Expecting an invitation, except in limited cases, would be considered rude
Therein lies a difference, you see? :-) Among people of the ME, friends (not just best buddies but friends) would be truly heartbroken if you did not stay with them.
Tourists in rural places are usually very surprised to see that when they are trekking, for example, a family invites them into their modest home, offers them tea, and a place to stay for the night...
The idea is to get the best you can afford, not to save money per se.
Of course it is. I am not disputing the idea behind it, as it is the same everywhere. It is just that no shop would hang a sign that says "Cheap rings!", because nobody would go in :-)
Few people in the State's would care to admit that they are short of money, although you are probably right, they are less inhibited about such an admission........
Yes, Americans are not inhibited at all in admitting they cannot afford something, even if it is for just a week before the next paycheck comes in. Even in western Europe, this is very rare.
Re Money - I remembered something else that had surprised me as a child. One of our neighbours in the apartment building I used to live as a child was an American family. I was shocked when I first heard that the parents PAID the kids to wash the dishes! I felt so sorry for the kids, as I was so sure that their parents did not love them, since their relation was so based on money for services :-) I must have been under 10 or so, because I remember playing with the kids without understanding a word of what they were saying....
Then I heard children are kicked out from home at the age of 18 in the US, and have to find a place for themselves, and I was really sorry for the kids :-) (I know, I know, it is not exactly so, but it felt very cruel at the time)
One more thing that surprised me as a kid was just how Americans would always wear t-shirts and shorts, during what we called "winter" :-) |
