But enough about work. I do have some stories tucked away. Take my roommate, for example, who tried to get me fired because he wanted my position x). But let's change the subject to something more cheerful. It's time to talk about daily life and travel.

Let's start with the "debts." I already mentioned the operating hours of local establishments, right? Well, let's expand on that. In New York, they close very early by our standards. It's especially bad on weekends—on Saturdays and Sundays, even tourist spots are often closed, how is that possible?! What a disappointment it was when I realized that tours of Buffalo City Hall are only held on weekdays during business hours. And when I decided to pop into a mall on the way from Buffalo, it turned out it closed at eight! Help! Many eateries close even earlier. That's New York State for you.

That very unfortunate mall

I also mentioned that you can survive in America without knowing English. That's true. Even at my job, I had colleagues who only spoke Spanish. And living under the same roof as me was a J-1 student from China who knew almost nothing at the start of the program! I already said that technology makes everything too easy, right? Anyway, if you lose your memory and forget English, no worries, you have Google Translate! Seriously, it translates from Chinese quite decently, tested x). However, don't count on it. First, because of this, you'll have a much smaller choice of jobs, and as I said, working with Americans is not scary and even fun, and second, it will be much harder for you to find friends among the locals.

I also promised to talk about accents. With Spanish, by the way, everything is much easier. I had problems with African American Vernacular English until the very end; even one American said in conversation that he doesn't always understand it either. But I got used to the supervisor with a Spanish accent by the second day. Latinos, by the way, are even more sociable than regular Americans, don't be afraid of them either x). Essentially, it all comes down to how clearly the person speaks. I sometimes worried that I didn't understand the person on the first try, but then I remembered—in Russia, it often happens that someone doesn't hear someone else, right? So, don't worry more than necessary.

Okay, moving on. Now about... Deception in supermarkets! Okay, deception is a strong word, but there is something you should know. American stores often have promotions, but they are cleverly disguised. You see, if a price tag promises you a lower price when buying multiple units of an item, it doesn't always mean you actually need to buy multiple products. It's easy to check—go to the checkout, and if the price per unit is lower than usual, you've found such an example!

There were two variations in New York: "Y/X$" and "Y for X$" (X is the price, Y is the quantity), and if I'm not mistaken, in the first case, the price didn't depend on the quantity, it was just a discount.

Moving smoothly to food. By the way, many people worry that they will gain weight in America. Not at all! I can't recommend my diet, as on workdays I often ate twice a day (since I almost never took anything with me to work), but combined with physically demanding work, I lost about 10 kg this summer. I ate quite budget-friendly: grains, pasta, sausages, potatoes; when I had money, I included meat in my diet. I recommend a pack of 12 chicken legs, especially on sale x). Except for breakfast, I almost splurged: I made a kind of variation of overnight oats, consisting of the porridge itself, yogurt, and a banana. It came out to about 1-2$ per breakfast. Oh, yes, sometimes laziness might get to you, and you'll go buy ready-made semi-finished products. I mainly did this with 1$ pizza, but I didn't overdo it. I also tried buying noodles from Dollar Tree but... I've never had such a strong allergy as then...

Walmart is a model of a good supermarket, but getting there by public transport is a bit expensive

But nevertheless, another instructive story. After all, treating customers well is required not only from you, but from everyone! For example, when I went to an electronics supermarket for that very unfortunate adapter, I found two sets, one of which was twice as cheap as the other. However, I wasn't sure if the coveted one was among the pile of adapters in it. Well, I went up to an employee and asked... To which he simply took the box, cut it open, pulled it out, and looked. Unfortunately, it wasn't there, so I had to shell out, and the holey pack remained hanging where it was x). In general, I think the point is clear—everything for the customers, and it doesn't matter if you are a customer or a service worker.

And how could we do without the most important thing, travel! I will dedicate the rest of this page to those I made while still in the middle of the program. By the way, if you happen to be in a city on the border, I highly advise you to take care of your visa as early as possible. I looked at the Canadian skyscrapers and kicked myself for applying too late. I heard something about the sponsor being able to provide some separate permit, but I can't confirm it—it's high time to find out for yourselves!

So, personally, I didn't have much luck with company (for simplicity, let's say it's my own fault), so I almost always traveled alone, but that's not fatal, even if it's often a bit expensive. How to travel without a car? Very simple! In the Russian internet, they bash Amtrak, but I can't complain about anything except the price. However, the main thing is to buy a ticket as early as possible, you will save a lot! Well, let's go in order. And if you have a car or friends with one, you just take and... Go!

Inside the train car. Simple and... normal

Niagara Falls. Yes, I lived there and no, it's not very cool. That is, yes, the falls themselves and the gorge that stretches further, through which a cosmic view of the Canadian side opens up—this is the best thing I've seen in my life. I came to the cliff more than once or twice, sat on a rock, and just looked at the light from the skyscrapers that broke through the evening twilight.

2019 AD, a Russian student wants to go to Canada, color photo

The waterfall itself is also illuminated, and fireworks are often set off above it. It's cool.

Which of the hundred photos of the waterfall to send this time... Well, let's have a view from below

But the city itself... In short, it's half-dead, and if in detail, go read about the Rust Belt of America. In general, it's a pretty decent place to hang out for a couple of days or even a week, but living here all summer is quite dull.

Finding a photo of Niagara Falls in a bad light is not difficult

Although you shouldn't think that there are no interesting places at all—they are just more oriented towards tourists, but for locals, they are of less interest. And so, the parks near the waterfalls themselves, and a few streets, are pleasant enough to walk through a couple of times. On average, I went to the waterfalls about every 2 weeks, they are cool!

But let's move on. Next in line is the city with which we share a transport system, Buffalo! And yes, locals call it "Buffalo," which makes it physically painful for me to write its name with a "u" now. Besides the creepy mascot (look at the unexpected buffalo and you'll understand what I mean).

Some posters make you feel... Uneasy

The city has something to show. Let's start with the bad to move on to the good faster. So, Buffalo... Empty. At first glance, it gives the impression of a huge and incredible metropolis, but there are relatively few people on the streets of downtown even in good weather, and in the rain, their number tends to zero. Oh, and the half-empty mall in downtown made me shudder, after the Russian ones. In general, Buffalo was also touched by the history of the Rust Belt, which caused the city's economic growth to slow down sharply. However, the city has a past rich in development leaps, which is why there is something to see there. Let's talk about that. The most mind-blowing thing I visited there is, of course, City Hall. What struck me most was that it was built in the 20s! I highly recommend visiting the free tour of it, they will even take you to the mayor's office! And you will also visit the observation deck, this is also a memorable experience, even if there are more cobwebs there than I would like.

Buffalo: view from above

Buffalo itself is filled with skyscrapers, which is why walking around downtown won't be boring, at least for the first couple of times. There is even a semi-free underground tram or... an elevated metro? I never understood, another mystery for your personal trip. Near downtown is Canalside, and right behind it is a park dedicated to World War II. There is something to look at. But there are interesting places outside the center too. You see, even just walking through the wealthy districts... It's interesting! On my way to the Buffalo park, I drove and walked through simply beautiful districts of the city, they must be seen, it's very unusual after the Russian provinces x).

Expensive. Rich

By the way, the park is also worth visiting, and more than once, because various events are regularly held there, for example, a Shakespeare play in the open air, which has become the city's calling card. And it's infinitely pleasant to just walk through a pleasant corner of nature away from the eternally noisy roads. Just don't go onto the golf course. You might think there's something interesting there. No, it's just a huge field with small cars on it. By the way, remember I said that Niagara and Buffalo have one transport system? Buying a day pass for 5$ and then riding all day is damn profitable! To sum up—it's a good city for spending time if you ended up in the vicinity of the waterfalls, even if it can scare you off with its lack of people.

There was one more city I visited—Rochester. The birthplace of that very Kodak and also the city that made the greatest impression on me.

I was here

This is the province you want to see! This is not the super-rich New York, whose heights are impossible to reach. This is not Niagara Falls, whose economy could not withstand the closure of production facilities. This is not Buffalo, which developed in uneven leaps. In short, it's really like Buffalo, but which, firstly, looks much more homogeneous due to calmer development, and secondly, it has people! And also, perhaps the most pleasant downtown I've seen. Damn, Rochester even has its own waterfalls! However, don't think that they are even trying to compete with Niagara. But from the observation bridge, there is still an incredible view of the city canal, the water from which falls from a decent height. A railway passes directly above them, along which trains painted with street art run, and the background is decorated with local skyscrapers.

I felt like I was in elementary school, writing an essay on a painting

And we are still talking about a quiet province! It's a pity I didn't have time to go to the local park. However, another reason to go to America again someday x). By the way, by tradition, locals also don't say "Rochester" but... I never understood how to say it correctly... And again, how not to be me. I moved without a specific plan, which I will talk about later, so upon leaving the station, I just went where my eyes looked. "Oh, there's a beautiful building, here's a beautiful street, and there's such a gorgeous Gothic church!" That's how I ended up in the most dangerous district of the city. I'll say more, I ended up in this situation in Niagara Falls, and in Buffalo, and, actually, in Rochester. So here is my advice—look in advance at which districts are better not to go into, remember, people here may have weapons! However, I never had any major problems, so don't worry if you suddenly ended up in an unfavorable district, terrible things don't have to happen. Although, one time a man with an aggressive look did approach me. But, what would you think, because of his African American accent, I didn't understand what he was saying, and he didn't understand what I was saying. Taking advantage of the confusion, I slipped away. In general, if you see that the scenery around starts to resemble GTA San Andreas, it's better to leave. Not quite on topic, but when unwanted persons pester you, speaking Russian is a quite effective life hack x).

Near the station, the height of the buildings increases if you go further or to the right, and far behind is the most dangerous district