5 things that surprised this Indian student the most about America

Aniruddh Chaturvedi came to the United States from India to study computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn. Once he got here, a few things took him by surprise.

Chaturvedi recently answered the question “What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America?” on Quora, a question-and-answer website created, edited and organized by its community of users.

His response went viral.

Here are a few things about America that caught Chaturvedi by surprise:

1. Most of America’s poor aren’t poor by the world’s standards

I’ve noticed that most Americans roughly have the same standard of living. Everybody has access to ample food, everybody shops at the same supermarkets, malls, stores, etc. I’ve seen plumbers, construction workers and janitors driving their own sedans, which was quite difficult for me to digest at first since I came from a country where construction workers and plumbers lived hand to mouth.

Also, (almost) all sections of society are roughly equal. You’ll see service professionals owning iPhones, etc. as well… Anybody can buy anything, for the most part, except for something like a Maserati, obviously.

Chaturvedi expanded on this thought for a followup post for Business Insider:

Almost every single person in America has access to basic food, clothing, water and sanitation. I haven’t been to states like Louisiana and cities like Detroit, but from what I can tell, nobody is scrambling for the basic necessities required for sustenance.

2. Americans are obsessed with coffee

Starbucks [and] Dunkin’ [Donuts are] crowded with office-goers and students every morning. I don’t understand why they can’t drink or make coffee before leaving for work. Such a waste of money! ($5/day * 5days / week * 52weeks/year)!

3. Serving sizes are out of control & refills are free

The first time (and one of the last times…) I visited McDonalds in 2007, the cashier gave me an empty cup when I ordered soda. The concept of virtually unlimited soda refills was alien to me, and I thought there was a catch to it, but apparently not…

American serving sizes are HUGE! Let pictures do the talking:

The largest size of iced coffee in Cafe Coffee Day India

Compared to:

I honestly don’t understand why anyone would ever drink 32oz of iced coffee a day, but hey, to each his own.

If you’re not convinced, perhaps this would do a better job of showing the contrast. [Here’s] the standard size of a packet of Lays in India:

Yes, this is not a typical size, but I’ve seen similarly sized packages of chips being sold at Walmart and Costco:

I’ve noticed that entree sizes are huge as well. I am by no means a small eater, but it usually takes me at least 1.5 meals to finish the entree.

4. There’s a return policy on, like, everything

None of my friends back in India believed me when I told them that you can literally buy anything, including food, and return it within ninety days for a full refund even if you don’t have a specific reason for doing so (most stores actually have a “Buyer’s Remorse” category under Reason for Return options while returning the product).

5. ‘Merica, y’all

I was surprised to see that the US flag is displayed in schools, on rooftops of houses, etc. India has very strict rules governing the display and use of the national flag. Also, something that struck out to me was how it was completely normal to wear the US flag or a US flag-like pattern as a bikini.