Idiosyncrasies and observations about the US

Obviously when living abroad you'll come across a few idiosyncrasies of the country you are in. Here's a few I have been listing during my stay here. They shouldn't be taken as complaints (well some might be..) more as observations:

- lack of chip and pin, or even signing for some credit card payments!? I know that it speeds up the transaction, but I still can't get over how easy it would be for someone to rack up quite a credit card bill  with a stolen card.

- going out to eat is an ordeal. Well, the end bit is when you go out with friends. It requires mathematical hurdles of calculating tax and tip and who owes what. Completely takes the fun out of eating out with a group of people.

- getting carded everytime I buy alcohol....woohoo, although when they stop carding me at WholeFoods I know I look over 40.

- price of cigarettes here is beyond extortionate. I am so glad I have my e-cigarette.

- for a country that is home to some amazing technological advancements there are still some really backward things here. Such as, how is it possible that the social security card is on paper? Easily forgable, and not to mention easy to lose once it accidentally makes it into the washing machine.

- cheques, I cannot believe they still exist and are widely used in lieu of online banking. See comment about amazing technological advancements. I think I accidentally ended up in 1998, not 2014, when I flew here.

- jaywalking, I thought it was illegal here but apparently no one cares. Huge difference compared to home, where people always wait for the signal to cross regardless of whether there is traffic or not.

- it's weird being able to understand everyone because they speak English as a mother tongue. I know this is a bit obvious, but I still get surprised when someone talks to me in English and not Finnish.

- my accent apparently is cute, cool, adorable, <insert positive adjective here>, I could get used to this. I think I need to posh up my accent, just to milk it as much as I can.

- people are incredibly friendly and helpful here, even the homeless people (in Evanston). I actually do think it is genuine, even at restaurants. So what if someone is being nice in the hope of getting a better tip? Most people have an agenda when being nice to a fellow human being.

I'm sure there's some more that will crop up over the next few months...