The time has arrived and I am leaving America. Two fantastic weeks were spent in Georgia. It was a fantastic experience to see the America way of life. I certainly learned something new once again and look forward coming back.
During the last week I had the chance to experience a Baseball Game live in the Turner Field Stadium of Atlanta. It was a work outing and once in a lifetime opportunity to see something like this since Baseball is not very popular in Europe. It was fun and I enjoyed myself very much watching the game, while talking relaxed and munching my HUGE hot dog.
Besides that we went once after work to a Scottish-American Pub for some drinks and food, but since most have a family at home, the evening wasn’t very long.
Some things I would like to mention about the mentality, culture and hospitality in Georgia. I have met some really lovely people that you cannot classify as typical American stereotype.
People here are very welcoming and no one really had a problem when you talked to them. They are actually the ones that always initiated the conversation, no matter where you are. I have not experiences one rude person during the whole time.
Everyone was friendly, too friendly. It gave the appearance of being shallow. If someone asked how you are, they are not really interested in hearing what you have to say. As we say in German, a floskel.
The stereotype must come from somewhere, and even though it was different to what I had imagined, in a positive way, there were still those that represent the type perfectly. And I am not judging, just stating what I see. Overweight, I am talking here about obese, not chubby, cheeseburger and chicken wings eating loud Americans. But don't you have those everywhere in the world?
I also realised that the throw away culture here is very strong. Instead of fixing broken things they just buy it again, the supermarket are overfilled with thousands different types of brands and the kids are overloaded with the latest gadget. They don’t understand why someone would not want to have a smartphone (as it is the case for me). Certain people did not understand when I tried to explain the difference from the mentality e. g. we don’t have a problem drinking from the tab or bring our bags for shopping or even worse, don't have a problem with shopping at charity shops.
For those the American life is the way to go and interest in a different culture or point of view is non-existent. Lucky those people were not the majority I have met!
The mentality in general is very straight forward; however there are taboos, such as talking about sexual topics. I don’t have a problem to discuss certain things; however most people looked at me awkwardly when I mentioned for example visiting a strip club (which unfortunately I did not get a chance to do). And religion is for most people a big part in their life, whether or not they believe in God, they still go to church every Sunday because that is what society expects.
Overall I enjoyed my time in America and plan to come back to different, more popular areas. Thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome and was part of this experience.
I have again a few more trips planned for the future, some are booked already, and others are still in the making. As usual, read you next time and may I meet you somewhere in the world :)
