Culture shock
&gt; Sugar here is powdered, it doesn’t come in tiny cubes like I’m used to. It’s very easy to confuse salt and sugar (as I have done) because they look exactly the same.<p>Made me snort. I grew up here and I&#x27;ve still mindlessly done this.<p>&gt; There’s no kiraana stores (i.e. small local stores) that sell grains and rice and vegetables here, it seems. (Or small stationery shops, or shops of any kind.) Almost all shopping has to be done at a big chain retail store like Lidl or Megamart or Target or any of the other big-names.<p>There are, just not in big coastal cities. I&#x27;m biased, but I generally tell people that big coastal cities are not a proper representation of American cultures vastness. They provide a boxed and abridged experience of a very opinionated nature. Instead, traverse the states and see what each geography has to offer. You&#x27;ll find those things are still alive in the Midwest and South.<p>&gt; Stoves are always electric. No lighter needed.<p>Kinda. Places I&#x27;ve lived usually have natural gas, but electric ignition is standard.<p>&gt; But for bathroom taps, I don’t understand why there’s two different knobs for hot and cold. It’s binary. There should be just one knob which decides the hotness of water, depending on how much it’s moved.<p>I&#x27;ve never thought about this. My current place has one, but other places have two. I&#x27;m not sure if that was just style though.<p>As for the comment on curtains, this is mainly cultural. Some people like them, others don&#x27;t. They require cleaning (moreso than blinds) and not everyone wants to do that. For what it&#x27;s worth, my mom still hangs curtains. I don&#x27;t think anyone can convince her that blinds are worthy of a trial.<p>I really enjoyed this read. Thanks for the observations, and I&#x27;m looking forward to the next post!