My friends and colleagues at office are out to "Americanize" me, whatever that means.
I have tilted strongly towards coffee... the Brooke Bond packet is lying untouched in some nook in my room. You have to give them that - they have some good coffee here! (And Bless those Crispy Creme donut people!)
Its been six months in the US, and the American culture still manages to surprise me quite often. In the words of someone at work, I speak "The Queen's" English, while everyone around speaks "American". That's just euphemism for - you don't talk straight...
So, what I have put together is a few things that shall tickle you pink about these Americans, if you already do not know this.
The biggest sacrilege any man can commit is admitting he does not like cricket. It is very difficult for an Indian to take a liking to such a person. Well, the number of Americans who like cricket probably does not exceed 17. I am told that cricket is a sissy game... players wearing all that padding and bright clothing... Sheesh! Someone even added, that only nations that were colonized by the British play cricket. This is true to an extent, but in no way brings the stature of the sport down.
What's the most popular sport in the World? Soccer, right?
Wrong, I am told - its Baseball during the Baseball season, and Football during the NFL season. Yeah right! These people have World series every year, and the only country taking part is the United States! How lame is that! And American football... why is it called Football, when the only time you use your foot is to actually score the bonus goal?
The other day, I had conjured some some decent rice pulao by accident, and I put some mango pickle on my plate to go with it. My friend asked me what it was, and my answer surprised him, shocked even. Pickle? from a Mango... Pickles are made from Cucumber, dude, he says.... I did not bother telling with that we pickle everything from chillies to carrots. By the way, I got a jar of cucumber pickles in my Easter basket, along with my 1lb. chocolate bunny. That was pretty cool ... :)
Then there was this big discussion over Lady finger at office one day. I wass adamant that a Lady finger (Bhendi) was a vegetable, as any Indian shall tell you. Bhendi is called Okra here, and I was apprised that Lady finger was a desert. What????? Sometimes it just seems people find out the meaning of a word outside US, and then use it for exactly something different within US. That's probably what makes the Life interesting for an alien.
Anyway, I took everyone to my PC and went to my trusted friend - Wikipedia. It betrayed me!
I turned to my second resort, Google image search... this one was better...
In the end, I found Lady fingers is indeed a desert, something like Tiramisu.
Bhendi is called Lady's finger....
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