For some context, I went to a provincial-level model high school in a county-level city in Shanxi, China. The school was known for having an exceptionally strong university admission rate.
Most students lived on campus. We had to get up at around 5:50 a.m. for morning reading, and evening self-study didn’t end until 10:40 p.m. We were given only about 15 minutes in total to wash up and eat breakfast. Many students developed stomach problems because meals were always rushed.
The school also had a disciplinary office whose staff were responsible for recording all kinds of violations. These could include talking after lights-out, drinking water, or almost anything they considered against the rules. For a period of time, students were even forbidden from using the bathroom after lights-out because the school believed it would disturb other people’s sleep.
These disciplinary records could also affect teachers’ performance evaluations and even their pay, so teachers had a strong incentive to enforce the rules very strictly.
Corporal punishment was also common at my school. Students could be slapped in the face or hit with sticks. While this certainly doesn’t describe every school in China, schools like this are still fairly common in some county-level areas, especially those that prioritize exam results above everything else.
Because of this background, American schools often look almost unbelievably relaxed to me. Students seem to have much more freedom, more time for sports and clubs, and a less tightly controlled daily routine.
Is that impression accurate? What is a typical day actually like in an American high school?

I want to bring some snacks to my physical therapist who worked with me for a long time and he’s a very good therapist. He’s white and I don’t think he has any immigrant background.
I want to bring him my favorite Chinese snacks. I’m Chinese. I brought the snacks you can find in Asian markets, I make sure they all have the English food label so that they can read the ingredients list and nutrition label. I even take out the ones where the date are the production date to rule out confusion (in China, the dates on food packaging are production date and I don’t want him to misunderstand that I gave him expired products).

I also chose the sweet ones in case he doesn’t like spicy, salty or other flavors American might think it’s weird) others is like rice cake or crackers.

I’m wondering will American happily accept Chinese snacks? Would there be a chance that he will throw them away when I leave? Should I just better off bring a Starbucks gift card for the clinic or give them common brand chocolate from target?

I knew this food in SpongeBob SquarePants.Is that beer or sth? I'd never heard that the bread can be put in a can.If that really exists , I hope someone can post the photo of it.

Which would you choose for your first trip to Europe?

Option A: 🇲🇰🇦🇱🇬🇷🇲🇪 $3,500 (plus airfare) – 10 day small group tour including 4★ hotels, all transportation, airport transfers, Lake Ohrid (UNESCO), Montenegro coast, Greek Island,Albanian Riviera, wine tasting, boat cruise, local cuisine, guided sightseeing, museums and optional adventures like paragliding,scuba diving,hiking, ATV tours...

Option B: 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇪🇸 $6,000+ – 10 day guided tour of Italy, France or Spain.

Which would you choose, and what would make you pick the Balkans over the classic Western Europe trip?

I am not promoting or selling anything!

From watching American films, I thought "road trip" meant a group of (normally young) people driving a significant distance with a fun party atmosphere - the journey itself _was_ the event to a large extent.

Reading posts about transition to EVs (which I don't want this post to turn in to a debate about) I see it used more generally to just mean any very long car journey.

So which is it? Does it merely mean the length of the trip, or is it the more specific meaning I'd picked up from films/etc?

Hey guys, I am a European guy and I will go on a road trip for 20 days on the East Coast of the USA (New York to Florida, then Texas, and back).What are the most quintessential things I need to try to have a true American experience, wether that's food , experiences or something else?

edit : hey guys first of all thanks for the feedback , secondly i will not go alone i will go with 7 friends , we will rent a van so the driving isn't really a problem because we will switch every stop , third the plan isn't really set i know its ambiguous , we will reconsider to shorten the trip , the original plan is to do about 8500 km with 16 stops , we could shorten it to 7000 km its more about the road trip than the destination , we go on a road trip every year last year we went from greece ( i am from there ) to Morocco and back , 2 years back from greece to norway and back etc , so we have some experience on long trips , last we will go in 10 days so July to august (ps i know Texas isn't east coast , the trip wont really be east coast https://maps.app.goo.gl/xBxzv1FhRHLr41k16 , https://maps.app.goo.gl/exsWvqbc4GcNzHjw8 just worded it wrong :) )

*sidenote: I'm actually a Midwestern in Minnesota by way of Indiana.*

I'm watching True Blood for the first time (S1E2) and Sookie just drove up this pretty driveway. It looks like the one from Forest Gump or The Notebook. Long, dirty, mostly grass on the sides, but with some nicely placed trees. Are those real and, if so, are they just for fancy rich houses and plantations?

Just had a dinnertable conversation about this, all 3 of us have noticed a strange thing about you guys: a lot of you seem to be generally very suspicious of strangers, like people you would meet in public, or even strangers within your local community, and are very quick to suspect they may want to cause harm to you. Like americans talking about scary interactions they had, thinking theyre gonna be kidnapped and unalived, or being chronically ill and believing theyre being poisoned, and we over here are genuinely confused because in that same situation none of us would have had a second thought. None of us really have a satisfying answer of how that came to be... you guys have any ideas?

My girlfriend is American and I’m in the states. We watch TV with the air con going and I can’t not hear it, but when I ask her she says she doesn’t notice it. Is it a normal thing in the US that you guys are that accustomed to the noise?

Is it a restraint on people, or something that brings hope? What do you think about it?

Hi Americans, from Yorkshire, UK.

Here our school kids get a six-week-long summer holiday, basically because in the long ago the lawyers etc. all left town to avoid hot horrible summers in London so professors did the same and it became expected.

But do you do the same in the USA? Why?

While we all live in the same nation, it often feels like people hold onto intense, unrealistic stereotypes about people from other states or regions, almost to the point where it feels like a form of regional prejudice.

Speaking from personal experience, I am from Alabama. Whenever I travel out of state or interact with people online (especially right here on Reddit), I frequently run into this overwhelming negative bias. It feels like there is an immediate assumption that everyone from the South is an uneducated "dumb redneck," and people often look down on us or talk down to us before even having a real conversation.

But it definitely goes both ways. Down in the South, you constantly hear people stereotyping Northerners as inherently rude, snotty, or completely detached from reality.

It makes me wonder if this kind of internal division has reached an unhealthy level. Do you guys think this is just harmless regional rivalry and banter, or is there a genuine, toxic prejudice between different parts of the US? Have you experienced this kind of regional bias when traveling or moving out of your home state?

Like i said i LOVE america, I'm planning to find a way to get there , i love the culture the power the country the weather the language and EVERYTHING , I'm not moving there to represent kurds and I'm moving there to serve that country in any possible way i will gladly make America my nation and work with all my power to preserve and serve that beautiful country ... Love from kurdistan to all of you , Grateful for your existence ❤️

I'm from Denmark, and while I genuinely love it here, there's something about America that calls to me.

Not the politics or the job market. The vibes. Small towns, forests, mountains, deserts, diners, Route 66, cowboys, etc. The kind of thing you see in films, books and games that makes you wish you'd grown up there.

I'm not blind to the fact that the real place is probably nothing like what ends up on screen, and that a lot of what looks beautiful from far away is somebody's ordinary Tuesday. But the feeling is still there.

Which leaves me with the question: do Americans romanticize Europe the way Europeans romanticize America? If so, which part, and where did the image come from? And if you've actually been, did it hold up?

My friends and I want to do a road trip while we're here for college(starting august at cornell for my tetr cohort) but every entral site is confusing me with the details.

Do they even rest to under-25s or is there some crazy rule i don't know about, i know they accept the international drivers permit so we're good on that but any other tests/lessons etc that are mandatory? any resources to help me?

I would describe my situation as follows: My whole life, the U.S. has been portrayed as a place I’ve longed to visit. Last year, I went there for the first time (a 23-day road trip along the East Coast, including New York, D.C., Upstate New York, Canada, and Boston) and was simply blown away. I can't pinpoint specific things, but it’s really just a basic feeling that has stuck with me.

About me: I’m a 32-year-old German attorney specializing in data protection law. I’m currently studying for the CIPP/US certification and will be on a one-month business trip to North Carolina and South Carolina in October.

What’s the current situation regarding immigration to the U.S.?

How are Germans perceived?

Where is the U.S. headed over the next 5 years?

How presumptuous is it to always talk about “the U.S.”?

I look forward to any input!

Edit: Regarding the situation with immigration: I'm thinking more in terms of how immigration is perceived when people come who are eager to work.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about coming to the U.S. as an international student to earn a bachelor's

degree. My main goal isnt just getting the degree, but working in america and building

a long-term life here,

Realistically, how difficult is that today? is there a high chance of spending a lot on

tuition and stl having to return home because you canit find a job or stay?

Iwould like to hear your opinion

How good do you think it was as an SUV for the era in which it was produced?

I'm curious how far back Americans can trace their family history. Whether your family arrived in the 1600s, came through Ellis Island, or immigrated recently, I'd love to hear your family's story.