It's been 3 years

...since I stepped on the grounds of LAX. Looking back, I arrived past 8 pm and when I got out of the airport with my husband and his mom, I was freezing. How can I forget the very first food I ate? We stopped by a Taco Bell drive-thru for dinner. It is Brandon's most favorite fast food and he thought that I might love it as well, so he got me 2 burritos. I had 2 bites before I started to feel like throwing up. I don't remember anymore if I threw up or if I was able to hold it.

Food and not homesickness was my biggest problem. I came to the US weighing 100 lbs or maybe a little heavier than that. Two weeks later, I was 95 lbs. For about a month or so, I lived with toasted bread (with butter and sugar on each slice) for breakfast, rice and bacon for lunch, and pizza for dinner. I always prayed for Chinese take-out every night. Americans don't eat breakfast and lunch. By that, I mean they don't make meals in the morning and at noon. They only prepare food for dinner. So growing up in a culture where people eat a complete meal (which means main dish + rice)at least 3x a day, this was strange to me. Thanks to my discovery of Filipino recipe websites on the internet several months later, I was able to eat again my much-craved Filipino dishes.

For 3 years of living in the U.S.A., a completely different country with a completely different culture, I've learned a lot of things such as:

1. Americans don't know what the word viand is. When you're referring to "ulam", just call it main dish. Lots of them don't know what nape (back of the neck) is either.
2. Say "fridge" instead of "ref" if you want to be understood.
3. Even if there's not a bath tub or a shower inside, it is better to say "I need to go to the bathroom" instead of "I need to go to the C.R.".
4. Americans call different footwear differently from how Filipinos call them.
   • Flip-flops- are those thong rubber-made footwear that we call slippers in the Philippines (although more and more Filipinos have adapted the term flip-flops).
   • Slippers- those are the fluffy close-toed ones we wear inside the house, which they only wear here during the cold season.
   • Sandals- anything wearable on the sand (this makes sense!). Your pair of Islander are not slippers, they're sandals. In Philippines, sandals are those that look more formal, like the high-heeled and strappy ones.
   • Shoes- In Philippines, what we call shoes are usually those that are black and made of leather or faux leather such as those that we wear to school and church. They also call those shoes here, but what we call sandals are also shoes to them.
5. Filipinos call it bag (the kind that a woman slings on her shoulder), the Americans call it purse.
6. During the Spring and Summer seasons, the sun sets at 8 pm or later.
7. Unlike what Filipinos think, just because you're dark doesn't mean you are attractive to Americans, and likewise, not all fair-skinned girls are unattractive to them.
8. American use forks to eat, even with rice. They only spoons for soup.
9. It's not true that American's rarely take a shower. In fact my husband showers more often than I do. He does it twice a day.
10. Never upstage the bride. Whether you're one of the bridesmaids or just attending the wedding ceremony or reception, you can't look more beautiful than the woman being married. I've actually heard funny stories about some brides purposely planning ugly dresses for the bridesmaids to make sure they won't steal the "spotlight" from her. So keep your dress simple.
11. People in the US call more than they text.
12. Americans are generally animal lovers. They treat their pet like a family member.
13. In the US, they pay much respect to the cops, military, and other members of the US forces. Usually, before a show starts, the host would call any army in the audience to stand up, then ask everyone to give them applause...something that I had never seen in the Philippines.
14. Americans are generally polite. They don't push around no matter how long the line is. They ask "how are you doing?" whenever they get the chance to. They probably don't always mean it but the point is, at least they make an effort to greet. And they always say thank you.
15. Americans are book lovers.
16. They pronounce a the same way that they do e that's why they always misspell than for then, and that's just one of the words always misspelled. Example: Instead of writing I'm better than you, they always write I'm better then you. Americans are not as conscious with spelling as Filipinos are.
17. Spaghetti is a dinner food, not a dessert. And unlike how Filipinos make spaghetti, they never include ketchup in the recipe.
18. Never never never use the term "niger" unless you're looking for trouble. Although African-American is the politically correct name, black is also acceptable.
19. Most Americans don't eat fish that still has it's head on.
20. Cereal is the most common food for breakfast.
21. Grandma is pronounced as gran-mah, and grandpa as gran-pah.
22. Their biscuit is not the same as what Filipinos call biscuit. This is what they call biscuit:
    Note: Not my own photo. Click the image to see it's source.
    
    
23. They don't call it washing machine. They just call it washer.
24. While we Filipinos are content with either steaming; boiling; or frying rice, Americans have more ways of making it.
25. I don't think Americans can live without paper towels in their homes.
26. It's definitely not true that all American girls are no longer virgins by the age of 14.
27. American women are not as wild as they are portrayed on TV...unless they're from bigger cities like New York, and many American parents are not as tolerant of their children as Filipinos think. Many are actually still conservative. In the Philippines, little girls wearing skimpy and sexy dance costumes are allowed even in schools and most parents don't mind because they find it cute. But here in the US, as far as I know and have observed, schools and parents don't allow little children and even young teens to unnecessarily expose skin.
28. I used to find all black people unattractive (since I was raised in a culture where dark skin is less appreciated). Now I know how to identify which ones are beautiful and good-looking.
29. Regardless of her marital status, use Ms. + her first name to address a woman politely, such as Ms. Karen, Ms. Jill, Ms. Ann, etc.
30. White guys don't like big butts for women. Black and Hispanic men do.
31. Those who grew up in the US don't peel pineapples. They just cut 'em.
32. You can rarely find a calendar hanging in an American home. So far, I've only been to one house where I saw a calendar hanging on the wall.
33. Everything here is in jumbo size/portion. I was like "OMG!" when I first saw how big their burgers, drinks, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc. were. The large McDonald's drink in the Philippines is the regular size here. Double the size of the sandwich you get at a fast food there, that's how big their sandwiches are here.
34. They don't eat their Oreo without milk. :)

These are all I can think of for now. It's 3:46 in the morning and I need to go to bed, haha. I will update the list later. Oh, and if you can add more, please do. :)