Impressions of America trough My Short Trip
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I usually write entries on Mondays, but yesterday, I couldn’t, because I was on a plane.
I went on a trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas for 5 days.
There are several things I wondered during the trip.
1. How come they like gummi candy with a shape of worms? Even though they are colorful but their shape is still gross. I don’t feel like picking them up and put them into my mouth.
2. How come American coins don’t have the number on them to show how much they’re worth. For example, Japanese 10-yen coins have big “10” on them, so do other kinds of coins.
However, American coins have only small letters like “five cents” on them and the letters are often too abraded to read. Five-cent coins are bigger than ten-cent coins and this confuses me as well.
I guess that’s why American people don’t like to use coins. I eventually came to use my credit card instead, and I found it much easier.
3. There was a drink bar at most restaurants I visited, but the drinks are all sweet ones. I hardly found any cold oo-long tea, black tea, or coffee without sugar, which are usually in most drink bars in Japan.
It seems like every American drinks sweet drinks especially cola. Isn’t this habit causing their overweight?
4. When I was walking alone in the downtown in Las Vegas, a man suddenly spoke to me, “Excuse me.” I turned back to him. Then he said, “You dropped your smiles.”
“??” I didn’t know what to say. He continued, “so beautiful….” I ignored him and walked away.
What was he going to do to me? Did he want to have anyone to talk with or anyone to buy something he was selling? Hmm, he didn’t have any goods to sell, though. Maybe he was trying to take me to somewhere.
Anyway, it was wise of me to ignore him, right?
I went on a trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas for 5 days.
There are several things I wondered during the trip.
1. How come they like gummi candy with a shape of worms? Even though they are colorful but their shape is still gross. I don’t feel like picking them up and put them into my mouth.
2. How come American coins don’t have the number on them to show how much they’re worth. For example, Japanese 10-yen coins have big “10” on them, so do other kinds of coins.
However, American coins have only small letters like “five cents” on them and the letters are often too abraded to read. Five-cent coins are bigger than ten-cent coins and this confuses me as well.
I guess that’s why American people don’t like to use coins. I eventually came to use my credit card instead, and I found it much easier.
3. There was a drink bar at most restaurants I visited, but the drinks are all sweet ones. I hardly found any cold oo-long tea, black tea, or coffee without sugar, which are usually in most drink bars in Japan.
It seems like every American drinks sweet drinks especially cola. Isn’t this habit causing their overweight?
4. When I was walking alone in the downtown in Las Vegas, a man suddenly spoke to me, “Excuse me.” I turned back to him. Then he said, “You dropped your smiles.”
“??” I didn’t know what to say. He continued, “so beautiful….” I ignored him and walked away.
What was he going to do to me? Did he want to have anyone to talk with or anyone to buy something he was selling? Hmm, he didn’t have any goods to sell, though. Maybe he was trying to take me to somewhere.
Anyway, it was wise of me to ignore him, right?
短い旅でのアメリカの印象
私は毎週月曜日に日記を書くのですが、昨日は書けませんでした。なぜなら、私は飛行機の中にいたからです。ロサンゼルスとラスベガスへの5日間の旅行に行っていました。
旅行中、不思議に思ったことがいくつかあります。
１．なぜグミキャンディをミミズの形にするの？ カラフルだとはいえ、それでもその形は気持ち悪いです。私はそれをつまみ上げたり、口に入れたりする気にはなれません。
２．なぜアメリカの硬貨には、いくらだかすぐわかるように数字がちゃんと書かれていないの？ 例えば、日本の１０円玉には大きく「１０」と書かれています。他の硬貨も同様です。
でも、アメリカの硬貨には例えば小さく「ごセント」と書かれているだけですし、それも磨り減ってよく読めないこともしばしばです。 ５セント硬貨は１０セント硬貨より大きいので、それも私には混乱のもとです。
だからアメリカ人は硬貨を使いたがらないのかしら。
私は結局クレジットカードを使うようになったし、その方がずっと簡単だとわかりました。
３．ほとんどのレストランにはドリンクバーがありましたが、そのドリンクは全部甘い飲み物ばかりでした。 日本のドリンクバーでは必ずある烏龍茶や紅茶、コーヒーなどの砂糖なしの冷たい飲み物は、アメリカにはほとんどありませんでした。
アメリカ人は甘い飲み物、特にコーラが好きなようです。この習慣が肥満を招くのではありませんか？
４．ラスベガスの繁華街を一人で歩いていた時、一人の男性が突然「すみません。」と話しかけてきました。
私が振り返ると、彼は言いました。「笑顔を落としましたよ。」 「？？」 私はなんと言っていいかわかりませんでした。「とっても綺麗な・・・」と彼は続けます。
私は無視して立ち去りました。
彼は何をしようとしていたの？ 誰か話し相手が欲しかったの？ 何かを売りつけたかったの？ うーん。何も商品は持っていなかったけど。私をどこかに連れて行こうとしたのかな？
とにかく、無視したのは正解ですよね？
私は毎週月曜日に日記を書くのですが、昨日は書けませんでした。なぜなら、私は飛行機の中にいたからです。ロサンゼルスとラスベガスへの5日間の旅行に行っていました。
旅行中、不思議に思ったことがいくつかあります。
１．なぜグミキャンディをミミズの形にするの？ カラフルだとはいえ、それでもその形は気持ち悪いです。私はそれをつまみ上げたり、口に入れたりする気にはなれません。
２．なぜアメリカの硬貨には、いくらだかすぐわかるように数字がちゃんと書かれていないの？ 例えば、日本の１０円玉には大きく「１０」と書かれています。他の硬貨も同様です。
でも、アメリカの硬貨には例えば小さく「ごセント」と書かれているだけですし、それも磨り減ってよく読めないこともしばしばです。 ５セント硬貨は１０セント硬貨より大きいので、それも私には混乱のもとです。
だからアメリカ人は硬貨を使いたがらないのかしら。
私は結局クレジットカードを使うようになったし、その方がずっと簡単だとわかりました。
３．ほとんどのレストランにはドリンクバーがありましたが、そのドリンクは全部甘い飲み物ばかりでした。 日本のドリンクバーでは必ずある烏龍茶や紅茶、コーヒーなどの砂糖なしの冷たい飲み物は、アメリカにはほとんどありませんでした。
アメリカ人は甘い飲み物、特にコーラが好きなようです。この習慣が肥満を招くのではありませんか？
４．ラスベガスの繁華街を一人で歩いていた時、一人の男性が突然「すみません。」と話しかけてきました。
私が振り返ると、彼は言いました。「笑顔を落としましたよ。」 「？？」 私はなんと言っていいかわかりませんでした。「とっても綺麗な・・・」と彼は続けます。
私は無視して立ち去りました。
彼は何をしようとしていたの？ 誰か話し相手が欲しかったの？ 何かを売りつけたかったの？ うーん。何も商品は持っていなかったけど。私をどこかに連れて行こうとしたのかな？
とにかく、無視したのは正解ですよね？
Impressions of America through/from my Short Trip
How come they like gummi candy in the shape of worms?
Even though they are colorful but their shape is still gross. [Alternative: They are colorful, but their shape is still gross.]
Use either "Even though" or "but", not both.
I don’t feel like picking them up and putting them into/in my mouth.
How come American coins don’t have the/a number on them to show how much they’re worth.
I had to look at some coins to verify this. :-) I think older designs of some of the coins may have had numbers.
I guess that’s why American people don’t like to use coins.
I'm afraid this guess is wrong. Americans are entirely used to pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters (half-dollar and dollar coins are much less common), and as far as I know, no one avoids using them. Some people do avoid carrying large amounts of cash (paper money) because of fear of it being stolen from them.
There appear to be coins all the way from 1 yen to 500 yen; I don't know what the various numbers in between are. In the US, the only common coins are 1, 5, 10 and 25 cents. It is probably because there are fewer different values that there don't need to be large numbers to indicate the values.
There was a drink bar at most restaurants I visited, but the drinks are all sweet ones.
This bothers me, too; I would much rather have juice than soda (a carbonated, sweet beverage). At restaurants where you sit at a table and order there, and your order is brought to you by a waiter, other drinks are usually available on the menu. Did you go mainly to fast food places (places where you place an order at a counter, and either pick it up at another counter or have it brought to your table)? Most of those places do not have licenses to sell alcoholic beverages.
I hardly found any cold oo-long tea, black tea, or coffee without sugar, which are usually in most drink bars in Japan.
I'm surprised about the coffee. Many fast food places don't have tea (hot or cold), but most have coffee without sugar-- milk or non-dairy creamer and sugar are made available in some form. There are many Americans who don't drink coffee with milk or sugar, so unsweetened coffee is usually made available.
It seems like every American drinks sweet drinks especially cola.
Please don't make generalizations about "every American," especially on the basis of little information. How would you feel about people making similar generalizations about "all Japanese people"?
Perhaps this habit causes them to be overweight?
Then he said, “You dropped your smiles.”
The man was either mentally deranged or attempting to use an extremely strange pick-up line. I have never heard anyone say this.
Anyway, it was wise of me to ignore him, right?
Yes. He was probably trying to "pick you up"; that is, to create a spontaneous dating situation. There's no telling what his goal might have been in this situation.
It's also possible that he was a harmless lunatic, and just expressing admiration for your appearance. This is more likely if he was shabbily dressed.
The U.S. is a big country, I know that, but I still tend to stereotype it.
I went to some fast food restaurants and also some regular restaurants. One of them had cold black tea without sugar, but the others didn't have it. It was hot there, so I wanted some cold drink. Maybe "iced coffee" was not common in America.
In summer, I usually drink cold drinks, like oo-long tea, black tea, or coffee without sugar, but I hardly find them at restaurants or supermarkets.
It is indeed a fact that most Americans are overweight. There are several factors which contribute to this, including lack of exercise and diets which tend to be high in fat. I suspect that fat is far more of a problem than sugar, although high sugar consumption is also a problem. The excessive consumption of sugar has more to do with large quantities of sugar being cooked into prepared foods and fast foods than drinking too much soda pop. Your facile explanations are off the mark, and you spoke about Americans as if all of us are the same. Thinking in stereotypes is ugly no matter who does it.
When I wrote "I still tend to stereotype it," I meant to say, "and it is what I have to avoid."
Besides, I realized I should be careful to choose proper words. "Every" or "all" shouldn't be used easily.
I understand it well. I'm also sometimes annoyed by those words. I was majoring in math in college.
Anyway, sorry I made you irritated.
I've learned an important lesson.
I'll keep it in mind.
How come they like worm shaped gummi candies?
Even though they are colorful but their shapes are still gross.
For example, Japanese 10-yen coins have a big “10” on them, so do other kinds of coins.
2. You're right about the sizes of 5 cent coin and a dime coin. I was confused just like you were when I got here and it took me about 2 weeks to get used to it. American do like using coins to buy things from vendor machines like pops, snacks, nutrition bars, coffee...
4. Yes, you did nothing wrong, but in my opinion, it's just an awkward way to say "hi", you know, sometimes people are so friendly that they smile to you when you catch their eyes, and they can talk to you even they don't know who you are. Sometimes, I was in the same circumstances. All I did were smiled and walked away :)
Impressions of America through My Short Trip
How come they like gummy candy in the shape of worms?
Even though they are colorful, but their shape is still gross.
You can use "even though" or "but" here, but not both. (Alternative: "They are colorful, but their shape is still gross.")
I don’t feel like picking them up and putting them into my mouth.
Gummy candy is pretty popular with kids. I think kids believe that the worms "gross out" adults, which makes it fun for them to eat.
How come American coins don’t have the number on them to show how much they’re worth.
I never thought about this before. Good question!
For example, Japanese 10-yen coins have a big “10” on them. So do other kinds of coins.
I guess that’s why American people don’t like to use coins.
I don't think most Americans feel strongly one way or another regarding the use of coins. The most common coins here are pretty small denominations, though, so purchasing something using ONLY coins can be a little frustrating. There are larger denominations out there, but they are all either very rare or out of circulation.
There was a drink bar at most of the restaurants I visited, but the (available) drinks were all sweet ones.
I hardly found any cold oo-long tea, black tea, or coffee without sugar, which are usually in most drink bars in Japan.
Tea isn't very popular in many parts of the US, and where it is it's usually sweetened. Cold coffee is also pretty rare here, but most restaurants serve hot coffee (with or without sweetener).
Isn’t this habit causing their overweight obesity problem?
Soda is a pretty severe problem in the US, mostly because a lot of Americans just don't realize how bad it is for their health.
When I was walking alone in the downtown in Las Vegas, a man suddenly spoke to me, “Excuse me.” I turned back to him.
What was he going to do to me?
He was probably trying to hit on you (ナンパ), although that's a really weird way to try and do so, haha.
Did he want to have someone to talk with, or anyone to buy something he was selling?
Anyway, it was wise of me to ignore him, right?
I would say it was wise, yes. :3 He may have been harmless, but it was easier and safer to just ignore him.
Sorry if I caused any confusion! I probably shouldn't write comments when I'm half asleep. :3
Yes, I enjoyed the trip very much. ;)
Finding differences from my country is also fun.
When I ordered hot tea at a restaurant, a pot of hot water and a tea bag were served. I was disappointed to see them because the tea bag was just a cheap one I often see at supermarkets. I felt like I was at home and drinking cheap tea.
They don't have a tea culture in America, right?
Personally, I like some tea, but I'm very picky. My favorite hot tea is corn tea, which I buy at the Korean supermarket by my house. I've never found it at any of our own supermarkets here.
There are several things I was curious about during the trip.
How come they like gummi candies in the shape of worms?
Even though they are colorful, their shape is still gross.
I don’t feel like picking them up and putting them into my mouth.
How come American coins don’t have the number on them to show how much they’re worth?
For example, Japanese 10-yen coins have a big “10” on them, so do other kinds of coins.
Did he want someone to talk with or anyone to buy something he was selling?
I think he was just joking. Was he an Italian guy? I wonder.
I hear some Italian guys sometimes say something poetic to pick up women.
There are several things I wondered about during the trip.
2. I don't think anyone has a problem telling coins apart. The main reason people tend to use credit or debit cards more is because they are just so much more convenient than having to count out change. Plus, carrying around a lot of coins can get heavy, and they fill up my wallet too fast. I noticed that a lot of people in Japan carry around a change purse, but I don't know anyone here who does that. Anyway, I use my debit card for almost anything just because it's so convenient.
3. I don't think it's necessarily even that Americans all like sweet drinks--sugar is addictive, so companies put a lot of sugar in their beverages to make people drink more of them. Yes, I think sugary beverages like soda, sweet tea and juice are a big contributor to obesity, but they're definitely not the only problem. Also, I don't know what kind of restaurants you were going to, but I've never been somewhere where I couldn't get plain black coffee. Usually at restaurants they give you black coffee and let you put the cream and sugar in yourself. As for tea, most Americans don't drink tea, unless it's sweetened ice tea. To be honest I'm mostly speaking from my observations because I never drink soda and I drink lots of herbal tea, but I think I'm unusual in that regard.
4. This has happened to me numerous times, and I've heard a lot of other girls and young women say it's happened to them. The best thing to do is just to ignore it. It's just a stupid way of hitting on a woman. He probably didn't really want to talk to you. To be honest, I don't really understand why men say random things like this to women on the street. It's really not an attempt to engage them. I guess it's kind of like how when I was in Japan sometimes random men would say "hello!" to me as they passed me. They didn't actually want to talk to me, they just saw me and thought "hey, foreign woman!" and thought it would be funny to say it. I think here men just think "hey, pretty woman!" and say whatever dumb line they can think of.
Sorry for my long comment, but these are very interesting questions!
Yes, Japanese people often use coins. There are vending machines everywhere, and even at the supermarket, we often use some coins besides bills.
Ah, I'll write another entry about this.
Oh, you've experienced the number4 a lot, too.
There are guys who do so in Japan, too, so no wonder.
I was interested in what he said, this time.
It sounded weird and funny. Don't you think so?
How come Americans like gummi candy shaped like worms?
"They" sounds vague since you didn't mention who you were talking about in the previous sentences.
Then he said, “You dropped your smiles.”
I obviously don't know what he said since I wasn't there, but "smiles" seems incorrect to me unless you were with a group of people and he was saying it to all of you.
What was he trying to do?
Maybe he was trying to take me to somewhere.
As for the strange guy, yes, ignoring him was probably a good idea. That was his "pick-up line". Don't worry, I'd imagine most Americans would have had the same "??" reaction as you. It's a really bad line. (^_^;)
But I'll explain what he was trying to do:
"Excuse me, you dropped your smile (over there) *points to the ground*"
You look back and notice there is nothing there, and then smile after realizing that he "fooled" you.
"Ah, there it is! I found your smile!"
That's how he was expecting (or hoping) it would go. Hehe, he failed. That's no surprise. I can't imagine the success rate being too high with this one. (^_^;)
Yes, I realized how convenient it is to use a credit card, or how inconvenient it is to use cash in the US.
Thank you for your explanation about the strange guy.
It's funny!
I got too nervous to let he continue, though.
2. Culture shock (and 10 yen coins are bigger than 50 yen coins).
3. Culture shock.
4. People are weird.
Which hotel in Vegas did you stay at?
Oh, you're right. 10 yen coins are bigger than 50 yen coins.
However, the color is different and it's easy to distinguish.
I stayed at a wonderful suite, but the name of the hotel is a secret. ;)
I had a friend that would throw his pennies away. I would scold him and collect them from him. He said in modern day they are useless. I disagree.
I can't imagine anyone to throw coins away.
I would collect them, too.