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What's the biggest surprise you've experienced while traveling abroad?

culture shocks happen when you visit a new country and realize that what's normal at home isn't normal everywhere else.

Experiencing everyday life in a new place can sometimes feel unusual or strange because of certain customs or behaviors.

Warto pamiętać, że tylko to, że coś jest inaczej, nie oznacza, że jest źle.

Once in a while I'll go for a walk outside during lunch to pick up a salad and we'll walk among the groups of tourists listening for anyone speaking Polish.

Surprisingly, I don't hear it often.

but when I do, I like to wonder how those people's vacation is going and whether New York City is what they expected it to be.

Culture shocks are called that because we don't expect them.

For anyone that is planning to visit this city, I thought I'd compile a list of about 10 of the most common culture shocks people from Poland experience.

To minimize that shock for you.

Starting the list with something related to the last episode, friendliness and small talk.

Walking into a store or a cafe and hearing...

From strangers is normal.

I don't like when people explain this greeting by saying that no one expects a full answer.

I think it depends on who you're talking to.

If it's a complete stranger in a store, then that person is just being polite.

But the more you know the person asking, the longer your answer could be.

Acknowledging a person in the same room as you is just a nice thing to do.

The more you do it, the more natural it becomes.

Just this morning I was grabbing a coffee at a coffee shop and a woman who was also a customer standing next to me smiled at me when I came in.

I've never seen this woman before, but I thought, oh, she seems nice.

The second culture shock that is related to friendliness is customer service.

During your trip to New York

This is something in my opinion Americans do really well.

And when a business doesn't focus on great customer service, whether in Poland or the States, it confuses me a little bit.

I guess I don't understand why a business wouldn't want to do simple things that would help make it a success.

have a direct impact on the profit of that business.

And speaking of money, number three on our list is tipping culture.

Part of the reason servers in a restaurant will provide excellent customer service is the expectation of a good tip.

And yes, tipping is so normal here that it is expected.

The service industry is big on tips.

We tip our restaurant staff, we tip our hairstylists, estheticians, masseuses, bartenders.

Wizytorzy w Stanach Zjednoczonych zawsze mówią, że powinniśmy po prostu zapłacić naszych pracowników więcej.

Lots of people who go into these roles feel like they could make good quick money because of the tips on busy days.

Places like fast food restaurants or cafes don't expect a tip.

If it's a place you go to often, then you may feel like you want to give something extra.

And that's fine.

But anywhere you have to go up to a counter to order and pay, no need to tip.

Food portion sizes.

One other thing Poles forget is that there isn't one definition of who or what an American person is.

People who live in New York have roots in countries all over the globe.

And the meals that they eat at home or the eating habits they have are different for every one of those groups.

Amerykańska jedzenie to głównie jedzenie inspirowane przez to, co ludzie zazwyczaj jadą w innych krajach, albo to, co ich przodkowie zazwyczaj jadą, ale z innym powodem, zazwyczaj z powodu dostępnych ingrediencji.

Most American Italian dishes do not exist in Italy.

One of my favorites called penne alla vodka is a good example of being very American, but not very Italian.

Going back to everything being bigger, as a visitor you'll notice the wider roads, bigger cars, bigger buildings.

I mean, if you were starting a country with a lot of available land, you would make it bigger, wouldn't you?

When I took my husband to Poland for the first time, he noticed that when cars are parked on the street, they're often parked half on the street and half on the sidewalk.

So usually right side of the car is up on the sidewalk.

Because he had never seen this before, he pointed that out to me.

I had to remind him that the streets were built long before there were cars driving on them.

Therefore, they are a little narrow.

I hear this all the time.

Why is the price of something in the store not the price I pay when I go to the register?

Today, New York City's sales tax is almost 9%.

Some things, like clothing, can be taxed in one state and not taxed in another state.

Inheritance taxes and many, many other taxes are handled differently in each state.

This is why some states are more expensive to live in than others and why salaries for the same type of jobs differ by state.

So when you visit an expensive city like New York City, be prepared for what we call sticker shock.

The surprise or disappointment when you realize that something you wanted to buy is more expensive than you were expecting it to be.

Moving on to number six, public restrooms.

This is a funny one, but I also hear this all the time.

The doors of the stalls in public restrooms are different in the States than they are in Poland or generally in Europe.

Well, in the US, the door in a public bathroom stall has a larger gap at the bottom where you can see people's feet.

And the small gaps on the sides are also bigger than Europeans are used to.

Well, anything we build in America has to be, as we say, up to code.

There are minimum safety and standard requirements set by local building codes.

What this means for public bathrooms is that people with disabilities have to access those bathrooms with ease.

Also, if there is a medical emergency happening in the bathroom, it would be easier to see it and get to that person this way, even if the door was locked.

Jest też inny powód dla góry drzwi, np.

Wszystko w New York City jest uruchomione.

New York City jest jedną z najszybciej spędzonych miast w Ameryce.

Have little patience and don't spend too much time doing one thing.

Because the island of Manhattan isn't very big, the touristy areas are not too separated from the areas where locals live and commute to work.

What this means for your NYC visit is that visiting restaurants can seem rushed.

When you go out to dinner

w zajętym restauracjach, nie oczekują, żebyś został dłużej niż 90 minut, a jeśli jesz śniadanie czy śniadanie, to oczekujesz, żebyś jadł, może spędziłeś 10-15 minut i wyjeżdżałeś.

Nowy Jork jest bardzo gorący i zimny w sierpniu.

May and September are in my opinion the best months to visit.

And since you'll be exploring a lot, you'll be walking a lot.

Be ready and bring comfortable shoes.

If you're a woman, don't expect to wear heels when you go out unless you're just getting in and out of an Uber.

And if you do wear heels out, keep a pair of flats in your purse to change into later.

Więc, czy coś z tego listu jest szokującym dla Ciebie czy nie, ważne jest pamiętać, że więcej niż 8 milionów ludzi żyje w New York City i więcej niż 60 milionów odwiedza tę miasteczkę każdego roku.

So next time you think that things in your hometown are done better, maybe they are.

Or maybe the two animals are too different to compare.

If you're planning on flying to New York and need tips on museums or hotels or anything you may want to put on your itinerary, let me know.

And definitely make sure you have an itinerary and don't go anywhere without a plan.

So that you make the most with the time you have.

That's it for today's episode.

please reach out to me at viola.naturalneangielski.com and if you're enjoying the podcast, leave a rating or a review wherever you stream your episodes.