You can't open the windows: why are American apartments inconvenient for our immigrants
'07.02.2021'
Channel author's girlfriend "Where do we live?" on Yandex.Zen Mariam has been living in the States for six years. For the first time she visited the United States on the Work & Travel program as a student, then every year she began to participate in a green card drawing and once won. Together with her husband, they moved to America and now live in New York, but even six years later, she cannot get used to some things.
No swing windows, but there are air conditioners
People who grew up in the post-Soviet space are accustomed to the fact that windows can be opened wide. This feature is especially valuable on warm summer days. But in the USA, everything is not so: the design of the windows here is such that the frame rises up, often quite a bit, sometimes the blinds are also closed on top of the windows, and a huge air conditioner replaces half of the opening part.
The design of the windows was borrowed from the UK in the years when glass was expensive, they made windows from small glass squares, and with this design it was probably more convenient. One way or another, until now, in the United States, windows are opened by pulling the frame up.
And Americans are also very fond of coolness in summer, and air conditioning is an essential part of the interior.
“We rented several apartments, and all had terrible little windows with an old, antediluvian air conditioner. Of course, if you have your own house, you can do everything as you need it, but in rented housing, like most in the States, the windows are like that. I still don’t like them and I can’t get used to the fact that you cannot open the windows so that there is fresh air in order to ventilate properly, ”Mariam said.
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No kettle
Mariam, as a person who grew up in the USSR, loves to drink tea. Moreover, her relatives from the Caucasus, and in the family, often brewed herbal teas or some delicious teas with berries. In general, before leaving for the United States, there was always a kettle in her house.
“Even when I was living under the exchange program, it was a tragedy for me to boil water in a saucepan! The family in which I lived did not understand what kind of dancing with a pan I was doing, then they got used to it. And when we moved completely, then, of course, we bought ourselves a kettle, but, in general, the absence of kettles in apartments is still nonsense for me, we even have them in student dormitories, this is something like a light bulb in an apartment, the same necessary ", - said Mariam.
Few tiles in the bathroom
In many countries, bathroom tiles are an indispensable part of the decoration. At the same time, it is made different, with drawings, of different colors. This is not only a Russian feature, in Europe they also love beautiful tiles, for example, all over the world they value Italian tiles of beautiful colors, shades and excellent quality.
But in the US, this is easier. Firstly, tiles in the bathroom are far from everywhere, most often they only make an “apron”, and secondly, tiles are almost always neutral white or beige. And that's all.
This familiar feature is still annoying.
“In every apartment we lived in, the bathroom reminded me of a hospital. I think I'll never get used to it, ”added Mariam.
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No washing machine
The history surrounding washing machines in the United States is very strange. The fact is that even Americans themselves do not always know why in many houses it is impossible to put a personal washing machine in an apartment.
Someone explains this by the fact that it is impossible to carry out communications in order to connect a machine, others explain it by the fact that the matter is in the noise that can interfere with neighbors, others are sure that this is just a matter of habit.
“In some cases, objectively, this is just a habit, I lived for some time in an apartment where I had to go to laundry. I do not know how you can get used to the fact that you need to go somewhere to wash with dirty things. This is inconvenient, especially if you suddenly need something tomorrow, I did it on my hands, and now we have an apartment with a typewriter, ”said Mariam.
Original column published on the blog. "Where do we live?" on Yandex.Zen
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