Caroline

This weekend, when I went kayaking in the Mulberry River, it hit me once again how different we are. For lunch, our trip leaders had packed bread, turkey, and cheese among other things. I took a slice of bread and asked “do we have any butter?”. One of the trip leaders looked at me. “Butter? What do you want butter for?”. “For my bread”, I said. He looked a bit surprised and said “Do you put butter on your turkey sandwich?”. Just as he was shocked about me putting butter on my turkey sandwich, I was surprised he didn’t. After that a discussion followed and I learned that the only time Americans put butter on bread, is when they eat toast in the morning. Me, I could never eat a sandwich without.

I’m never prepared for experiencing the differences between your culture and mine. I think it’s because on the outside, we are so alike. We look just like each other. Just as you surprise me, I probably surprise you. But I must say, in the future when I look back on my time in the U.S. I will remember this: We are very alike, you and me. But we are also very different.

The weather, or to be more exact the weather that could be, is really scaring me. I don’t know how you handle it. Say “tornado watch” or “severe thunderstorm”, and you scare the hell out of me. Every time something like this occurs, I’m on the edge of having a nervous breakdown.

Earlier this day I actually wondered what’s wrong with me. I could have chosen to go somewhere else to study, but I chose Stillwater. It’s not like it’s a secret that the state of Oklahoma has a lot of tornados. In the same time, people wouldn’t live here if it was that dangerous, right? Or are people, including me, that stupid?

I know that it is not as bad as I think it is, but people have told me stories and given me “survival tips”. Like, if I’m outside when a tornado comes, I should go under a bridge. And that if I have a belt, I can tie the belt around myself and something stable. But, I mean… Oh my god. Its times like this that make me miss Sweden. A tornado? Nope. An earthquake? Nope. A severe thunderstorm? Well, they are not really that severe. Ok, it’s not as warm as it is here and we do have rainy summers. Still, that’s way better then knowing there’s a chance a tornado will come.

This Monday the governor of South Dakota signed a law that practically bans abortion. The law makes it a felony to perform an abortion unless the pregnancy is jeopardising the life of the woman. This means that it will be illegal to perform an abortion even if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape.

According to the Times this is “an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal”. The law is scheduled to go into effect in July.

I’ve been thinking about this new law for a few days now. Even though, I can’t seem to figure it out or understand why you would like to have a law like this. I just can’t get in into my head.

I think I know why. Just as many of the things I’ve discussed here, this is a desicion that conflicts with the mental maps I have. So, once again, culture shock!

It scares me that the following topic has to be discussed. It scares me that it exists, and that a lot of people don’t seem to care at all. I’m talking about the combination of drinking and driving.

In my world, drinking is fun and driving is fun. But they are two things that should never ever be combined. I’ve seen the result of drunk driving too many times – a 10-year old girl, living in the same street as I do back home, is forever an invalid. This, just because a person made the decision to drink and drive. There is never an excuse for doing this, ever.

I’ve seen too many people in Stillwater drink and drive. There is nothing that scares me more. But there is nothing I can do, except for expressing my opinions. Believe me, I’ve tried. Because why would they listen to me when themselves, and some of their friends, don’t see anything wrong about it?

Through different posts, I’ve been talking about different kinds of culture shocks that I’ve experienced. Mostly, it’s the small things – the big pickle at the movie theatre or the lack of knowledge about the whipping cream. Some things have had a bigger impact on me, for example the issue about drinking and driving. And I’m afraid its things like this that I will remember. That’s too bad, since I would rather see this problem not even being worth discussing.

One thing that clearly separates the Swedish student culture from the American, has to do with food. In Sweden, most students cook their dinner themselves. While cooking they use their stove, the microwave oven is used more rarely. Many students cook their dinner from scratch, but there are also those who use different kinds of mixes. When arriving in the U.S., it was my plan to continue cooking just like I did back home. Well… I haven’t.

The Americans that I know does not cook like the students in Sweden. First of all, I learned the hard way that when someone offers you food, they probably mean candy and cookies. Second of all, most of the time my friends eat at fast food restaurants. They hardly ever cook – when they are preparing food in their apartments, they eat frozen ready-cooked food which they heat up in their microwave ovens. Is this a healthy lifestyle?

Yesterday, I and another Swedish girl, cooked dinner for a few of our American friends. We made my favourite dish – chicken and vegetables in a sauce of cream and Dijon mustard, served with rice… Mmmm! But that’s not the point… The thing is that we had bought whipping cream, cream that you whip yourself. Some of our friends had never heard, or even seen this. They were just familiar with products like cool whip or already whipped “cream”. It is scary when these “fake” products are taking over the market, resulting in low awareness of the actual, natural product.

Either someone is kidding, or you have some weird laws in Oklahoma.

Violators can be fined, arrested or jailed for making ugly faces at a dog. Tattoos are banned. It is illegal to wear your boots to bed. Women may not gamble in the nude, in lingerie, or while wearing a towel.

I know I’m not supposed to believe everything I read, but I do…

Dumb laws in Oklahoma

The U.S. will never stop to amaze me. I would never have thought about selling gigantic pickles at the movie theatre. It’s weird, funny and without a doubt the worst snack I’ve ever had.

I think it’s so cool. No matter where I turn, there seems to be someone planning a wedding. In this course I know of three people getting married soon. That’s like 19 percent of the class! As you can tell, I’m not use to the getting-married-early-thing.

I met a 24 year old girl who was in the middle of her wedding plans. I told her that it is kind of surprising to me that people are marrying this early in there lives. But of course, she didn’t think that this is early – in fact she thinks that it is late!

So, here’s the deal: I’m turning 23 this year, and I have no plan of getting married in the following years. In fact, I don’t even know anyone back home that are marrying this early. At the weddings that I’ve been to, the people getting married has been close to 30 years old.

But – and there is a big but here – after doing some research about the area, I’m confused. According to statistics, the most common age to get married in Sweden is 25-29 years old. In Oklahoma, the average age for a female to marry is 25 while the average age for a male is 27. Do you see my dilemma? How come I perceive such a difference between Sweden and Oklahoma, when people actually are almost the same age?

By the way, did you know that a basic wedding in Oklahoma cost about $5,714.00?

Wedding Statistics - Oklahoma

Do the American people like Swedish food? Either that, or there’s a lot of Swedes living in the U.S. I’ve just found the store “Sweden’s best“, where they sell Swedish food and candy. Okay, so they don’t have my favourite candy, but at the moment almost anything - that actually tastes like candy - will due.

You see, I have a small problem with the American candy. Mainly because the licorice is sweet and that some of the chocolate tastes funny. But now that I’ve found “Sweden’s best” I may actually be able to endure my time here. Don’t you think that it’s sad that things like this make me happy? Because I do…