I am often asked about America, everything from how I heat my house to
my pets to American’s second language and many others. I will also bring up the differences between
America and Moldova when I think that people may be interested in the
differences (which may not be different at all).
But I really enjoy it when I hear a Moldovan’s view of America. My host mom was in Washington DC for three
months, so it is always interesting to hear her views of America. I also talked to a young man who moved to
America when he was 13 or so and came back for a month over the summer to visit
family. It was very interesting to hear
what he shared with his friends about America.
Most recently I listened to a conversation between a few teachers in my
village. I was going to my biweekly
tutoring lesson at the local school and found my tutor with two other teachers. It was during Christmas break and they were
finishing up some paperwork.
One of the teachers had just returned from visiting her son in America. He has been living in America, just outside
of Atlanta, for the last five years or so.
I was a little jealous when I heard of her trip. First she flew into and visited New York
City; she went to the World Trade Center site among other things. She then travelled to Washington DC, Atlanta,
Miami and then somewhere on the Gulf of Mexico.
Some of her observations were that hardly anyone lives in the
city. She said that most of the people
from Atlanta actually live in one of the three surrounding cities. The point is pretty interesting, because for
the most part American cities are spread out and do not have a lot of people
living in the center of the city unlike European cities. She also mentioned that she never saw cloths
hanging out to dry. In Moldova clothes
dryers are not common and everyone hangs their cloths out to dry, even in tall
apartment buildings people have a clothes drying rack attached to the outside
of their window. Another teacher asked if it
was true that people do not take off their shoes when entering homes, she
replied that it was true because everything was paved and there was not mud or
dirt that could get tracked into the home.
The more I hear what Moldovans find interesting about Moldova the
better I can respond when a new acquaintance asks me to talk about America.
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