In an informal situation, Americans will introduce each
other by first name, without titles, and occasionally by just the last name.
If you are introduced to somebody by first name, you can address him or
her by first name the next time you meet. When in doubt, use the formal
manner of address, since it is better to err on the side of formality.
Toilets
The most important phrase you should learn is "Where can I find a toilet?".
All of the following words will work: men's room (women's room), restroom,
lavatory, toilet, bathroom, little boy's room.
There are no public toilets on the streets in the US. Public
toilets can be found in hotels, bars, restaurants, museums, department stores,
gas stations, airports, train stations, and bus stations. Some businesses
may reserve their restrooms for the use of their patrons.
Tipping
Restaurants do not include a service charge in the bill, so you should tip
the waiter 15% of the total bill. If service was slow or particularly bad,
some Americans will tip only 10%. Likewise, if service was particularly
good, it is appropriate to tip 20%. If service was so bad that you would
never eat in the restaurant again, leave two cents. This is a deliberate
insult, because it tells the waiter that you didn't forget to leave a tip.
Tipping is only appropriate in restaurants which offer table service. You
do not tip the cashier in a fast food restaurant.
Bribery is not considered appropriate and often illegal.
Attempting to bribe a policeman will certainly get you arrested.
Social Visits
If a friend has invited you to drop by anytime, it is best to call before
visiting to make sure it is convenient for them. Do not stay too long, since
you do not want to overstay your welcome.
At a party, don't be surprised if you are asked what you
do for a living. This is a normal opening line of conversation, and not
an insult.
If you are invited for dinner, it is appropriate to bring
the host a bottle of wine, a gift basket of fruit, a box of candy, or a
small potted plant or bouquet of flowers. Do not bring roses, as they have
a more intimate connotation; men often give roses to women on a date.
If you wish to thank the host for his or her hospitality,
it is appropriate to call or send a brief written thank you note the next
day.
Telephone Etiquette
When you call someone, it is polite to identify yourself. For example, if
your name is John Smith and you were calling Robert Chen, you would say
"Hello, this is John Smith. May I speak to Robert Chen, please?".
When you answer the phone, it is ok to answer just "Hello".
After your caller introduces himself, you would say one of the following:
"Hi John, this is Robert. How are you?"
"Speaking." or "Robert Chen speaking."
It is not polite to call someone before 9 am or after 10 pm, unless it is
an emergency. The only exception would be if he or she told you it is ok
to call earlier or later.
Dining
Most Americans eat three meals during the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Breakfast begins between 7:00 and 8:00 am, lunch between 11:00 am and noon,
and dinner between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. On Sundays "brunch" is a
combination of breakfast and lunch, typically beginning at 11:00 am. Breakfast
and lunch tend to be light meals, with only one course. Dinner is the main
meal.
For breakfast Americans will eat cereal with milk (often
mixed together in a bowl), a glass of orange juice, and toasted bread or
muffin with jam, butter, or margarine. Another common breakfast meal is
scrambled eggs or an omelet with potatoes (hash browns) and breakfast meat
(bacon or sausage). People who are eating light might eat just a cup of
yogurt. Lunch and dinner are more varied.
Smoking
Smoking has become socially unacceptable in the US, in part due to the health
risks. Smoking is prohibited in government and public buildings, and many
businesses, especially restaurants, will not permit smoking on the premises.
Those restaurants that permit smoking will usually have a separate section
for customers who smoke. Your school probably has a ban on smoking within
campus buildings or near building entrances. Smoking is prohibited on public
transportation, including buses and trolleys.
Tobacco products may not be sold to anyone under 18 years
old, and federal law requires stores to ask to see a photo ID for anyone
under 27 years old. If you are a guest in someone's home, you should ask
whether it is ok to smoke before lighting up. If there are no ashtrays in
the house, it is a good sign that smoking is not acceptable. If you are
smoking and someone coughs, it is often a polite way of asking you to extinguish
the cigarette. It is extremely impolite to blow smoke in someone's face.
Gestures
To wave goodbye or hello to someone, raise your hand and wave it from side
to side, not front to back. Wave the whole hand, not just the fingers. Waving
the hand front to back or the fingers up and down means "no",
"stop", or "go away". Holding your hand up with the
palm facing forward but no movement means "stop". Holding your
hand with the palm toward your body and wagging the fingers toward the body
means "come here". Holding your hand with the palm up with all
fingers curled and repeated curling and uncurling the index finger means
"come here".
If you want to point at an object, extend the index finger
and use it to point at the object. It is not polite to point at people.
If you want the waiter to bring the check, make a writing
gesture with one hand as the pen and the other hand as the paper. If you
just want the waiter to come, make eye contact and raise your hand.
Shaking your head from side to side means no. Shaking your
head up and down means yes.
Never show your fist with the middle finger extended. This
is an insult. Shaking a closed fist at someone is also rude, especially
if it is in their face, and is an expression of anger.
Although showing your fist with the thumb up or your open
hand with the tips of the thumb and index fingers together forming an "O"
means "ok", this is an overused stereotype. Americans understand
this gesture, but it is mainly used by actors in movies, not in real life.
It is not polite to pick your nose or chew your fingernails
in public. Likewise, it is not polite to pick your teeth (with or without
a toothpick) in public.
Patting a woman on her rear end is not appropriate, and
will likely get your face slapped.
Winking at a woman is also inappropriate because of the
flirtatious nature of the gesture. In other circumstances a wink will signal
amusement or that the speaker is kidding. Because of the potential for misinterpretation,
winking should be avoided.
When smiling, it is normal to bare your teeth, so long
as the facial expression still looks like a smile, not a grimace.
Calendar Dates
In the United States, dates are written as month/day/year. This is the opposite
of the British method, in which dates are written day/month/year. So while
4/3/67 would be March 4, 1967 in Europe, it is April 3, 1967 in the United
States. It is best to write out dates using the month name in order to avoid
confusion.
Time and Temperature
Temperatures are most often reported in Fahrenheit, and occasionally also
in Celsius. To convert Fahrenheit to Celsius, subtract 32 and multiply the
result by 5/9. The following table lists a few common temperatures:
| °F |
°C |
Description |
| 212 |
100 |
boiling point of water |
| 98.6 |
37 |
normal body temperature |
| 86 |
30 |
very hot summer day |
| 72 |
22 |
room temperature |
| 68 |
20 |
mild spring day |
| 50 |
10 |
warm winter day |
| 32 |
0 |
freezing point of water |
| 20 |
-7 |
very cold winter day |
The United States has four main time zones: Pacific Standard
Time (PST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Central Standard Time (CST), and
Eastern Standard Time (EST). When it is 9:00 am in California (PST) it is
10:00 am in Denver (MST), 11:00 am in Chicago (CST), and 12:00 noon in New
York (EST). Alaska is one hour earlier than California, and Hawaii is two
hours earlier. Puerto Rico is in the Atlantic Standard Time zone, one hour
after New York. Guam is fourteen hours after New York. If you are on the
east coast of the US and calling someone on the west coast, they are probably
still asleep at 9:00 am your time. If you are on the west coast and calling
someone on the east coast, they are probably eating dinner at 4:00 pm your
time.
Religion
The US Constitution guarantees religious freedom for all faiths. You will
almost certainly be able to find a church, synagogue, or mosque near school
for people of your faith.
American Holidays
The American calendar is filled with numerous holidays. The following table
shows some of the more popular holidays. Important national holidays have
been indicated in bold face. Most non-essential government offices will
be closed on these days. (Fire, Ambulance and Police are always open.) Banks
and post offices also tend to be closed on these days, and many businesses
will give their employees the day off.
| Holiday |
Date |
| New Year's Day |
January 1 |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Day Third Monday in January |
| Ground Hog Day |
February 2 |
| Valentine's Day |
February 14 |
| President's Day |
Third Monday in February |
| St. Patrick's Day |
|
| April Fool's Day |
April 1 |
| Patriots Day |
Third Monday in April |
| Good Friday |
Friday before Easter Sunday |
| Mother's Day |
Second Sunday in May |
| Memorial Day |
Last Monday in May |
| Flag Day |
June 14 |
| Father's Day |
Third Sunday in June |
| Independence Day |
July 4 |
| Labor Day |
First Monday in September |
| Columbus Day |
Second Monday in October |
| Halloween |
October 31 |
| Election Day |
Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Federal
holiday in years divisible by 4 |
| Veterans Day |
November 11 |
| Thanksgiving |
Fourth Thursday in November |
| Christmas Day |
December 25 |
| |
|
It is also important to be aware of the holidays of people
of other religious faiths. For example, important Jewish holidays include
Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkoth, Chanukah, and Passover. Yom Kippur,
Rosh Hashanah, and Sukkoth occur in the fall. Chanukah occurs in December,
near Christmas. Passover occurs in March or April, near Easter.
Noises
It is not polite to burp in public or to slurp your soup.
It is not appropriate to play loud music or otherwise disturb
the peace late at night. If your stereo is loud enough that your neighbors
can hear it, it is too loud.
Weights and Measures
The United States still uses the English system of weights and measures.
The metric system is available, but people think quarts and inches, not
liters and centimeters. The following charts convert between the English
and metric systems for the most commonly used measures.
Length
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (cm) 1 centimeter = 0.39 inches (in)
1 foot = 0.305 meters (m) 1 meter = 3.28 feet (ft) 1 foot = 12 inches
1 yard = 0.914 meters (m) 1 meter = 1.09 yards (yd) 1 yard = 3 feet
1 mile = 1.61 kilometers (km) 1 kilometer = 0.62 miles (mi) 1 mile = 5280
feet
Weight
1 ounce = 28.35 grams (g) 1 gram = 0.035 ounces (oz)
1 pound = 0.4536 kilograms (kg) 1 kilogram = 2.2046 pounds (lb) 1 pound
= 16 ounces
Volume
1 gallon = 3.7854 liters (L) 1 liter = 0.2642 gallons (gal) 1 miles/gallon
= 0.42514 km/liter
1 gallon = 4 quarts 1 quart = 2 pints 1 pint = 2 cups
1 cup = 8 fluid ounces 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons 1 teaspoon = 5 ml
Numbers
In the United States, the number 13 is symbolic of bad luck. Tall office
buildings sometimes skip the number 13 when numbering the floors.
The number 7 is symbolic of good luck.
The word trillion means a 1 followed by 12 zeros, a British
billion. The word billion means a 1 followed by 9 zeros, a British milliard.
A period is used to indicate a decimal point, not a comma.
A comma is used to separate groups of three digits in large numbers, thus
"$1,232.52".
(Courtesy of http://www.edupass.org/culture/hospitality.phtml) | 
