Part 2.
First impressions.
It's late. The sun set a long time ago (or rose somewhere else :)). Instead of going to sleep and heading out tomorrow with a smile to look for a second job (even though I haven't started the first one yet), I decided to continue my blog :)
You know, I also thought I'd arrive in the "Big Apple," step out with a happy look on my face, the sun would be shining, and Frank Sinatra would be playing in my head... in reality, everything turned out to be much more prosaic (surprise!). Crawling out of the airport, I was certainly happy, but just as tired. The sun wasn't shining, it was dark, and I forgot about the music. Honestly, being in a wrecked state, I didn't worry about it at all. Glancing at Times Square, I found crowds of people there. Where do they all come from in the middle of the night? Truly a city that never sleeps. I hope this city will get a few more lines in this blog :)
I won't describe all the domestic hardships and stuff like that, as they say here; I'll just say that I'm living alone for now. I'd rather write about Americans and the environment here.
Having spent about 5 days on "free soil," I can note a few things that shocked or at least surprised me:
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You're unlikely to find a liter of juice, milk, or a pack of cookies here (personally, I've been wanting to buy a pack of Oreo for days, but they only sell them in packs of 4 or more :))) - everything here is sold mostly in gallons starting from 1.5 liters and up. When I asked "why?" my landlady replied that it's cheaper. Well, that'll pass as an excuse, okay.
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Someone told me there are no pickles here - there are, I saw them! In regular jars with brine (they might be marinated, but that doesn't change much). There's no sauerkraut - that's true.
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I got sunburned here - even though it's not hot at all, around 20-25 degrees, a very pleasant temperature - and decided to buy castor oil. I interrogated two clerks in the store before they found it for me in the laxative section :)))) It was fun)
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Americans are a separate topic. Nice people, they say hello, say "Have a good day," and all that. It's very pleasant to talk to them. Had a lot of fun while chatting with them. The librarian complimented me, said I have very good English :)) Eh, a small thing, but so pleasant :)
You know, back home, when you walk around the city or elsewhere and need to ask for directions, there's no desire to approach people and ask anything. I don't know, maybe I'm wearing rose-colored glasses here, and the world seems brighter, the sun warmer, and people kinder, but for me, it was always a problem to call somewhere, go ask something, and especially to openly talk to strangers about different topics. I think people here are more open to conversation because they hide their personal lives more, as strange as that sounds). But I've gone deep into some psychoanalysis, time to surface.
- One-story America. Everything here is like in a typical American movie - a mowed lawn, a white picket fence, a two-story or one-story house, garage doors. Everything is proper, peaceful, quiet; cars drive on the roads, NO ONE walks on the sidewalks. Interestingly, almost no one, except for poor students (who haven't managed to buy a bike yet), walks on the street. They are always like ghost towns. All Americans drive their big and powerful cars (sometimes very cool ones), clearly not caring about the environment.
And generally, speaking about ecology, I'll say that here in New England, it's very beautiful and there are a lot of animals. There's an immeasurable number of birds, and they are constantly singing. Personally, I saw 3 or 4 squirrels crossing the road - not in some forest, but right next to residential houses! I also saw a few timid rabbits, one right on the green lawn of a typical "American dream house." I don't understand how wild animals live here, but that's how it is. Although, if you remember that this is quite a deep countryside, everything falls into place.
I can end this part of the blog here.
The next one, I think, will be about work and it won't be soon, although who knows :)
