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  • Hey there, fellow travelers! Mark here with Wolters World.

  • Today, we're in Springfield USA! Yes, the home of The Simpsons.

  • Well actually not the actual home of The Simpsons. There's actually about 20 or 30 Springfields throughout the US.

  • This just happens to be Springfield, Illinois.

  • And today what we have for you are 10 things that are going to shock you about when you come to the US,

  • because there are things that do shock people when they come here.

  • You know, how many flags are flying all around every single city,

  • and how many Starbucks and McDonalds are in every single city,

  • and the Americans actually eat cheese that's in a can that they spray in their mouth? What the heck is that?

  • And look! "No need to refrigerate!"

  • I'm not even talking about the politics in the US, which is also a shocking kind of thing.

  • Today what we're going to focus on our 10 things that shock foreign tourists when they come to the US.

  • So let's get started, okay?

  • Alright, so the first thing that's going to shock you when you come to the US are the sizes of the US.

  • Now when I talk about size of the US, I mean the actual size of the US; this country is huge!

  • I mean it's the size of a continent, okay?

  • When you want to get around. But also

  • the sizes of the food you get here, the portion sizes

  • free refills. Oh my God, it's soda without end

  • but also the size of the people

  • and that's why I really, kind of, focus on the size of the US is that first kind of shock.

  • because I'll meet tourists that are coming to the US and they're like, "OH!"

  • I am going to fly into New York, just rent a car in New York, drive

  • down to Miami, and then, drive over to Las Vegas and do some gambling."

  • "That shouldn't take so long. I mean, it's all in the same country."

  • What you need to realize is the US is huge!

  • That drive from New York City to down in Miami

  • is going to take you 18 hours straight of driving. I mean

  • that's no potty breaks, no getting food, no getting gas. 18 hours straight.

  • And of course, no construction, no traffic jams, nothing like that.

  • I mean it's literally, you know, 1,300 miles, or about 2,000 kilometers just from New York to the tip

  • of Florida. And then, if you want to go from Florida to Las Vegas

  • well that's another 4,000 kilometers

  • And it is huge distances when you are traveling in the US.

  • And that does surprise people when they realize this, "Wow, this is a lot bigger than

  • traveling around Germany." Well, yeah. Germany, you can the train around and see everything.

  • Here in you US, you just really can't do that.

  • The distances are just too big.

  • And of course, with those sizes, you have the portion sizes here.

  • One of the things that I love to see is when people realize

  • that we have free refills in the US.

  • If you are getting soda, not in a can, but a fountain soda where they pour the soda for you

  • if you go to a restaurant, most of the time, your Coke, your Pepsi, Mountain Dew

  • which as super caffeine stuff, your Dr. Pepper, or Root Beer, which

  • foreigners tend to hate but we Americans love,

  • it's free refills. You just get more and more and more

  • so you only pay once and you get all the soda you ever want.

  • Sadly, that free refill stuff doesn't count for alcohol.

  • Dang It!

  • But the thing is that free refills, but also the portion sizes here in the US, kind of

  • explain.......some of these things.

  • Because you'll see, when you're going to get your McDonald's, or whatever

  • in Germany, you get a large there ok.

  • The large is a half liter. Well, the large in Europe is just a medium here.

  • Because, here you can literally get larges that are this big.

  • it is insane.

  • The portion sizes. And when you go to a restaurant sometimes you'll think, "Man there's enough

  • on one plate to feed two people." Yes, there probably is.

  • So, just know, that when you are coming to the US, you might pack on a few pounds

  • or kilos or stones, whatever, you know, whatever. (chuckles)

  • whatever measurement you want to use, because there are a lot of big portion sizes

  • but there are a lot of really good food around here in the US

  • No, it's not just McDonald's. We go to other places too.

  • And then the third of those size things, are the size of the people.

  • Yes. There are a lot of ...... husky, as I like to call myself

  • husky, fluffy Americans.

  • Yes, we do eat a lot and no we don't go out a lot. We are driving around and things like that

  • so you will see a lot of big people here.

  • But the thing is, not every American is a big, fat, slob like me, ok?

  • There's all kinds of shapes and sizes of Americans, like

  • that you are here. So don't just think that every American just goes to McDonald's and gets fattened up.

  • That's just me.

  • Ok?

  • So, just know that there are these sizes of the US will shock you when you look at those things.

  • Alright?

  • Now, the second thing that's going to shock you when you come here

  • that has to do with the people, is the people!

  • Look, there is this rumor that Americans are just this fake, friendly.

  • No. Americans really are super friendly.

  • No matter where you go, people will try to help, will show you around

  • they'll say, "hey, which restaurant you should go to in this town?

  • "What site should we see? Hey, I am lost, can you help me find the highway?"

  • People are really nice from the US and in different parts. You go to Minnesota

  • where they are insanely friendly. And the south, they're insanely friendly.

  • And that's one thing that people need to understand is that in the US,

  • we do help each other out. We do ask you, "Hey, how are you? How's it going?

  • How could I help you?" These are normal things. And that service, kind of, scares tourists

  • when they come. They're like, "I just walked into the store and they are asking me how can they help.

  • I don't even know what your store has yet. How can you help me when I don't even know

  • what you have?"

  • Look, just know that in the US, we are all about service. We are going to ask you right away.

  • "What can you get? What do you need to drink? What do you want to order? Can I help you with your clothes?

  • What are you looking for?" That is just how we work here.

  • Another thing, when you look at the US, you're going to have a big mix of people here. There's no

  • one American. You know? You hear of these stereotypes of this or this or this of Americans

  • Look, Americans come in all shapes, all sizes, all religions, all colors, all creeds, all "hairnesses"

  • because, honestly, the only fake stuff you see in the US are the artificial colorings like

  • you're going to see, like, the Fantas, and the sodas, and the cereals. You're going to be like, "Wow,

  • those colors just, like, glow in the dark." Yes, the artificial coloring thing here, that's

  • the fakeness of the US.

  • The friendliness of the people? That's not fake. They're awesome.

  • So, we are in Las Vegas now and the third thing that's going to shock you when you come to the US is

  • ID please. I need some identification please. The fact that people have to have

  • an ID to buy liquor, and buy cigarettes in the US.

  • Because in the US, you have to be 21 to buy alcohol, and 18 to buy cigarettes, and basically you have to look

  • like your 40 to actually buy them without having them ask you for ID. So, make sure that you keep your passport

  • with you so if you are going to buy stuff, you have that.

  • And it's not just you, the person buying, but the people with you, they might need an ID too.

  • Alright, we left the desert of Vegas, and now we are here in the coast here in Florida

  • and the fourth thing that is going to shock you when you come to the US is the

  • the price is never actually what you pay in the US.

  • Now, in Europe and other countries, you already have this VAT, value added tax,

  • that's already put into the price. Here in the US, we have what we call sales tax.

  • which is add on after you buy the product. So, if you go to a McDonald's and you say, "I want to get a

  • hamburger on the dollar menu and I got one buck. I should be able to buy it." No, no.

  • That one buck and then you got to put the tax on top of it.

  • It can be anywhere from, I don't know, 7 to 15 percent. Some states have it. Some states don't.

  • It can very between locations so that one dollar cheeseburger or hamburger

  • can actually cost you a dollar ten ($1.10) It gets really frustrating, when you think about it

  • because it's not just sales tax that gets added on to the price.

  • If you go out to a restaurant, you also have tipping.

  • And tipping in the US is traditionally between 15% and 20% at a sit down restaurant

  • So think about it. You go to a sit down restaurant, right?

  • You have a $100 bill. Ok, I got a $100 bill in my hand, and the bill for the meal is $100 bucks, I should

  • be fine. Oh no, no, no, no, no.

  • That $100, well you gotta add on another 10% because of, well taxes, right? And sales tax.

  • And another 15% on top of that for tipping. So now, your 100 dollar bill for dinner

  • is actually $125!

  • And I know, people might not agree with tipping, but that's how it works in the US.

  • They're not paid a great wage, but they make a lot more money on tips and that's why you get this good

  • service that we kind of talk about sometimes.

  • That's where that comes from.

  • Now the fifth thing that we have that shocks people is when you come here and you think,

  • "Wow. The US. It's so developed. They got all this stuff here

  • They must have good public transportation."

  • Hahahaha. Good and public transportation in the US do not go together.

  • Yes there are some cities that have decent public transportations; Chicago, New York, Boston. Big cities.

  • You probably can get some decent public transportation within the city

  • but a lot of places out there, there are either no public transportation, or very limited transportation

  • or public transportation that a tourist would not want to ride on.

  • I would say that that does get kind of frustrating. You're like, "But wait. You have all this stuff but you gotta

  • drive everywhere."

  • Anyway, the sixth thing that's going to shock you when you come here are the toilets. And specifically,

  • The public toilets in the US.

  • Look, I know I talk about toilets a lot on my videos, and actually, one of our fans made a video of me just

  • saying toilet, toilet, toilet, and all these different places.

  • But I'll be honest, when you come to the US, public toilets are free.

  • There are tons of public toilets. Restaurants have them free for everybody,

  • but the thing is, public toilets in the US are usually kind of gross

  • but what I think is funny is when you look at toilets in the US

  • I get a lot of friends of mine coming from around the world

  • like, "Oh my God. Your toilet has so much water in it!"

  • And, yes, the US toilets do use a lot of water. Now, they're starting to get the lower water content toilets

  • but there are a lot there. So you can be like, "On my God. Am I supposed to wash my feet in the toilet here?"

  • "Or do I go to the bathroom in it?" It's kind of crazy.

  • And probably another toilet thing that shocks people is when you go to a public place

  • and they have toilets, there's so much space between the doors. You can literally

  • look through the crack and see who's in there doing their business, what business they're doing

  • what book they might be reading, ok? Because you're going to be able to look through the side of it.

  • And then, underneath there's like this much gap underneath

  • so you can see, "Oh are their feet there?" But literally, you can see everything. So those public toilets

  • really are quite public when you are there. And it does kind of shock people when you are there.

  • What is cool, is that you do have the toilets all over the place and they are free all over the place in the US

  • so, that is a really cool thing.

  • So, we have moved from the sunny coasts of Florida to the sunny coast, or banks of the muddy Mississippi

  • River. And the next shock we have for you when you come to the US

  • are the Americanisms when you come here.

  • Look, there are things that are typical U.S.A. and part of that is U - S - A! U - S - A! U - S - A!

  • Yes, one of the Americanisms here is the patriotism in the US

  • You will see the flag flying all over the place. And the people, they love America. " 'Murica!"

  • You will see that. Some of the, kind of, quirky things about Americans, when you do come here,

  • you will see. And it's not just America in general. You know, when I talked about the toilets

  • well, one of the things about the toilets is by the toilets you will always see this kind of

  • silver box next to it and people are bending over at it. And you're like, "what is going on here?"

  • It's a water fountain. Ok?

  • We like to give away free stuff here in the US. Whether it is free water or free bread at a restaurant, or go to a

  • Mexican Restaurant and you have free chips and salsa until you vomit, and you don't have to pay for it!

  • I mean, there are so many Americanism little things that when you're here. With the flag, how much

  • we love it? You'll have American flag t-shirts, heck, you could have American flag undies!

  • Ok? We joke about, "Oh Americans and their fast food." But, literally, there is fast food all over the place

  • and, yes, we do have McDonald's everywhere, but we have more than McDonald's.

  • You have Culver's in the midwest. You got In-N-Out burgers on the West Coast. Whataburger in Texas. Shake Shack in New York.

  • And you have all these fast food places all over the place with their super huge drinks. "The large holds one

  • liter." I believe, that's what you people call a liter, ok?

  • OH! And liters!! There's a whole thing right there. Americans don't get.

  • Do you know the only way Americans know the metric system is because of

  • Our SODA! This is a 2 liter of Pepsi and this is a 2 liter of Coke, and, you know what, that's how we know

  • liters here. It's by our soda sizes, ok?

  • Otherwise, we use gallons, we use feet, we use inches, we use miles. That's how they do it here.

  • And a lot of tourists have a hard time with that when they are trying to figure out

  • "well, how much is a gallon?" A gallon is about 4 liters, just so you know. Ok, it's like

  • 2 of these out there. OH! And in the US, how you get great quantity discount.

  • See this Coke? This was $1. See this Pepsi? This was $1 at Wal-Mart.

  • Love you Wal-Mart! Let's not forget about the Wal-Marts out there.

  • 24 hour shopping? Think about it. Yesterday, my son - my oldest son - spilled ketchup all over himself

  • crashed his skateboard, and ripped up all his clothes and so he really had nothing left for today.

  • So guess what I did at 2 o'clock in the morning. I went to Wal-Mart and got some Coke and Pepsi

  • and I got him clothes. At 2 a.m. And we love it when we come here, and that's why tourists

  • love it when they come here. From the friendly people to the 24 hour shopping to the cheap soda (HEY!)

  • I know, you can drive those 20 hours from Florida to Illinois if you have a couple of these with you (WooHoo!!)

  • Go a little crazy, but that's the thing, there are these really fun Americanisms when you do come here and that's

  • one of the things. All you watching, and if you have any of those funny Americanisms, please put them in the comment section

  • below, because we are going to make more videos on funny, little American things

  • when you are here. But, anyway, I guess I'll go and to the next, kind of, shocking thing when you come to the US.

  • And our 8th shocking thing, and we are going to go back to that thing with the metric system

  • and we can only understand (chuckles) with the soda

  • it goes into the driving. OK? Here in the US, people get shocked about the driving.

  • I know I talked about how there is a lack of public transport and you have to drive when you are here

  • but when you do drive when you are here, you will be shocked at how big the roads are

  • how big the cars are. Oh, an also, they're all automatic, ok?

  • If you can find a stick shift, good luck, and yes, you do do miles per hour here.

  • Not kilometers per hour, but miles per hour. And the speed limits, they change all over the place.

  • You never know when, you're just like, "Oh, it just changed." And the cop gets you.

  • Oh, there's a shocking thing. You know, some countries, they just have the camera that takes pictures

  • when you're going too fast. We have that some places in the US

  • but most of the time, you have the cops sitting on the side of the road

  • with their radar guns watching you and, OH, you've gone too fast

  • and the sirens come on and they drive down and pull you over. It is quite the American experience to be pulled

  • over for speeding, so don't speed when you are here.

  • And there are some other little things that are different. Here in the US

  • you can take a right turn on a red light, so if you are sitting there and you can take a right turn

  • and you have your blinker on, and people are honking at you, it's because they want you to take a right.

  • Make sure you look and make sure there's not other traffic is coming. But you can

  • take a right on red. And the thing is, we Americans love our cars.

  • I mean it is the most liberating thing when you are sixteen years old, ha sixteen years old

  • and you get your drivers license here. So you get your 16 license. License to drive, license to live, oh yeah!

  • And, I mean, that's part of the US culture. We eat in our cars, we drink in our cars (soda, don't drink and drive, the

  • cops will throw you in jail, they don't care what country you're from, you will go to jail. Don't drink and drive.

  • You know, drink your liters of Coke and Pepsi!)

  • So, the ninth thing that is going to shock you when you come to the US, OH, we are here in Boston

  • the kind of, heart of history of the US and the American Revolution. And the ninth thing that is going to shock you

  • when you come to the US, is you will see a lot of homogeneity, i.e., that means, like, everythings kind of

  • very similar everywhere you go. Also, you will see definite, different cultures

  • and culture and history in the US. We get tons of comments like, "Oh the US,

  • there's no culture there. There's just McDonald's and there's no history there. It's too young."

  • No, there is history and there is culture here. But on the other side of it, there is a lot of homogeneity

  • so, when you go travel around, you see the same stores. You see, "Oh, look. There's an Old Navy. Oh, look. There's

  • a Sephora." And you'll see the same stores again and again. And it gets kind of repetitive.

  • Especially when you are going into the suburbs and you are going into the newer cities and newer towns

  • it really looks like, I mean, you can't tell the difference between going to one city in one part of the country

  • versus another when you are doing that shopping experience or hotels and things like that.

  • So it does give you a kind of shock when you're like, "What town am I in? It seems the same."

  • But having said that, there are distinct cultures and regions here in the US and that does shock people

  • because you come here, to the Northeast, to New England, you know they have different food

  • You gotta have the clam chowder, and they have what they call the "New England Shield"

  • where they don't really talk to people, but they're friendly once you get to know them

  • Or you got the south where you got the Southern hospitality where they feed you for days

  • and give you tons of food and ask you, "how are you doing?" and all kinds of stuff. Or you got the cool, cooky

  • West Coast. There's definitely different cultures here in the US and

  • it does shock people when they drive around and realize, "Yes, a lot of the stuff looks the same

  • but the people are different in different parts of the country. So, just know that, yes

  • the homogeneity will shock you but there are different cultures out there, because yes, there is fantastic

  • history here in Boston, and great museums around the US - Getty in LA, Art Institute of Chicago, The Met in New York

  • where you can have great history. You can have great art, You can have great culture when you are here.

  • Because this is a big melting pot of the world.

  • And the tenth thing that is going to shock you when you come to the US are the hotels.

  • Look, you can actually get a good, medium priced or lower priced hotel here in the US

  • There are tons of hotel chains here. You know, Hampton Inns, Holiday Inn, and all these kinds of places

  • and it's very standardized, ok? If you get a double room, you can probably put 4 people in a room there

  • Or 40 people people in there, because the rooms are a lot bigger when you get two double beds

  • when you get a double room, it'll have two beds, i.e., two big beds because there's no two single beds

  • pushed together like in Europe. You have all this extra space when you are there.

  • Now, one of the things that does kind of shock people when they do go to the hotels here in the US

  • is, it's kind of like, the relatively cheaper the hotel is, the more stuff they give you!

  • You go to a cheap chain hotel or a medium priced chain hotel

  • like a Hampton Inn or something like that, and you get free WiFi, you get a free breakfast - like as much breakfast as you want -

  • umm, you know, they're going to have a pool, all kinds of really cool stuff

  • no resort fees. Oh my God. And if you go to, like, an expensive, nice hotel, breakfast? Oh no, you get to pay for that.

  • You want internet? Oh that's $19 a day. Oh the pool? You want to use the pool and do the fun stuff?

  • You need to do the resort fees and pay extra. You're like, "Wait, I am paying triple the price for

  • a nice hotel and I actually get less amenities when I go there."

  • it kind of boggles your mind. So, when you come here, just know

  • that you can actually stay in some of these chain hotels and it's not a problem what-so-ever, ok?

  • Read the reviews about them, but, you know, you're going to get one Holiday Inn Express is pretty much

  • the same through out the country. Remember, the homogeneity of number 9?

  • That really does come out in the hotels, but they are clean, they are safe, and there really are a lot of price

  • options out there, so just know, if you want the free stuff, actually, you go to the cheaper one versus the more

  • expensive ones who have better locations and cooler rooms (maybe) but they make you pay for a lot of

  • things. So it does kind of shock you. "Wait, I get less for more? Or more for less?"

  • Yes, I know, the US with our stuff. It's kind of crazy.

  • Anyway, those are our 10 kind of fun things that might shock tourists

  • If you want to learn more, check us out on our website on woltersworld.com.

  • Have a great time in the US, I hope you like the video. Please, click that like button.

  • We will see you later. Bye!!

Hey there, fellow travelers! Mark here with Wolters World.

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