Mentionsy

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.

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.

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.

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

From strangers is normal.

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

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

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

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.

Isn't this how you make your money?

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.

Tak, wszystko, co kupisz w restauracji, jest większe niż to, co kupisz w Polsce.

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.

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.

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 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?

Taxes by city and state can vary.

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

Jest tak wiele wariantów pomiędzy pieniędzmi w miastach i miastach, że jest łatwiej zapłacić pieniądze na przyspieszenie i nie włożyć go na przycisk.

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.

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

Why is that?

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.

Nie chcę wiedzieć, co tam robisz.

Po prostu robisz to, co musisz zrobić i pójdź.

Wszystko w New York City jest uruchomione.

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

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.

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

I ostatnie, tak, te zielone autobusy, które widzisz w filmach, są prawdziwe.

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.

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.

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.