What I think about my experience in the US

Ok people. Lets keep things civil. The reason for this post is simply my experiences of having been put into a close and intimate contact with America, it's people and their ways. Do you have similar experiences of other cultures, countries?

- Americans are very friendly and helpful.

- They don't make you feel like a foreigner. (Though you feel !!!)

- It is very easy to adjust with them. But they don't like people getting very inquisitive or trying to get too personal in the initial phase of the acquaintance.

- They dress casually and nobody bothers which dress you wear etc.

- They are fun loving creatures and enjoy their free time. Most of them like to keep themselves physically fit by regular outings, hiking, exercise, biking, jogging etc. They love the outdoors and natural surroundings. They look forward to weekends and plan their weekend activities in advance. This usually consists of some outdoor activity.

- They are frank about their opinions.

- They respect individual views and allow everyone to voice their own ideas on a subject.

- They have a lot of patience. Especially when standing in queues or while driving, nobody will try to jump before you in the queue. Most of them are very disciplined drivers. However this differs from State to State.

- If they happen to come in your way or you happen to come in their way, you will promptly hear an "Excuse me" or "Excuse us".

- They need a lot of feedback while talking. You have to acknowledge/nod continuously. Otherwise they feel you are not interested in listening or are confused.

- They gesture a lot and shoot some funny (at least so it seems initially) phrases at you. It is a matter of "getting used to it".

Work related:

- Project Leaders are very understanding and friendly. And do not unduly pressurize you to perform. They will definitely give you some time to come up to speed on their work environment.

- There is a lot of individualistic approach. Every person's inputs are given a lot of importance. Independent views are respected. Before discarding any of your ideas, they will give you a good enough reason for doing so.

- For the smallest of decisions they will sometimes hold a meeting and get the entire team's inputs/comments/suggestions before proceeding. One feels important when this is done. :o But sometimes it can get boring.

- Nobody double checks what you are saying, they take you for your word.

- There are no suspicious feelings and managers don't fear subordinates.

- Managers will openly discuss about their meetings with "their" bosses, with the team. There is no hide and seek as far as information/feedback is concerned.

- People admit if they don't know or have information about certain things. They don't pretend to be all knowing.

- People are dedicated to their area of work and develop expertise in it. But they do not talk about work related topics which are not in their area of expertise, they immediately refer you to the right person.

- People enjoy their work and leisure. They plan their weekends well in advance. Very few people stay back late in the office or come and work during weekends. Such things are not related to performance. As long as you do your work well and within time, n obody cares what else you do and when.

- Most companies allow you to compensate by working during the weekend if you take an 'off' from work on a regular weekday.

- The work hours in most companies are flexible. Come anytime and go anytime but you do need to put in a minimum of 8 hrs/day or 40 hrs/week as contractors.

I have deliberately left out the things I don't like for the simple reason that everybody has them. However, these above points I found to be rather ...er...unique, and I felt that I might share them with you all.

For more information on how we 'visitors' feel and do before we get here, here are a few links:

The Graduate Indian Student Association at the University at Buffalo webpage dealing with newsomers.

AND

A guide to culture shock Part of my post is an article there. I wrote it to help my fellow countrymen deal with life here a little better

Follow with an open mind and enjoy

Best regards,
John

PS: I hate airport security Sorry, just had to be said

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Work in the ER is a mix of can do, can't do and "sure, what the hell..."

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