Ah, the United States of America! Land of the free, home of the brave. Also, the place I chose to go to school for four beautiful years!

As an international student, many times I catch myself doing and saying things that seem VERY American to me. Below, is a list of my personal favorite moments:

  • Learning how to swing dance
  • Being called “miss” or “young lady”
  • Anytime I have waffles at Hewitt
    • Bonus points: adding whipped cream to them
  • Minding my own business in the subway, no matter how chaotic everything else is
  • Starting conversations with “How are you?” but never meaning it
  • Using “Whatever” as an answer 
    • Bonus points: adding “I don’t care”
  • Understanding the difference between nickels, dimes, quarters, and pennies
  • Ending emails with “Best” or “Best regards” or “Regards”
  • Having to answer “Good!” when asked “How are you?”, even when I feel awful
    • Bonus points: saying “How about yourself?”
  • Eating grilled-cheese sandwiches at Ferris
  • Calling my water bottle my “Nalgene”
  • Anytime I sing along to 80s pop-songs at Liz’s Place
    • Bonus points: my American friends don’t know the song but I do
  • Referring to my friends as my “girls” or “buds” or “bros” or “girlfriends”
  • Caring about American politics or understanding references to politics
  • Saying “That’s so funny!” when someone says something funny
    • Bonus points: saying “Lmao” or “Lol” out loud

Image via Bwog Archive