and not appropriate for the time it was aired.
Seems like stars here may not sing well or sing some old and already famous songs, but they should look good naked or 90% naled. Your talent is your body and that is also the way of promoting oneself in pop culture and increase sales.

Size matters

2008-06-16T05:15:00.002-04:00

Travelling from a country to country you can notice difference in things that seem to be standart everywhere. I've just got back from the States and the first thing that was very different from what I was used to was the size of different objects.
Once they've served dinner on Lufthansa I was sure I am no longer in the States, although, technically, we were still flying over the US territory. The dinner was great, but the size was weird. They served shrimp and those were not even petite, those were baby-shrimp or unborn shrimp or existing in your imagination shrimp. They were soooooooooo little you barely could see them. Thanks to the flight attendants who explained what it was. US does have petite shrimp, but not petite as those served on Germain plane.
And later all other things were also of a different size. Basically everything was smaller: forks, tea spoons, benches, sinks, tables and so on. It was so unusual.

independence

2008-05-27T12:32:00.003-04:00

Americans like talking about independence and do enjoy being independent. Having a car is one of the aspects of independence - you go wherever you want whenever you want... But is it really independence when they cannot do things without cars? Even cities are built in a way so you cannot really go shopping without a car, you cannot get to the park or school without car or bus even if you live within one mile from that place. How independent is that?
And with the prices of gasoline going up this "independence" is increasing in price. Yeah, independence is a valuable thing!

And as for driving vs. walking - my friend was almost dead yesterday after our 2.5 hours walk.. all he wanted is to rest or get in his car and drive instead. And what about enjoying nice weather and walking around places where walking is possible and permitted?

where are the people?

2008-05-27T12:25:00.002-04:00

Me and a friend of mine went for a little walk yesterday around campus. Campus was empty. Absolutely no people. It was like after nuclear war, when all the buildings are still there, but all the humans and animals are not there. Luckily squirrels and birds were there, so campus was not completely dead.
Yesterday was a Memorial Day - that is probably the reason why there were no people on campus. But even on regular days now there are no people. There is a summer session now and not so many students are around, and those who are around probably drive. So you won't see walking people on campus anyway.

stereotypes again

2008-05-27T12:16:00.006-04:00

I've spent few days with lots of student who are in the States on the same exchange program as I am. We all are from post Soviet Union countries. On one of our sessions we were working in groups and we were supposed to list stereotypes about America (the ones that people from back home have).
Here they are:
-McDonalds -> unhealthy eating -> problems with overweight
-America looks like NYC, skyscrapers everywhere
-After working out American go to fast food restaurants
-Sodas
-Liberty and Freedom
and many others.
Well, it's not just McDonalds, there are hundreds of other fast food chains and independent restaurants. And America is mostly one or two-story buildings. I cannot really comment on the third one. Some people do, some not. But as for sodas and strong believes in Liberty and Freedom - that is true. Also Americans truly believe in democracy, but, for some reason, among those smart people talking about democracy only a few could actually define democracy and even less people could provide more or less correct definition. That is sad.

stereotypes or reality?

2008-05-27T12:09:00.003-04:00

People say Russians drink like crazy. They drink vodka instead of water. Of course this is not correct and sounds like stereotype but not completely. Some Russians say that they are always ready to drink - just give them a reason... So any holiday or little event can be a reason to drink.
Now what about Americans? After spending almost two years in the States it feels like it is all about shopping. Just give them a reason and they will go shopping. Every holiday is another reason for shopping, even religious events. It is like any holiday sale is a good way to justify spending money on things that you probably do not really need.

swimming

2008-05-09T00:04:00.002-04:00

Me and my roommates went to the Atlantic Ocean for few days. It was wonderful. Temperature of the ocean was around 70F - warm enough to swim. But, for some secret reason, people almost did not swim. Was is too cold for them? Was it because there was no lifeguard on duty? Was it because the majority did not know how to swim? Maybe. The reason is a mystery for us. But we enjoyed. It was a wonderful time - not hot, not humid - just perfect.

true profession ... a thought without a logical end

2008-04-27T23:08:00.003-04:00

My really good friend was trying to explain me what true professions are. I guess I never got to the end of explanation, but from what I've heard it was something like: "True professions are astronaut, lawyer... they cannot do anything else, they cannot be substituted." True, you have to be educated to fly to space. But what about everything else? As long as you do it with passion, you like it, you are effective, you are professional and what you are doing is a profession!
And as for true professions, I always thought that those are teachers, doctors and public transport drivers. Social life would be chaotic and dangerous without those.

American dream

2008-04-27T22:57:00.003-04:00

In one of my classes, the one where we had presentation on "The Office," we had presentation on Guitar Hero game. Impressive! Guy even played for us. Nice.
But this post is not about it. According to a presenter American boys dream either of becoming a rock star or a professional sportsman. Are you serious? Is that what little kids really dream about?
I'm not a guy and never was one, but I know for sure that when I was a child and wanted to become a teacher, boys were dreaming about either becoming a great leader, a pilot or an astronaut. Those are the top things that boys were dreaming about. Girls all wanted to be either a teacher or a doctor. I wonder what girls dream to become in the US?

The Office

2008-04-27T00:50:00.002-04:00

That is such a hilarious show! Thanks to one girl who did presentation on this show in one of my graduate classes (yeah.. in one of my GRADUATE classes... presentation... yeah... on TV show... I'm not kidding). Since then I've decided to give it a try!
It is amazing and what is wonderful, that it is not all sex related jokes. Their jokes are actually smart or just nice and very funny.
I'm already addicted.

windows

2008-04-20T10:22:00.004-04:00

After you spend a lot of time in a foreign country you no longer see things that you've noticed when you've just got here. I have completely forgotten, that USA have totally different shape and type of windows. And what is more interesting, the role of windows seems to be totally different.
I've talked to a fiend of mine yesterday about the place where he works. He does not have any windows there. Isn't that like working in a basement? And the funny thing is that there are in fact buildings with no windows, or no windows on some floors (like my school). Why build a building like that up? You might as well just dig the ground and add basement floors...And you know what? Not only you won't see the world and people around you, they won't see you too. Win-win situation, isn't it?
and then just put lamps there... everywhere... is if it's the same type of lighting as the natural one.

cover up or strip down?

2008-04-13T16:46:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a culturally enhanced day. We had street fest, where people from different countries presented their cultures. I was amazed with the dance of Indian girls. With their bodies covered up completely they've looked so attractive and sexy. They were barefoot with a very long skirts, so you could see just their ankles with anklets.
It is so different from what you get to see when you go to a dancing place. Whenever you go out at night, the majority of girls are dressed as if it is + 90F outside although it might be around 30-40F.
Well how attractive are half-naked girls. Honestly, they are attractive (since guys are getting attracted). But as one of my professors said (and his concentration was and is sexuality with its different cultural and social application), the most sexiest women are the ones who are covered almost completely, because that is when you have a room for imagination and fantasies.

dancing or ...???

2008-04-13T16:22:00.003-04:00

Me and a friend of mine went out yesterday night... First we went to a bar, spent some time there. They've played music from 80s - it was great. I've enjoyed dancing there, but my friend could not figure out how to move to the rhythm of "Take on me" and other great old songs. So we went to a disco kind of place.
That was a nice dancing place packed with people shaking their bodies to the songs from typical hip-hop radio station. For some reason hip-hop music has a lot of nasty words and expressions, or may be not nasty but very explicit. Fine.
As I've said - the place was very packed, people were very close to each other... dancing... Nevertheless some people were dancing too close to each other cuz they wanted to. Looked as if they were demonstrating what song lyrics were about(don't want to explain in details how it looked). That was very dirrrrty and yet they all called it dancing. Really? Maybe. Fine.

peanut butter flavored Coke

2008-04-08T21:45:00.004-04:00

Few days ago I've seen a bit weird can of Coke - it had some yellow. My first thought was - that must be new peanut butter flavor Coke. Although I am not a regular drinker of Coke I would definitely try peanut butter one.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be just a Coke without caffeine.
Nevertheless, I would strongly recommend Coca-Cola Company to launch peanut butter flavored Coke. Since peanut butter such an American thing and it is so popular here, Coke should not get in trouble with this new taste.

odd rules

2008-04-06T23:57:00.003-04:00

My American friends are either taking advantage of me due to the fact that I might not know some cultural stuff or trying to protect me. But here are some really odd rules.
1) You do not point at people in places where there are some black people around. (Well... I didn't really point, although it might have looked like that). And you are totally fine "pointing" while you are in a color-homogeneous environment.
2) You do not clap in a church. Actually everyone can clap... but me... My friend is totally making fun of me... but now he's trying not to clap while I'm around...
3) You are better never even say a word "racist"... totally for protection purposes.

love happens

2008-04-05T00:19:00.004-04:00

This is slogan of Yahoo personalities. I just loved it. It is so positive.
Isn't it what we all think and dream about?
I just wonder if love just comes upon us, or if we can "create" or "build" it.
Few Americans that I've talked to about this strongly believe that love happens. You cannot do anythings for that... Maybe... I personally prefer more active approach to life.
Back home I've read several books and talked to so many people who believe that love is built by efforts of both sides. They say that once you meet and get so interested in each other is not love. This is just an extreme/very emotional version of liking, not love yet. Love is built with constant desires of being together, doing things for for the other person, but things that are beneficial for "we." And basically, once you've come across any obstacle it is a desire to overcome it together. That's what I've heard from people who've been in happy relations for a significant amount of time. I'm sure they know what they are talking about.

So yes, love happens, but it happens to those who it putting efforts into building it.
(One book that I've read even claims that you can build love from scratch. It even provides techniques for that.)

Let you all have a chance to build a great love and live it.

my VS. your; me VS. you/everyone./grey mass

2008-03-31T00:20:00.005-04:00

My sister is applying for an MBA program and she has asked me to review some of her essays. I've asked an American friend of mine to help me out with that. In her essays, once she has explain some situation, she would always do "objective," "impersonal" conclusion using pronoun "you." Something like: Once you have overcame something, you have learnt a new lesson.
And this looked totally normal to me. Whenever I do something, conclusions that I would make would sound the same way - quite impersonal, as if it is an objective truth.
My friend changed all of these conclusions to the personal statements. It is not longer about some "you" people/person, it is about oneself.
I have noticed before even in some (scientific) papers use of personal pronoun. I was always taught that all conclusions are done at the abstractive level. As well as all the reasoning is done at the level of generalizations. Nobody cares about your personal experience - that is what they've told us in school. You can use it only as example, not as a reason in the argument.
Well... this society cares about each and every individual and they are looking for expression of individualism in everything.
That is so different, but I think that is great. You are not one of the grey mass, you are an individual here. I guess I should say: "I am not one of the grey mass, I AM AN UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL."

cultural shock

2008-03-31T00:07:00.003-04:00

When I came to the States for the first time I did not experience any cultural shock, or at least I was not depressed, sad or anything like that. I was enjoying my time. But I did experience reverse cultural shock, when I got back.
This time I haven't experience any cultural shock upon arrival. But I've experience a great cultural shock yesterday and it did make me sad and very concerned about the US, society, my home country and many other things. The source of this cultural shock was Soulja Boy song. I loved the song a lot, but only yesterday I've decided to look up the lyrics and to find explanation to some expressions like "superman that hoe," "super soak," etc.
It is not just very sexual content. There are three very disturbing things about that. First, it is very dirty sexual expressions (and they refer to some very unfriendly/bad/disrespectful sexual practices).
Second, this song is written and performed by 15 or 16 year old boy. He is not supposed to know about that stuff... at least it is so inconsistent with my view of the world. Well, I guess, that is my personal issue.
Third, this song was aired all the time on major pop/top 40/hi-hpt stations. Basically people of all the ages heard that. I hope not all of them decided to look up the meaning of some expressions used in the song.

Well... and a little bit about song itself. If it is about what it seems to be about, then what is the value of the song? What is the value of the message?

I truly think things like that should be banned from radio stations. The bad this - I've heard the song today and, although I now know all the meaning of the phrases, this song still sounds catchy and makes me dance...

Money, money, money

2008-03-23T21:40:00.003-04:00

This society is about money in so many ways. Even religion.
I always thought of religion and churches as being something independent from money. Of course it is being subsidized by people attending churches, but it is difficult for me to imagine that people will make business on religion.
Here Xmas is the main purchasing season. It is all about buying stuff and discounts. Even Easter. I was sure there is no way you can make money on Easter. I was so wrong.
Few days ago, while driving to my job I was listening to the radio station and they were talking about Easter costumes for kids. As I haven't celebrated Easter with an American family, I'm not sure if it is true, but later I've heard about these costumes again. And these are the costumes that people probably have to buy... only a few will make them themselves. I guess, you can make money out of everything... Seems like this is exactly what H. Marcuse was talking about in his works...
And I'm still curious what kinds of costumes kids wear...

everything is bigger here

2008-03-23T21:30:00.004-04:00

In this country they have a saying "Everything is bigger in TEXAS." True. But it is true not only for Texas. As I've mentioned earlier, we all know that this is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the sun and moon are bigger here (of course it is some kind of optical illusion), but that's not all. Can you imagine trees that are so big that you need 10 or more people to hug them? Those are sequoias! And they do exist... not in my imagination, but in reality.
I've been to Sequoia National Park during my time in California. It was like in a fairy-tale. First of all there was a lot of snow in that park... although outside the park it was like summer. Second, it was so misty, so everything looked as if it was not real. I was amazed.
So the thing is, these trees grow only in the US. Here we go again, the biggest out of the biggest and again on the territory of the States. :))

San Francisco

2008-03-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

I've got back home today from my California trip. I've spent some time in San Francisco. It is a wonderful city, but driving there is so different from everything I've done so far.
First of all, it is very hilly, you have to use your breaks all the time... really all the time. And sometimes when you are driving up the hill you cannot see the road at all. you just see the top of the hill and it looks like there's nothing else... the end of the road, the end of the world. I was really scared seeing that. And although I've realized, that there is a road and this is not the end of the world - I could do nothing with my feelings.
Second, there are so many limits on turns within the downtown area. You cannot turn left at certain hours. That was confusing.
Third, some roads just disappear and then appear in some other place later. There was 101 road, which literally disappeared at one point and then appeared later on the other side of the city. And that was not our mistake or lack of attention, it literally disappeared according to the map too.

driving rules

2008-03-23T21:13:00.003-04:00

Back home we, of course, have have a lot of rules for driving, but there are only two main ones:
1) yield to the traffic on your right side
2) give the way to the fool (jerk, bustard... whatever).
Driving around the States I've realized that there is one more rule to these two:
Be extremely careful with trucks. Some truck drivers act as if you are not even there. I understand that they have a bigger blind spot, but they are acting rude even when they can clearly see you!
I think we don't have this problem with trucks, because the majority of goods is transfered by trains.

the most needed & tornado watch

2008-03-15T23:17:00.004-04:00

We had tornado sirens today... the real ones, not a drill. We live on the second floor and it was suggested for us to go to the basement, which is laundry room in our apartment complex. We decided to take the most necessary and valuable things. Both of us took absolutely the same three things: passport, valet with all the cards and money and camera(both of us haven's seen tornado before). I just thought it was a kind of weird-funny choice of necessary things, camera just doesn't fit in there.
Well... we didn't really get any tornado, so during the first time we ended up on swings in kids playground (we checked the laundry room, there were few internationals. It was sunny so we just decided to stay outside, but close to the building). The second time we just spent time outside the laundry room. Hail was great! and the rainbow at the end was gorgeous!

Louisiana sun

2008-03-14T21:17:00.003-04:00

On our road trip through Texas we've passed Louisiana during the sunset. It was a very unique experience. Usually during the sunset the sun has red or orange color, this time it was absolutely white. No red color to it, not orange color, not even yellow, just white.
The other interesting thing that my friend and I have notices was the size of the sun(Well, it was difficult not to notice). The sun was just huge!
We started to talk about this wonderful sun and got to a conclusion, that US is not only the wealthiest country in the world, but also the sun here is bigger! :)
Now... is that fair?

attributes of a city

2008-03-14T21:01:00.002-04:00

For the spring break me and my friend decided to drive to Texas. It was a long ride - around 849 miles one way. When we were approaching Texas it was already very dark. We were low on gas and were looking for an exit with gas. Almost at the very western end of Louisiana there was something looking like a city. And map also indicated exits 24, 23 and so on. We were happy - finally... GAS! That city looked gorgeous - a lot of lights, some tall buildings. It looked more like a city decorated for Christmas than a regular city - all the lights were the same color. The first weird thing, there were no any signs of any food or gas stations available at those exits.
Once we got closer we could not see any billboards or displays with well-known brands or anything of that kind (that was the second weird thing). So our supposedly city turned out to be an industrial region with lots of chemical plants. That's it! No gas stations, no food places - just factories. Looks so great from a distance.
So if back home you see a lot of light approaching some exists you can be 100% sure you are approaching a city or a town. When you see the same here, you cannot be that certain. When there are no billboards, and shiny "markers" of fast food places, gas stations - this is not a city. And you should not be surprised that all the lights are on... it the USA. It's a culture here to leave all the lights on. (Back home there would not be a lot of outdoor lightning, only lights to indicate heights of the plant for the planes and few others outdoor lights).

So... look for McDonald's, Exxon, BP, KFC or something of that kind to determine if you are approaching a city.

appealing to the general audience

2008-02-26T23:00:00.004-05:00

I've been on a ski trip a month ago. We stayed at some hotel, which turned out to be not bad. It was even nice. As in every hotel there was a Bible on the table. Ok. I'm used to it now. This is not a post communist country with no religion, people do really go to church here and do read the Bible.
But than the first thing you wee when you turn on the TV some ads of hot local girls and it also referred to some paid porn channels (and I'm pretty much sure, that if only one percent of visitors cared for that - they would not advertise that... the public for that is probably much bigger).
I'm sure - having people watching paid channels is profitable and it does not hurt to advertise that, but it is just so inconsistent with idea of the Bible on the table.
Basically, this hotel room provided you with two messages (at the first glance) - Bible or Hot girls(and of course you can watch just regular channels. But once you turn the TV off and then on again - hot girls are right there). Pretty tough choice, isn't it?
It was a bit shocking for me since these two things could not go together in my mind.

money vs. education

2008-02-26T22:49:00.002-05:00

We've been discussing show concepts for TV today in class. Our goal was to 1) generate profit with a show and 2) provide educational value to the audience. Well, it is difficult to have both profit and educational content at the same time. That's why professor said that all managers do not pursue two goals at the same time, but choose just one.
Interesting. Isn't there really a way to achieve two goals at the same time? I'm sure there is. I guess level of competition is what matters. When there a lot of substitutes available educational shows may not attract huge number of eyeballs and won't provide big revenues from ads. But, when competition due to some reasons is limited, even educational content will receive a lot of support form advertisers, since the audience is large enough.
Maybe that's why some media critics say that German model of TV (with not millions of TV channels, but just a few) is more attractive for both government, who are taking care of educating its citizens, and advertisers, who do not have to make a difficult choice between the media outlets and don't have to have multiple presence over many platforms to reach all of the segments of its target audience.

second birthday

2008-02-25T21:57:00.003-05:00

My mom told me "Happy Birthday" tonight on skype. I was shocked! My birthday is in December, my name day is also in December. I had few really weird ideas in my head. Turned out that we have a tradition of celebrating the day when you've escaped a great danger that could have been lethal for you.
6 years ago on 26th (back home it's already 26th) I was in a situation like this. Still alive and enjoying my life.
I guess this is like a day of appreciation of life.
Well, happy 6th birthday to me!

money

2008-02-25T21:32:00.002-05:00

After spending quite a long period in the States I may say that a lot of things here are about money and bottom line. That's something you should not mess with, that's something you do not discuss, but it is very important. People even measure success in dollars. There are a lot of things about money.
Today I saw an interesting ad on one of the website from back home. The main message was "money is not that important." A totally different perspective.
Even when you talk to people about their dreams they may say, as one of my friend did, that they want a lot of money. Fine. People back home say that want this, that and that, not money, but value/satisfaction/pleasure that you may get for money.
Yes the majority of us want to be able to afford lives we dream of, but we word it so differently. :)

where to study

2008-02-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

As part of my internship I looked through several web sites of colleges and universities. On some pages I’ve seen quotes from current students about reasons for choosing this particular school. Some of them were talking about sports (good woman’s football team, horseback riding, rodeo facilities, softball teams, etc), for environment and student life (small classes, friendly staff, student facilities, etc). Great! What about education? Haven’t found any talking about how good education is in this school.

When I was thinking about what university to go for undergrad I’ve looked through ranks of universities and quality of education. I’ve chosen one of the best in the country.

And my question was “where to STUDY?” not “what SCHOOL to go?” It never was about facilities, sports or environment. The only factor that affected my choice was quality of education I would get.

yellow 5

2008-02-24T22:18:00.001-05:00

More than 2 weeks later my nails on my left hand are still yellow after cutting pickles... thanks to YELLOW 5 - such an important ingredient for pickles. :))

"Yeah they were all yellow..."

2008-02-10T22:51:00.000-05:00

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow.
(c) Yellow by Coldplay

Story about my yellow nails

Having a garden back home and loving to cook I know that doing something with carrots will color your hands in orange, working with tomato plants will make your hands black, doing something with apples will turn them dark orange, but doing whatever with cucumbers is safe, unless you are not cooking something with Vlasic original dills.

I’ve cooked a salad today with Vlasic dills. The result: salad is great; my left hand including nails is yellow. What??? Yellow? From cutting pickled cucumbers? I even put my nails into lemon juice for few minutes – it helps even to dissolve all the things that makes your hands black after working with tomato plants. Didn’t help in this case. I’ve polished my nails and still you can tell the difference between nails on different hands. Yeah they were[are] all yellow.

I was sure there was something wrong with those dills. I was so right. Just look at the ingredients: cucumber (fine, the main ingredient), water, distilled vinegar, salt (all fine with me, my mom and grandmoms use cucumbers, water, vinegar, salt and other spices – and that’s it.), calcium chloride (have no idea what that is, but I’m sure it would not give me yellow color), alum, natural flavors (yeah, having genetically modified cucumbers you need flavors), polysorbate 80 (what?? Do I really need this in dills? 80?), yellow 5 (Here it is, the reason for my yellow nails).

Yellow 5… I wonder what that means for my nails. From unsuccessful experiment with lemon juice I can conclude that it is very chemical. Now I’m thinking that everything inside my body is yellow… “And it was all yellow” just like in Coldplay’s song.

squirrels: can you see the difference?

2008-02-10T21:53:00.001-05:00

I love squirrels, I think they are cute, I thought they were cute before I saw squirrels here. I would not say they are ugly, they are just so different. They have so much less fur and look like naked. Just look at the pictures. The first one is from home and this little squirrel still not completely in winter colors, but look at the ears! And look at the fur in general. I guess cold climate gives you genes with better, nicer, more beautiful fur. Unfortunately you cannot really see her tail on this picture, but it is usually so pretty.

reasons to attend a church

2008-02-10T21:42:00.001-05:00

While talking to my “back home” boyfriend I’ve mentioned that I’ve missed the church service today. His reply was: “do you think that [going to a church] will help [save] you?” Here it is – the difference in how we perceive reasons for going to the religious services. While here people go there to learn something new, to communicate with others, to straighten their beliefs, etc, back home people go there to pray for forgiveness of sins and to show that you are true believer. People do not go to the church to communicate, to meet others from the local community. Moreover, you are not really allowed to talk in the church, other than praying. It is totally different and I have to admit that I like churches here more. They truly give you a feeling of belonging to the community, they address issues that you face in life; churches here are more people oriented.

shopping

2008-02-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

We happened to be in the mall yesterday and my friend went to get 2 pairs of slacks. Me and two more other girls decided to go to the lady’s department. We had just 15 minutes.

When we got back to the place where we’ve decided to meet we found that that guy bought 2 pairs of slacks as he was planning. And 2 girls out of 3 also bought something, they didn’t plan to buy! So, the math is pretty simple: no recognized need + 15 minutes = spending money. :))

As usually, although I was not really planning to get something, I got myself one really nice item. I guess shopping for girls is more than just getting what is needed, it’s more of an emotional thing: want it – get it. I’m pretty much sure that a lot of things that girls buy are not being worn quite often.

There is a concept of calculating price of the cloths. You just divide the price of the item by times you wear it. I’m pretty much sure that the average price of girls’ stuff calculated this way is higher, even if you adjust for difference in the initial value of cloths for guys and girls

Super Bowl or new concept of TV

2008-02-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

I "watched" Super Bowl last Sunday... not really watched, just paid attention to some commercials.
Usually there are not a lot of commercials and you watch some show with ads pauses, not in the case of Super Bowl. It was mostly advertising with short moments of the game. Apparantly US does not have any limitation on ads time. Back home we have maximum of 12 minutes per hour. Here it was 12 minutes of game and 48 minutes of commercials... or so. At least commercials were cool. I guess paying 2.7 billion per 30 seconds you don't want to show some lousy ad that would not catch attention.
Another interesting thin: people do not seem to be disturbed by those commercials, because they are so cool. And Super Bowl is not only about game but also about commercials.
Isn't that what advertisers were dreaming about? People actually do love their commercials. (Although I'm not sure about effects of those commercials on purchase behavior)

milk with ice

2008-02-03T13:41:00.001-05:00

Americans drink everything with ice - tea, coffee, soft drinks, juice, water, alcohol. They even drink milk with ice!!! Obviously all this is still weird to me, although I'm getting used to it... slowly.
It's not a part of their culture to drink hot drinks.

ER

2008-02-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

I was always so fascinated by ER series, mostly because of Clooney. Isn’t he hot? The manly man in Hollywood? (too bad he’s too old now). In those series emergency services were truly fast.

Few days ago my friend was really bad and I had to give him a ride to the emergency room at the local hospital. We got there, I went to park and he went inside. I was sure by the time I get inside he’ll be in some back room getting professional medical help. Nope! They first need to fill out all the information on the patient. Then the patient goes to the back room to fill out more documents. This time it’s about insurance.

I guess the help you’ll get (even when it’s urgent) depends on your insurance.

There are two things that are weird for me: 1) It was not as fast as in ER series (I know, I know… Hollywood lies a lot, but everything in ER should be fast anyway); 2) You should not care if the person is insured or not in case of emergency. Otherwise that means that society values not people as social beings, but people as wallet holders.

Even if it’s like that, why don’t you come up with some system, that once you’ve identified yourself, system would be able to find information on whether you have insurance or not?

shelf life vs. real life vs. normal life

2008-01-31T18:47:00.000-05:00

I’ve finally finished bread that I bought long ago. On the package it says “use before Nov 21 (2007).” When I ate it today it was absolutely normal bread, just a bit dry. There was no mold; there were no any changes in taste. Basically, shelf life of this bread could be much longer, although when I bought it I though it was long already (something around 2 weeks). But really it can be up to a month (or up to 2 months in my case). I wonder if people through away stuff when is past due date? If yes – they are throwing away some things that are still good. Aren't they just make you buy more by making unreal short shelf life (too different from real life)?

As for bread, is it normal to stay OK for more than 2 months? I wonder what kind of preservatives they add to keep it fresh that long. Back home bread can be fine in regular plastic bag for maybe a week, definitely not a month. For me 4 days life for milk and one week life for bread are normal. But US products go beyond any expectations. That is so scary. What do they add there?

Wanna be famous? Sure... no problem!

2008-01-27T16:04:00.000-05:00

My friend said that he wanted to be popular and famous. I’ve promised to help him. So here’s my little story.

My friend’s name is, let’s say, Peter Harryskins or Henry Pottkins (doesn’t really matter… just don’t want to mention his real name. I won’t use my blog to make him famous). Every time I would get on a ski lift with someone I don’t know I would (at some point in conversation) ask if they ever heard of Peter Harryskins. Right after their negative reply (sorry Peter, right now you are so far from reaching your goal), I would say “lots of people today on the lift were talking to me about him. They’ve told me that he is such a good snowboarder.” Their reply would be – “or really? Didn’t know.” I’m sure my mistake was my sampling procedure. I’ve talked only to skiers. How would they know about famous Peter Harryskins-snowboarder?!? But even with lousy methods I was successful. One guy, on my question if he ever heard of that famous snowboarder, said YES. He also told me that this is the guy with red hair, and he is in fact a really good snowboarder. Isn’t that wonderful? My friend is already famous and is with red hair. (still laugh every time I think of something that is somehow related to red hair).

See Peter, my methods worked… there’s at least one person who is sure you are famous, others have just heard of you and learnt that people think you are a good snowboarder. And now they are questioning themselves how come they’ve never heard of you. But I’ve repeated your name several times with every person… just to make sure that they’ll remember.

As one guy said yesterday “our only limit is our imagination”. I’ve imagined that you are famous and you were. So… never stop imagining.

I had so much fun.

special breed of people

2008-01-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

I thought to learn more about Americans you should go the US, because info that you get from Hollywood (at first I typed “Hollyweed”…) movies is so incorrect. But (… there’s always “but”) if you come to the US, your perception of American culture is strongly affected by places you go and things you do. People are different and same people tend to stick together. I’ve been around Americans for such a long time so I’ve learned that there are so many people who never traveled outside the country… and even within the country. Yesterday at the ski trip, every single person I’ve talked too (YES, EVERY SINGLE PERSON!) has been abroad. And I’ve talked to many. I couldn’t help but wonder how this can be. Thanx to one guy, who opened my eyes on thing that I’ve already known. “We, skiers, are a special breed of people”! Eureka! It’s the same everywhere… even back home those who do skiing is a different breed of people. They’ll never be representative of all the people. So if you happen to communicate just with those you got to know just them, you cannot judge the whole nation by them. There’s no perfect picture of nation! Not at all! You can use statistics, but statistics is black and white art, you lose so much information in grey areas. So I guess movies do represent America, you just need to figure out the angle.

look at me, I'm a skier! can you tell?

2008-01-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

There are several reasons why we consume certain things. We can consume them because we need to satisfy our needs. That is when we consume lets say “the main function” of a good (the reason why the product was invented). For example, we feel cold we buy boots, hats, etc.

Another way of consuming is status consuming, where through the process of consumption we identify ourselves with a certain social class, group of people, family, etc. For example, your car can demonstrate your social status, your well-being; certain hair style will identify you with a certain youth culture, etc.

I went skiing yesterday. I had all the fun I could have… or almost all. That’s why my heads still hurts today. Anyway, the story is about consumption, so let’s stick to the topic. There were so many people and many of those were equipped a very appropriate way for skiing or snowboarding in conditions of very windy and quite cold weather of about -13 to -5 F. The thing is, it was not very windy and the temperature was around 34 F. It was a wonderful very warm day for a winter So people who were wearing masks or super-feature-rich warm pans looked kinda weird. It felt like they were screaming out: “look at me, all these skiing goods, I am a skier”. Poor guys, these masks make you sweat at your face when it’s warm (I’ve got one back home and use it when it’s cold or extremely windy only… otherwise it’s not comfy). Some of the stuff that I saw on people yesterday was worn not for the sake of necessity, but for the sake of identity. And wearing some was definitely uncomfortable. Poor are people, who are ready to torture themselves just to make sure they look like professionals (when it comes to get dressed as a skier… not to ski). I’m sure their identity consumption gave them some sweat in some places… :)

slowly cooked to perfection toast

2008-01-27T14:30:00.001-05:00

Today my friend had to wait more than 7-10 minutes for a toast at a restaurant!!! I thought they just had to put bread on the grill!!! And it takes less time than 7-10 minutes to make a toast; otherwise it would get burn completely. Oh how mistaken I was! I'm sure these people have invented a new way of getting bread to the condition when you can call it "a toast". You slowly put the bread on grill and take it off immediately, then put it slowly again and take off… and you repeat the whole thing several times… Then you run your knife through it with the pace of a snail… that would make a perfect slow toast. Make sure the whole process takes long time and your customer or guest get bored and pissed waiting.

And then...Enjoy! It’s right on time, when you’ve given up waiting.

math communication

2008-01-20T16:29:00.000-05:00

In the world of international everything can happen... even math comm.
Here's the story:

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday. I’ve mentioned that I’ll graduate this May. She asked me what my degree would be. I’ve said MA in Journalism and Mass Communication with concentrating in PR and also I’ve added that I had truly believed that it would be just Mass Communication with concentration in PR. I was not really happy with the word “journalism,” because that implies in stereotypical way that I’m good at writing and not very good with numbers. I think I am the opposite. I love numbers and truly wanna do some marketing stuff.

My friend is also an international (misunderstanding may happen)… so after I’ve told her all this about numbers she asked whether my degree was in "Mass communication" or "Math communication." She was sure that it was math comm., since I’m good with numbers. Funny. But that kind of communication is that? Communication about limits, theory of probability or relations of triangle’s sides? Communication to whom? To the ones who hate math?... Math promotion? Nevertheless… interesting opportunity. Isn’t it like those ads around Atlanta area promoting science as a good path for the kids?

spam (in the mail, not in the store)

2008-01-18T01:03:00.000-05:00

I usually go to the spam folder only to empty it, but I do run through the headlines/subjects.
Today I got among others "enlarge your male machine"... I am a girl... what machine should I enlarge?
I was thinking that tailoring spam messages just a little bit would probably improve their effectiveness.
and what's wrong with sexuality in this country? Why there are so many messages about Viagra and stuff? Problems or lack of self-confidence?

how severe is normal?

2008-01-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

There is “severe weather alert” on yahoo weather web site for some counties of Georgia. The reason for it is “...WINTER PRECIPITATION POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY... ” Wow [silent for a while… thinking… checking calendar… thinking… reading again]. Is winter precipitation during the winter time something severe? I though winter precipitation for winter is normal, while winter precipitation for summer would be a severe weather condition. Oh wait… is al already summer? [pause… checking the calendar again… hmm… not according to my calendar]

Well, maybe ice and snow is something unusual for Georgia, but then why don’t you just refer to them as ice and snow??

to worry, not to worry? be anxious

2008-01-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

Both worry and anxiety can be translated into my native language with the same word. They are basically synonyms. Both words are quite familiar and I would never think I would learn something new about them.

Today in the church we’ve discussed both of these words. Yes, they are synonyms, but “worry” turned out to me stronger and more serious than “anxiety.” Worry is something more long-term, while anxiety is short-term.

When I was learning English I’ve learnt both words, but since the word “worry” was used very often I always thought of it as being “somewhat less serous state of anxiety.” So I was sure that since the word anxiety is not commonly used it is the most serious of the two… I was wrong (in case if what I’ve learned today is correct). But then, why would you use such a bad/strong word as “worry” so often in books written for those who study English as a foreign language?

bleached... and still not white

2008-01-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

I know that technology of beaching flour was invented to achieve amazingly white color in flour, especially if it is made with not the best type of wheat. It is logical to use this type of flour in pastry where batter should be white, for example in angel smth cake. It makes sense, isn’t it?

Today I was craving for bagels. I could not do a thing, all my thoughts were about a bagel with some cream cheese. Nothing could help me… just bagels… so I had to drive to the grocery store just to get a pack of bagels. I bought the one with cinnamon and raisins. These bagels turned out to be sooo good, especially for me who was craving for them.

As they are with cinnamon they are dark, they look like they are made with whole wheat flour. Well, it turned out that they are made with (regular) bleached flour. What?? Why?? They are not even white! They are dark!!! Why did you use bleached flour there? It doesn’t really make any sense to me.

math

2008-01-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

I always thought hat math is some kind of a hard science. Whenever we do something in a certain set of dimension 2+2 would always equal 4, 1 would be more than 0 etc.
I'm reading "Media Economics" book by C. Hoskins and others. On p. 23 they try to explain concept of elasticity (Elasticity of demand is relation of percentage change in quantity to percentage change in price). Their example: price changes from 10$ to 8$. Quantity changes from 70.000 to 80.000. They said that there was 13.33% change in quantity and 22.22% change in price. "The change in price of 2$, as a percentage of the average price of 9$, is - 22.22%." What???
Aren't we supposed to calculate the change in price of 2$ as a percentage of the original price of 10$ ???? Than it would be -20%. Price dropped 20%.
Seems like math on the other side of the world follows completely different rules.

I'm just shocked!

are you working tomorrow?

2008-01-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

Here is a little funny story about me.
I went to a store today to develop the film (and yes, I still use film camera). They could not do it within one hour so I said I'll pick it up later, maybe tomorrow. Then I've realized that tomorrow is Saturday and a store maybe closed so I've asked "Are you working tomorrow?"
The guy gave me a bit funny look and replied "Am I personally?"
That's when I got it! Of course I've said that I was interested in store hours of operation (and that is true).
In my language "you" may refer to plural or singular and in my question I used it as a plural referring to all the people in that place and place itself. I'm happy I've learned something today.

And now I understand why librarian told me about when he worked when I've asked him the same question. I was really confused then and was sure he was about to ask me out and what trying to figure out what time works better for me...

go natural

2008-01-05T01:06:00.000-05:00

I’ve noticed that American population use a lot of chemicals for all the possible things.

For example, food: almost everything has some chemicals in it either for flavor or color or preservation purposes (sure you would need that if you buy milk by gallons). It came to a point when kids prefer some artificial drinks and snacks to fruit.

Another thing is cosmetics and body care. There is a trend of going natural – all the organic stuff. But the majority of products still have so many chemicals in it. It is mostly chemicals. When there is a problem people rush to the store to find a solution for it. That’s surprising.

Traditional methods are still so popular back home. Some of them provide you with wonderful results, though sometimes they are more time consuming. Instead of buying special creams and medicine for reducing dark circles under eyes and “curing” red eyes you can use regular black tea. To make your hair shiny you wash them with some herbs, egg yolk or with black bread. (I was looking for a certain herb this summer for my hair. One lady I was working with suggested me to go to herb cure store. Well… they carry mostly pills… and I was looking for herbs in form of dry leaves, seeds, etc. When I told store manager about that she gave me such a look as if I was from a different planet where creatures still don’t know anything about our technology of putting everything in pills).

I truly believe the more natural – the better. And you don’t have to shop for expensive organic stuff. Learn from wisdom of previous generations. Their methods still work!

me

2008-01-04T00:58:00.000-05:00

I've got to the point when I'm not saying things that I want sometimes to say because I'm not sure if it is culturally accepted. Before saying something I may ask some of my American friends if that is ok to say. It's like being constantly edited. Purity is lost.
And when I do mistakes I do learn. But for some reasons some of my friends think that this cultural dissonance is not acceptable and offensive for me, so if they know that I'm wrong they do not correct me. Knowing that I double check so many things now. I feel like I'm doing double job for no result.
I feel like I'm saying some important things too late and responding not timely sometimes. And all these things just to make sure I won't hurt anyone. And still I do.
Weird...

pregnancy issue

2008-01-03T23:09:00.000-05:00

Apparently I have a totally different sense of humor. Some of my American friends got really offended with things that I think are funny.

I have a friend who is trying to lose some weight, although he does not look fat. He actually looks good. Nevertheless, me and my other friend used to have fun calling him kinda fat (he has a little extra, but just a little). But sometime he has a really nice belly. Looks like he’s pregnant.

The other day I’ve asked him when the baby was due. The reply was “Auch.” I though maybe he didn’t get the question and repeated it. The same reply. And just today I’ve learned that a question like that is extremely bad for guys. Well… sorry… I didn’t know. Guys back home would give some kind of a funny answer which should mean “never.” For example, “after rain on Thursday.”

Didn’t work with an American guy. I have to ask sorry again… I’ll do it.

I’m doing mistakes and I’m learning.

"smels like a horse"

2007-12-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

We went to NASA today. They donated part of their land to local schools to provide young Americans with an opportunity to learn more about farming. Tram, that goes to some of NASA facilities, passes this farm by. There were longhornes. It smelled like we were on a farm...
There were lots of kids on our tram and they all started to argue about this smell. One little girl said it smelled like a horse. the other boy sait "No. that's how sheep smell I know!!!" (well... he knows. That's a good argument, so logic and manly) Others were saying something else.
Well kids, actually it smelled like sh*t. That's all. Doesn't matter if it belongs to horses, sheep or camels. It really doesn't matter...

I just though that was kinda funny.

true ladies do not age

2007-12-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

I had my birthday recently and quite a lot of people asked me for my age. I’ve said 1) it is rude to ask a girl/woman/lady about her age; 2) it doesn’t really matter, it’s all about how I feel. (But I’ll share my secret with you… my friend put only 24 candles on the cake... he thinks I’m 24… Really? I though much younger).

I truly believe that as long as a lady feels as a true lady, age doesn’t matter.

Here’s funny example from home. Few days ago my mom called my grandmother. Granny could not talk and said she’ll call her later. Few minutes later she called and told my mom that because of her she missed a very important part of the TV program and now she doesn’t know how to get rid of dark circles under eyes. (And I’ve never seen her with real dark circles). Isn’t it wonderful, that my grandma still cares about the way she looks? She still feels flirty. And she is in age category of 80+, as if it matters.

My grandma is planning to attend a dance party in 2 weeks and she’s already asking my mom for advice what dress to wear! She loves to dance. I guess I love dancing because of her.

So girls, feel flirty, feel yourselves as real ladies and forget about your age… and everyone around will forget about it too.

Isn’t that a wonderful way to stop aging?

love and money

2007-12-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

This Sunday priest in the church I went to told us that this year an average amount one American would spend on Christmas presents would be 907$, which is lower than the amount spent on average last year (942$). Interesting. I know that Americans shop a lot and they are spending a lot on things that they would not probably need. But when it comes to presents, how much should a person spend? Is it about money?

I always thought that present is attention! And yes monetary value matters too, but it is not the most important criteria. You cannot buy [true] attention and love, giving love to others is the greatest present of all.

Is there really a need to spend that much on presents? Or people think that the higher monetary value the present or presents have, the more the giver loves him/her? Can we really translate love into money?

Or we got to the stage where we do not care enough to devote time and give love, so we just give presents to show that we still remember.

One more thing: it is Christmas. Since when is it about giving presents to people? Isn’t it about passion, love, kindness and sharing (but not money… feelings).

spice it up and cook it

2007-12-14T00:02:00.000-05:00

Today there was a lovely cat around our apartment and at some point it sneaked in our apartment and run straight to the kitchen. This lovely animal was very hungry and started to eat orange rind. We got her(him??) some sour cream and took it outside.
My friend said it would be nice if I would have tuna, cats love tuna. I've agreed and added that any raw fish would be good. "Raw fish??? Are you kidding me? ... What about cat food? What about canned tuna? You spice it up, cook it and give it to a cat."
Now it was my turn to say "What?" Why would you ever cook fish if cats eat and love it raw (unless they were fed with canned cat food all their life)? And why would you ever want to spice it up? Not for animals.

Save animals, save electricity, save spices... Do not cook fish for your cats please!

chineese food

2007-12-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

We went to a Chinese restaurant today. We went there with some Asian people, including one Chinese person. The food was great, but was it really Chinese?
My friends said "NO." That's exactly what I've thought. You may pretend that your restaurant serves Chinese, Italian, Greek food, but it would be just your (in this case American) interpretation of Chinese, Italian, Greek food.
And it does make sense. You have to fit the local taste, otherwise you are pure Chinese and absolutely out of business, if there are not enough Chinese people to attend your place.

And even McDonalds serves fried rice in Asia... totally not American thing!

Kinda funny, we do attract people by the name (some exotic food), but then give them totally different thing... adopted to our taste.

they say it's good

2007-12-13T00:36:00.000-05:00

We went to a movie today "Before Devil Knows You're Dead". It is some kind of alternative or independent movie. Critics say it is good. Actors played really well, I agree. But I would never say it is good.
When movie shows all the possible bad things: when children kill their own mom for money, when the whole life is about money, when money make you violent. Isn't it something that we don't wanna have in society? So would it be good to go public with a movie that shows all the bad things of this world and than have hundreds of critics saying that the movie is good?
I left the theater feeling really depressed. Can that be good? This movie did not motivate me to something good, but made me feel very blue.
And then again, when critics say that the movie is good, they may talk about music effects, play of actors, director's job. But when people hear that critics think really positive about the movie, do they know exactly that critics were looking at different details and not necessarily the idea behind the movie?

banana republic

2007-12-10T02:13:00.000-05:00

It's exam time. Right now is about 2 am... I'm still studying. Actually I've just finished my paper. I went out of the room and saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that says "Banana Republic". I caught myself thinking about where this republic is. Probably somewhere in central America... Well and this is not the first time when I saw Banana Republic on a T-shirt and started thinking about location of this country...

Although it's just probably in the mall or somewhere in downtown of a big city...

hi there

2007-12-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

There are several expressions in English meaning of which is so difficult to get. Although I already know what they mean, every time I hear them I feel kinda frustrated and awkward. For example “hi there.” Are you talking to me?? There? Here? Where? Does the place matter? Do I matter? Maybe you forgot my name??? Possibly…

And what about “here you go” and “here you are?” These are examples when words together have a totally different meaning than the sum of meanings of every word. It is like Here you go, there he goes, somewhere else they go and you all go to different places…but it has nothing to do with going and direction! And my dictionary does not give translation of this expression. Can you imagine how I felt when someone told me “here you go” for the first time? Where should I go? Why me? Maybe you wanna join me? :)

“Here you are” is so different from “you are here.” It doesn’t have anything to do with the place. If you ever try to translate it into some language with the use of a dictionary you’ll get something weird!

Exploring English is so much fun!

devil eggs

2007-12-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

Americans have this dish, which name sounds like "Devil eggs." It is stuffed eggs, but stuffed differently that we do at home. The name was so intriguing... as if it was something so good you cannot resist and you would get them at any possible price...like making a deal with Devil. I was thinking about this dish as of something like fruits from the tree of knowledge at Edem.
I was really excited... before yesterday when I've decided to google for "Devil eggs" recipe. It gives you lots of pages, but when you go to those pages "Devil eggs" turn into "Deviled eggs." All the magic is gone. :((
I've lost any excitement about this dish. Regular stuffed eggs.

KISS principle, STAR approach

2007-12-06T21:36:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how often Americans use abbreviations that are actual words? For example KISS, which stands for "keep it stupid simple."
When I heard about KISS principle for the first time I really thought about the real kisses. We were discussing some relations of women with their male bosses. I had no idea that KISS stands for something else than the actual kiss. Well... it even made some sense, although it was not a true "feminist" approach(and US is one of the leading countries in the fight for parity between the genders), which is everywhere here. I could not believe my ears! Kiss approach in relations with the male boss? Is that how you get promoted? Might be fast, but kinda "below the waist line" method.

And in addition to KISS principle, there are so many others like RACE, STAR, ROPES, etc.
When coming up with an abbreviation for something people probably spend a lot of time to find words that, when put in a certain order, can be abbreviated with already existent word.
I wonder if it puts any limitation on the understanding the essence of the abbreviated thing.

lost in translation

2007-12-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

When you learn a foreign language you heavily rely on dictionary for picking words. I don't know how dictionaries are "created," but sometimes that give really "funny" words.
So when you look for words dictionaries may provide you with not the best translation.
For example, today in my German class one student used a word "Anhorung" for hearing. But the word actually means "public hearing". So Beethoven actually lost his "public hearing" instead of just hearing. And things like that happen all the time.
Later today one guy said that he's restless and he referred to it as to a medical problem. So I my roommate, who is MD, talked to him about that. We looked up in a dictionary the meaning of the word and started to laugh. The medical meaning of the word "restless" is kinda funny. Yeah baby.. . at your age at 11 pm... kinda normal... Enjoy! :))

communicating

2007-12-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

How do we communicate? Why do we do it? I always though that communication to a certain extent includes exchange of information. That communication is more effective when is done personally.

Over the course of last 2 weeks I got into situations where I was not sure if I did something wrong, had wrong expectations or the other side was acting badly to me/others.

I hope it is not a cultural thing, but just a person that acts this way. Although even if it just a person it kinda hurts.

Anyway, here is one example:

Today was/is a birthday of one of students who is on the same program with me. A friend of mine, lets say Mr. B., calls me and I tell him that we are celebrating. Mr. B. asks me to say “Happy Bday” to that guy. I’ve asked him to do it himself. Mr. B. came up with reasons not to do it, for example, he though that if he would wish happy bday directly to that guy, this guy will be confused/embarrassed/feeling uncomfortable for not having him invited to the party. Where is the logic? So do you wish Happy Bday only when invited? That is sad. I know it is really SOOOO difficult to call and wish Happy Bday if you don’t care, or at least post on facebook’s wall. But you can make someone smile, isn’t that worth it?

about fairy-tales

2007-12-04T11:02:00.001-05:00

Do you think it is weird for a master level student enjoy reading fairy-tales? Some of my friends here think it is ok, but weird. They said "Fairy-tales are for kids." Really? Is that why everyone is so serious at out age and do not believe in miracles?
I've talked to one of my best friends from home today. Her status in gmail account is "Reading Fairy-tales aloud." She still reads fairy-tales. I do to.
They are positive and they teach you wise things. They make you believe in miracles and impossible things. They are so positive!
Reading fairy-tales is not childish, childish is being blind and do not see miracles around/ do not see beyond ordinary things and do not give freedom to your imagination.
Life is plain & boring when imagination is turned off.

boys, cars, stars and gays

2007-12-03T23:15:00.001-05:00

I have a really nice shiny, tiny red car! My favorite color is red. On October 19th I've decorated it with some stars. Star (5 points) is my favorite shape. I really like the way it looks - very nice. I guess it reflects my personality.
I give my car sometimes to a friend of mine to drive. He is a guy! Every time after driving my car he would share his experience with me. He told me that everyone stares at him. Guys give him a really weird looks, girls just stare at him. So he gets all the attention. (Isn't it great?)
He is sure that everyone thinks he is a gay. He is sure that's because of stars!
Why? what's wrong with stars? Back home only real "machos" decorate their cars. All girls just go crazy about those guys. Stars on the car and any other decorations are usually masculine symbols.

Maybe because my car is so tiny? But before I put stars on it, he didn't get any attention while driving.
Maybe mix of tiny + red + stars means something more than tiny + red + stars??? Some kind of mystic synergy?

Or maybe people think it is a shooting star and they need to make a wish?? :)) Would be nice if yes.

"silly strings" or spaghetti fun

2007-11-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

I’m pretty happy to experiment some really funny and crazy things while I’m in the US. I remember from movies, that US have party strings – strings that are in the bottle, like hair spray or whipped cream. When I saw it in the store I got excited as a kid. And it was just 1 dollar… (maybe that’s why the color wasn’t the best).

Anyway, me and a friend of mine wanted to do something crazy. So we decided to decorate a door of our friend. And we knew he’s gonna be away at the time of our action. We planned! Got prepared! Got there!

Action!

Well… Hollywood movies are such a lie! These strings do not stick to things as you would expect. We wanted to do something cool, something nice… and maybe a little bit bad and totally unexpected… Wanted to decorate the door and stairs. Turned out to be like we just trashed his apartment. It looked like dirty pink spaghetti all over the staircase.

So later he called me and told that what we did was not good and these “silly strings” were not a nice thing at all. Whatever!!! WE had fun!

And Neighbors who saw us doing it definitely had fun too. Those guys, actually, had the most fun, cuz they saw us some other time doing some decoration work again :))

“I’m a professional Christian”

2007-11-29T21:28:00.000-05:00

coming back to the topic of religion, churches, etc.

“I’m a professional Christian,” – said N., who preaches sometimes at the local Baptist Student unit. “Smells” like money to me. So this guy is actually being paid to talk to us about spiritual issues (issues with no monetary value attached). Those are the issues that you cannot really talk about unless you have passion and strong desire, otherwise, your lesson will go nowhere. Does that mean his inspiration to talk to us is not true, not motivated by his believes, but motivated by check that he’ll get at the end of month? Might be. A lot depends on a person here.

I guess it is ok to have paid staff in the church, but those should be people who really can deliver a message and truly believe in certain things. Screening for job in such a place should be very strict. The guy I'm talking about does a terrible job. He really needs to work on his delivery more… Maybe he needs more money to get motivated to improve??

“Professional Christian”

Now what that is supposed to be?

Does that mean the message you come up to talk about are paid? Do those who pay tell you what to talk about and how to interpret certain things in the Bible (And yes, Bibles here come with interpretation. Probably different churches have different interpretations. That’s interesting… Meaning creation? Why not to let people understand things for themselves? I always though of Bible as a book with personal interpretations. It is different for everyone and its lessons are different for everyone).

Is Christianity a profession? I always though of it as a true devotion to God, no monetary value attached. But Religion and churches here are huge business. It’s getting the same way back home now too with more people going to churches.

Well, anyway, I truly believe that believing in God, religion and churches are three totally different things that are often not connected at all.

tea... i want some tea

2007-11-28T16:18:00.000-05:00

I want a cup of tea. Yes, black please. No sugar. And no ice, please!!! And... is there any way I can get a cup of hot tea??? (with the look that tells I'm almost sorry for these "weird" drinking preferences).
I really have totally different drinking preferences. Tea should be hot by definition. No ice in my drinks!!! Not at all. And, by the way, if you haven't noticed yet, it's WINTER!!! Winter is cold, by definition. (although, south of the US barely gets any snow).
maybe something wrong with my definitions of TEA and WINER? Possibly...

secrets

2007-11-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

My experience with Americans led to a wonderful discover: there are two types of secrets. 1) Secrets that you are not supposed to share with others and 2) secrets that you probably can share.
Wow! That is something new. I though secret is something you do not talk about. I was wrong. People actually specify if they don't want you to talk about a secret. Weird! I though I can just say it is a secret and people would know that it is something they should not share with others.
It is quite interesting that people tell you a secret and then they add that it is something you cannot share. So the word "secret" probably has some other meaning than just something that should not be shared... Mystery!
Or maybe it is a common thing here to share secrets? Or maybe it is just a common expectation?
But anyway, anytime someone shares a secret with me and asks not to share it with anyone else - I cant help smiling.

oh yes... international students are not adequate: you share secrets with them and they laugh.

but good lesson for me: do not expect Americans to treat your secrets the same way as you friends from home.

towels

2007-11-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

What is a towel?
Isn't it a thing you use to dry your face, body and hands? Well, that's what I thought a towel is. For me it is a very functional thing. There are two different categories of towels - for kitchen and for people. Those that are for people are different in sized depending if they are for hands or for a body.
Today I went in a bathroom and was so confused. There were so many different towels of different sizes hanging in different places. Some of them were rolled (different in different manner). There were so many of them so I had no idea which one to use and I was so afraid to mess everything up. Have you ever feel frustrated from not knowing what to do? I though something like that can never happen with towels. They are just things to get dry your hands or other parts of your body. Apparently, they are more "sophisticated" than that.
I remember the same confusion 4 years ago when I came to my host family house for the first time. Reveley mentioned at least 5 different types of towels when we were in my bathroom. There were towels for hands (I know what that is), towels for body/after-shower (fine with that too), towel for face (what??? what about the one for hands? or for body? aren't you touch it with your hands when you dry your face?... anyway - ok), towel for feet (or really? I guess USSR never had those...), towel to step on when you get out of shower (well, that is luxury). All of these were different sizes and different in texture. And there were also towels that were used for decoration.
Kinda overwhelming, isn't it?

articles

2007-11-25T00:03:00.001-05:00

They are in fact placed in the text randomly! The only 2 rules that always apply - 1) they should be in front of a noun, not after. And 2) "a" and "an" are for singular nouns only. These are the main rules. Everything else is random. Totally random!

I met with a former professor of English during my Thanksgiving trip. She tough me a lot 4 years ago. Thank her so much for everything!
At some point in our conversation I told her about my problems with articles and she said that articles are used differently in British English and American English! As a student I've learned British English that is why I cannot say "I'm going to the University", I would never use article there. Maybe that's a part of my problem?
Well, I always though that grammar is the same in both English languages. I was so wrong. Now the whole issue with articles does not make any sense to me.
Isn't it like fashion or custom? People got used to something in a certain way and stick with it for their life. And if you not a part of a community you would never get why they all do it this way and not the other. In case with articles whole nations stuck to certain ways. If that's it, then it is totally random to me. I'm even more confused about articles now.

I WANT THE CUP OF A COFFEE - and I don't care if doesn't make any sense... and I don't drink coffee anyway.

Seems that getting the rules about articles is more difficult that I though. (if randomness could ever be determined by rules...)

Thanksgiving grin

2007-11-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

Coming back to the topic of shopping in the USA.
I went to post Thanksgiving sale to the mall of Lynchburg, VA. Well... I was not really planning to buy anything, just wanted to see if everything was almost free on that day. I guess you know the answer. There were no free stuff. Seems like some stores even increased prices so they would be able to display 50-70% discounts.
There were two things that I did not really liked:
1) People did not seem to be happy. And that is holiday. They all were searching for something and seem not to get any satisfaction in their search. Maybe buying is not what you need? But everyone still was shopping, running from one store the other. I wonder will there be ever time when people would not be so crazy about sales? I feel like many of those people bough stuff they did not really need, but it was "such a good deal," so they could not miss it. So they were really shopping for good deal, not to satisfy their necessities.
2) It is a holiday... such a wonderful time to spend with the family... nope... people did rush to the shopping centers (not all of course).

As Jonas Ridderstrale, Kjell Nordström said in "Funky Business: Talent Makes Capital Dance:" it is an era of shopping and fucking. Well, they are probably right.

God's game plan

2007-11-19T21:37:00.000-05:00

Religion is one of my favorite topics. There are so many question, not so many answers. Well, you just have to believe and be strong in your believes.
I might get back to the topic of church and religion again, but for today I just wanted to share my experience at the Baptist Church.
1) I've learned a new word - "pew". Awesome, isn't it?
2) I sang... and I loved it.
3) I saw a very interesting name for the Bible - "God's game plan." Interesting.
Basically this version of a bible has regular text that the bible has and interpretations.
First of all, I prefer when people interpret things themselves and not get limited by someone else's vision. Isn't that framing? Something that PR or Ad people is accused of.
Second, how appropriate is the name? Game is something not always serious, sometime just to have fun. Of course it can be strategic too. It's like in ancient Greece where Gods played with people's lives. But what if it is really a game, is that the reason why people are saying we'll do what God wants us to do, but some of them just do nothing saying that God, probably, doesn't have any mission for them? It's something really difficult for me to understand. I truly believe that people should be active and should not wait for the sign from above.

shopping the american way

2007-11-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall
Shania Twain

Well, yes! you cannot imaging a single city without the mall. And people are in fact obsessed with clearances and good deals. Shopping is one of the main things in the lives of many Americans.
Well, I actually wanted to talk about grocery shopping.

I've been to Sam's Club this Sunday. That is something amazing. Can you image huge packs of everything? of absolutely everything - starting from salad to fresheners. Like a pack of 12 fresheners - to make sure that at the end of the third bottle you would hate this smell for the rest of your life. Or 72 rolls of toilet paper! The whole year with the same brand. I don't think it's loyalty, cuz at the end, you'll be so sick of this type of paper... You would see it in your nightmares. That is economy. "Small is beautiful" principle doesn't work here.

Some things were packed in the right sizes. Actually the majority of things were packed just right. Right enough for it to keep freshness while being used.

I'm used to do shopping very frequently, cuz lets say bread or milk (100% organic) stay fresh just for 3 days. So you have to shop frequently. But here people do it maybe once a week or twice a month. That's why they have shampoos in packs of size of almost a gallon. If, by any chance, this shampoo will fall on your feet while you take a shower (and things happen) you are in trouble... more precise ... you are in a cast for the next few weeks.

But I'm sure Americans are used to it...

students, time and romance

2007-11-17T11:49:00.000-05:00

I went to the movie yesterday and decided to walk form there to the place where I live. It is just 1,5 miles (I've checked with google maps). I got out of the movie at around 10 pm. The temperature outside was close to 32F (almost freezing point). I felt like it was the perfect weather to walk.
I went basically through all the campus and I haven't met a single person! Why? Is it too cold? Not for me! and not in general...
Is it too late? Are you kidding me? for college kids? no way!
Or maybe people do not really walk here? That's probably it.
I just remember that back home there are couples on campus walking till midnight. And they do it all year around, unless it is not colder than -15C (~5F). That is something that differentiates campus from any other place - couples are everywhere and all the time.
So what's different with students here? Don't they fall in love? Or they prefer watching movies, going clubbing or something else but indoors instead of enjoying privacy and fresh air of the outside? Might be. They even enjoy artificial flavor sweets more that natural fruit, so indoors vs outdoors thing should not really surprise me...

And you know what, you could see stars really well yesterday.

Well... I guess I had a romantic walk with myself yesterday :) and nobody around! Just me&me.

ladies' talk in the ladies room

2007-11-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

It happened to me in this country so many times before and today it happened again. It is so weird... weird to talk to someone in the restroom. I'm fine with greeting, but everything else should be outside the restroom. You do not talk to someone who is behind the door, seating and "resting." Moreover, you do not talk to your professors in the restroom! I'm saying "don't" but that's what people do here and they seem to be fine with that.
In my culture it is kinda unacceptable. We even have anecdotes about those who talk in restrooms.

And talking on the cellphone while in the restroom is not really nice. I would be very disappointed if I would learn that some person was on the phone with me when s/he was in the restroom.

And you know what? They discuss everything there, starting from weather to food! Food is not a topic for the restroom!

Wednesday's lessons

2007-11-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

There are two:
1) People are so great! (as if I didn't know)
2) Women and Men are different when fighting... but seems like girls are smarter with their strategy

In details:
1) I went to Cheatham's Garage today to change my fan belt. Those are very nice people. Seems like it's family business. They've checked my belts and tighten them... and not only the one I wanted, but few more and did some other really nice things. I would need to return there to change boots and repair oil leak. The thing is - they didn't charge for anything today. They said I can pay everything on Friday. Wonderful! These people trust other people and they seem to build relations, real relations. They probably do not send reminders about oil change, but they talk to their customers and are listening to whatever they have to say. While I was there several people came and in addition to talking about cars they've asked them about their families and other things. They knew more about their customers then just info on their car and car related habits. Very personal approach - works well. Too bad big corporation struggling with CRM cannot reach that level of privacy.
Isn't that great? building relations and trust provides you with loyal customers, and benefits both sides emotionally. Actually, I'm so excited about the place that I would suggest only this company if anyone would ever need a piece of advice.

2) I went to self-defense class. I loved it. Punching - is something I love. And they said use all possible methods to escape, even biting. Biting!!! That's exactly what I do all the time. Don't even remind me about this strategy - I'll use my teeth right away if I ever feel the danger.
Anyway, coming back to the lesson. He said that guys usually fight till there is a winner. Girls, when have to fight, do all possible to escape/run away. If they can discourage the other side, they do not keep fighting till the winning end, but run away!
I think it's smart. Why put yourself in bigger danger that you already are?
And the same principle is in climbing and while water rafting. If there is a chance to avoid danger - just do it. All the climbing trails avoid the most dangerous things if possible. In rafting the ability to avoid danger - that's what is count when you judge about people's ability to rule the boat. Although, when river's category is 3 or below - you may go through all the dangerous spots just for fun.

My day was great!
Now I want to figure out, where and with whom can I master all the punches they've tough us today.

peanut butter jelly sandwich or PBJ

2007-11-13T23:00:00.000-05:00

I've tried it today!
I've heard about it so many times, but never could imagine that someone really would put grape jelly on top of peanut butter. I always thought that maybe peanut butter is kinda like jelly in texture and that is why it is called PBJ. Well... they really put jelly on top of PB.

And it tastes very good! But still it is like "can I, please, have a sandwich with sugar and sugar?" Too sweet.

And now I understand why people have grape jelly at their fridges... I never buy this one, because it does not work for me. I usually mix jelly with hot water and drink it... (sounds weird for this country and for home country too,,, this is our family thing)

I'm so happy I don't have peanut butter at home. PBJ does not sound to be very healthy.

greeting people

2007-11-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

When I got back after my first visit of the US, people though I was way too polite - I would smile a lot and say "hi" even to clerks in the bank or somewhere else (and we do not greet those we do not know). Partly based on this politeness I became very good friends with a girl who got back from UK. She became more polite too. We were known as the most polite people in our department.
Greeting is a norm as well as "how are you" question. Although people usually do not expect any negative answer here, and I'm totally fine with any answer as long if it's true. If greeting is a norm, does that mean that I'm in trouble when someone does not say "Hi" at the beginning of the letter to me?
Personally, I try to put "hi" or some kind of a greeting in any message, unless it is not one out of several messages in conversation. And when I do not get greeting from a person I feel that maybe I've done something bad.

Or is that a form of a conversation where greeting can be omitted? What about SMS? is it polite not to say "Hi" there?

bed time story: experiencing american mattresses

2007-11-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever try to sleep with someone on the same bed here in the US? I'm not asking about any bed activity, just sleeping. Let's say you are visiting a friend and he/she does not have spare bed so you share and let's say the size of bed is either full or queen.
I have experience sleeping on several mattresses - cheap and expensive, big and small, nice and not so nice - and all the time I would have the same thing. If you share it with someone, or someone would just sit on the side of the bed while you are lying in there - you would feel like you are on the ship in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. These mattresses do not suppress any movements, but the opposite - they make them to resonate. It feels like someone is jumping on the bed while you are sleeping.
It is fun at the beginning, but what if you are just fell asleep and the other person decided to turn from the right to the left side - get ready for shaking experience! These mattresses may result in motion-sickness.
Is that the way to promote privacy and individual sleeping? :))

but local mattresses are so good for jumping!!!

my school is my prison

2007-11-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

For me any building, where people spend significant amount of time, should have walls, a roof, at least one door and windows to make sure that during the day the insides of the building are lighted.
But there are exceptions! For example a warehouse. Some people do work in them and they do not see a lot of day light. Another example is a prison. I've never been to one, but for some reason I believe they might not have windows... Lamp light has some suppressing effect on people and when people do not see enough of day light they get depressed (and feel punished). Also absence of (day) light make the space look smaller and does not give any feeling of a freedom. And again, view from the window kinda "extends" the room and make it look bigger.
Imagine my condition when I went to my college for the first time. Building looks really nice but it has windows only on the third and second floors out of five floors. More over, for the person who spend a lot of time outside there was not enough air on the first floor (which is almost under the ground).
Modern architecture is a wonderful thing, you can create whatever looking good, but don't forget about people who will be working/living in that building. Don't forget about functionality of the building. It is not about attracting people's attention, not in case of a school.
Actually the more you pay attention to that the more building with very little on no windows you see. It seems to be ok for the US. Even the place where I live... really small windows...
But what at least about energy saving and not turning the lights on during the day?

"my job is to make my professor happy"

2007-11-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful discussion today with a friend of mine. He is TA (teaching assistant) for some professor in the school. TAs are responsible for administering tests, check tests, take attendance and etc. So basically they are responsible for the less interesting part of the teaching process.
So we've been talking about situation that he had with one of his students and he said at some point that his job is to make his professor happy.
Well isn't that a very hard job to make someone happy? People are so unpredictable. On the other side - isn't it the easiest job ever? All you need is to make your boss to smile and treat t as his happiness.
The funny thing about it was that it can be translated to my language also as satisfied. And we often use this expression "my only responsibility is to satisfy my boss" referring to our jobs. But this expression has 2 meanings one of which includes sexual context. People use this expression as a joke all the time. If only my friend knew what I had in my mind when he said about making his professor happy... I'm sure he would not say something like this again... :)