First impressions of the United States #014

 Language

The first big change was realizing that I could no longer speak Portuguese. I didn't realize how big this would be in my life; it's like part of my personality was being taken away from me. My English is still not 100%, I'm improving, but I feel like I have to develop myself to express myself in this language. It will never be the same as your native language that you've spoken every day for almost 30 years. This language issue affected my psychology in a way that I wasn't prepared for.

First impressions at the airport

I was impressed by the size of some women's false eyelashes. I thought that in my city it was exaggerated, but here the eyelashes are 3 or 4 times bigger than the biggest ones I saw in Brazil. I didn't even know that there was such a trend of putting on eyelashes in other countries. Sometimes something is a trend in several countries and we don't even realize it.

I noticed that it is more common to see black men with longer hair. In Brazil, there is pressure for black men to have short hair. Yes, there are those who leave their hair long, but here I found it more free in this regard. Everyone wears their hair however they want.

The quality of the paper towels used to dry your hands is incredible. They are so durable that they almost look like cloth. I didn't even know that something of this quality could be found.

I found the airport not very clean. It could have been cleaned more thoroughly, but people have to cooperate too.

A plane here to go to a small city is like a floating bus. It is much simpler and doesn't have that "chic" air that Brazil has. When passengers board, they even played some music.

Food

I found the food here to be cheap. Even at the airport it was cheap (even with the devalued currency in Brazil, in São Paulo it would be more expensive than eating in Atlanta). I am not a person who eats a lot. Their small or normal amount is a lot of food for me. I took the smallest glass of soda at the airport and filled it halfway because it would have been too much for me.

At the restaurant, I couldn't eat it all either time. You can order it to take home, they give you the delivery packaging and you pack it yourself to take home.

Weather

Here in North Carolina, the weather also took me by surprise. It's humid and hot in the summer. I never imagined that it would be hotter in the United States than in my city in Brazil, which is extremely hot. Even though the thermometer in Brazil is higher, here the sensation on your skin is different and more "suffering". Good thing that all places have air conditioning, so no one suffers because of the heat.

I also wasn't psychologically prepared for the issue of the length of the day. It was already 7 pm, the sun was beating down outside, and my mind was processing it as if it were 4 pm. Since where I lived, there wasn't much variation in the length of the days throughout the year, I was used to the sun setting between 5 and 5:30 pm. In addition to the language, it will be another difficult thing to adapt to.

Television

Here I noticed that there are a lot of commercials for technology companies, which in Brazil don't advertise on TV, medicines and weight loss drugs, and cars. The commercials are very long and tiring, you even forget what program was on. I found TV very tiring for my mind, maybe because it's not a format I'm used to.

Bathroom

I thought the toilet here was really cool, the water pressure is really good, it sucks everything down at once. The quality of the toilet paper is different from Brazil, I liked the American version better. But on the other hand, I didn't like the shower. I prefer the shower in Brazil, which is electric, the water falls from above and the water comes out hot. Here in the United States you have to wait for the water to heat up, the water falls on the side, I found it horrible for washing your hair. The products I used here, like shampoo and soap, I felt they lather less compared to the Brazilian versions.

City

I didn't find the layout of the city very practical. In my opinion, it is more beautiful than the layout of most Brazilian cities, but it is not practical, one thing is too far from the other. Here, a car is really a necessity. I live in a city of 200 thousand people and there is no way to go to the supermarket or do anything on foot.

General

Overall, my impression was positive. Some things, such as the need to use a car, a different shower, etc., I already had an idea of ​​what it would be like, but when you live it firsthand, it is different. I have not yet had a deep relationship with the people here, but I hope I can adapt.