Welcome to Amreeka!

.........because first impression is the last impression

People

• Strangers smile and say 'Hello'. Be it a bus driver, a janitor or your boss!
• Strangers do not look in the eye

At the restaurant

• You get free refill for coke/sprite aka soda. Bottomless. Ditto for coffee
• If there is a mistake in your food order, you get it for free
• Pepperoni is not sliced tomato!

Living

• There are no fans and lights in the apartments you rent!
• But your house is carpeted!
• You begin to wonder how you ever lived without a microwave and 24/7 internet
• If you dont have a car and you are not in a place that has good public transportation, there is no easy way to go anywhere. No autorickshaws or the like. Taxis are expensive.
• The first few months are weird. You cannot get a phone line or rent an apartment, because you have no credit (read: previous financial information about you)
• You tip the waiters, the taxi driver, the pizza delivery man. You tip!

On the train/ At the station

• People wait for passengers getting off the train/bus before boarding on
• Even during rush hours, no one storms a bus or train. Everyone boards a bus or train calmly
• No one does not do 'nothing'. You either read, listen to music or drink coffee
• You don't climb in or climb out of a subway train. You get on and off the train.  The floor of the subway train and the platform are at the same level. Most, if not everything is wheelchair accessible and all the buttons carry brail instructions for the blind
• On public buses, there is no conductor. You pay at the box at the driver and the driver manages it all

Driving

• You fill up the gas yourselves. You pay more for someone to fill up petrol aka gas for you
• You don't jump signals aka lights, even at midnight. Try at your own risk.

General

• There are way too less skyscrapers than you think
• There is far too much land once you leave the city

Calling

• You pay for incoming calls and incoming SMSs/texts
• Prepaid phone is very costly compared to post-paid plans.
• For post-paid plans you end up getting into 2 year contracts! But you get a handset for free!

At the movies

• At movies, there is no seat assigned. Seats are first come first serve. It only matters how early you are at the show
• No intermission

These are just some of my observations.......chime in yours.