What were your SO's first thoughts of the US?

[doodlebug 3]

speaking to my mother the first time they met ..mom-noor what do you thiink of our homes? noor-your home is nice but too cluttered, you should clean it better

OMG he HAS to be related to my husband some how!!!

[amal 4]

speaking to my mother the first time they met ..mom-noor what do you thiink of our homes? noor-your home is nice but too cluttered, you should clean it better

OMG he HAS to be related to my husband some how!!!

my mom never did fully get over that... she is one that can hold a grudge for years. she hasn't really cared much for him since. she will tolerate him for me but if he does one little thing in a bad way she gets the "[mom look of disappointment- ent-ent-ent i hate that look

Edited February 15, 2007 by amal

[doodlebug 3]

speaking to my mother the first time they met ..mom-noor what do you thiink of our homes? noor-your home is nice but too cluttered, you should clean it better

OMG he HAS to be related to my husband some how!!!

my mom never did fully get over that... she is one that can hold a grudge for years. she hasn't really cared much for him since. she will tolerate him for me but if he does one little thing in a bad way she gets the "[mom look of disappointment- ent-ent-ent i hate that look

Every single picture I have of my mother since I told her I was going to Egypt has that "look" so I just the other day had to delete them all 'cause they were literally haunting me everytime I went into "my pictures"!!!!

[cbd2cai 0]

believe it or not when I first came here i missed the noise and the crowdness of Egypt "Cairo esp." very much ..now I am used to calmness and silence I like that now I don't know how I will sleep when I go to Cairo, I live in a main street "very noisy"

I keep telling the hubster that when he gets here he is going to be sooooooooo bored and it is so QUIET . . . no honking horns or people in the streets till all hours of the night! Then he laughs and says "Good" . . . I guess we'll see what he really thinks when he gets here. AND, I do have a problem sleeping in Cairo with all the noise . . . last time I was there, big trucks were using the road outside the block of flats ALL night long. That's when they let them come thru I guess because during the day the traffic is too heavy. Why those trucks insist on blowing those loud horns too I don't know. . . . maybe to scare the donkeys out of the road???

[amal 4]

believe it or not when I first came here i missed the noise and the crowdness of Egypt "Cairo esp." very much ..now I am used to calmness and silence I like that now I don't know how I will sleep when I go to Cairo, I live in a main street "very noisy"

I keep telling the hubster that when he gets here he is going to be sooooooooo bored and it is so QUIET . . . no honking horns or people in the streets till all hours of the night! Then he laughs and says "Good" . . . I guess we'll see what he really thinks when he gets here. AND, I do have a problem sleeping in Cairo with all the noise . . . last time I was there, big trucks were using the road outside the block of flats ALL night long. That's when they let them come thru I guess because during the day the traffic is too heavy. Why those trucks insist on blowing those loud horns too I don't know. . . . maybe to scare the donkeys out of the road???

funny but probably correct!

[wildroze22 0]

when my SO first visited... his first comment was def

"HOW is it so QUIET here?" he couldnt sleep at all. i miss the noise too, once i got used to that.

besides that...

having to check if everything kosher, and not realizing that a lot of things arent.

big surprise when the check out lady at the grocery store said 'have a nice day'! he turned to me and asked "do you know her? why would she say that?"... they arent that nice in israel

everyone smiles too much. for some reason it seriously bothers him. "no one is that happy all the time! you americans are ALWAYS smiling!"

and others...

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Funny thread! I can't wait until my husband gets here. I have no doubt he will keep me rolling with his observations.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Ahmed went down the grocery list last night nameing things to see if we could "afford" them and if a simple man can afford to eat out with 5.00 (like lunch from work)

[doodlebug 3]

big surprise when the check out lady at the grocery store said 'have a nice day'! he turned to me and asked "do you know her? why would she say that?"... they arent that nice in israel

everyone smiles too much. for some reason it seriously bothers him. "no one is that happy all the time! you americans are ALWAYS smiling!"

and others...

well they don't smile where i live nor do they say have a nice day! lol. i'm lucky if the cashier grunts at Stop n Shop!!!

[~Jackie~ 30]

Mohammed noticed the clean air. Our cars and trucks have to pass emmissions to be plated and that was one of the first things he noticed. Also, our semi trucks. He noticed many are shining chrome and huge.

Jackie

[sereia 0]

"WOW there is a lot of glass here."

"What do you mean I can't kiss cute little kids"

- how expensive living here is, and that money does not grow on trees

- both parents working full time and paying for childcare

- the cold

- distance between places

----D to da doodle : It might be better if your SO was a little distanced from a large community. This is why I say that. My husband's brother lives in NYC in a very Arabic area of Queens, they watch moroccan tv, shop at moroccan stores, have moroccan friends, eat only moroccan food, speak only in arabic to each other etc. He's been here almost 10 years and when he came to our wedding it was very obvious how un-assimilated he was. Now my husband lives here with me obviously. We have a mosque and he has some moroccan/arab friends however he works and lives with americans and is MUCH more assimilated than his brother in just over a year. Really the differences are shocking. Just something to think about - there are pros and cons of both options.

haha thats the area of queens i live in. astoria, right? oh yeah i meant to get you the address for the jewelry shop, right? i'll try to remember that tomorrow.

[mybackpages 0]

Don;t forget, it will take some explaining on how cell phones use minutes....yes you use phone minutes when someone calls you, no there is no card to recharge with minutes. you have a monthly plan, yes you can call long distance free on the mobile, but not on the home phone, no, there is no charge when someone calls the home phone. You have free minutes, whenever minutes etc...

[cbd2cai 0]

. . . looks like they are going thru the City of the Dead . . . a place I saw a lot just passing thru!!

set to a Hakim song.

ahhhhhhh, those honking horns!

Some things your SO might miss when leaving Cairo , LOL!!

Edited February 16, 2007 by cbd2cai

[chri'stina 190]

If we are just talking about the first day or two, his comments were more like

"wow, this is nice"

"everything is so spacious and clean"

"it's quiet without horns honking in cars constantly"

"The houses are so nice"

"The way of living here is so different"

"This is a rich nation..."

Then after being here awhile, he still thinks it's spacious and clean and nice, but also says it is expensive to live in the US, there needs to be better mass transit (well we live in the far out burbs, not happening!). Things are too expensive here.

But coming from India, he definitely says we live like kings here compared to so many in India. For him that is the biggest thing, noticing things like that even the poor in the US live very very well compared to the poor in India.

Edited February 16, 2007 by stina&suj

[chri'stina 190]

Oh yeah one other thing, when we first went to walmart

"It's nice that there aren't people bothering you the whole time you are trying to shop", since in India shop workers are always following you around the shops wanting to show you everything and don't leave you alone. And then the hawkers in the streets are constantly trying to make you buy things.