American culture

[Josquius]

Some kids from my school are off to study in LA in a few months time. I have been given the task of preparing them for this.
Yes. I know. I've never been anywhere near the place either so....yeah.

Anyway, as part of this I've got to teach them about American culture and dos and don'ts.
What dos and don'ts would you say are the most critical with America?
In particular what I wonder is...what annoying do fresh off the boat foreigners have a habit of doing which completely clashes with the way things are done?

[DGuller]

Some kids from my school are off to study in LA in a few months time. I have been given the task of preparing them for this.
Yes. I know. I've never been anywhere near the place either so....yeah.

Anyway, as part of this I've got to teach them about American culture and dos and don'ts.
What dos and don'ts would you say are the most critical with America?
In particular what I wonder is...what annoying do fresh off the boat foreigners have a habit of doing which completely clashes with the way things are done?

Stink.  Seriously.

[Admiral Yi]

1. Tip.

2. Don't speak with your mouth full of food.

3.  Don't grab a stranger's pussy in the subway.

[Admiral Yi]

4.  If you're going to eat something stinkyass for breakfast, use some mouthwash before you get on the elevator.

[citizen k]

What dos and don'ts would you say are the most critical with America?
In particular what I wonder is...what annoying do fresh off the boat foreigners have a habit of doing which completely clashes with the way things are done?

In LA? Nothing.

[citizen k]

Bottomline:  Americans think foreigners smell bad.

[Admiral Yi]

Japs are generally very unsmelly.  Nor are they loud like Chinks.  It's just that sometimes the food they eat for breakfast is pungent.

[mongers]

DO mentions the war.



And apologies for starting it.

[Admiral Yi]

I think LA is chock a block with smokng nazis (and smoking laws) so tell the kids to be real careful about where they light up.

[jimmy olsen]

I'm not sure how similar Japanese personal behavior is to Korean, so this might not be applicable. I've heard the Japanese are a lot cleaner for one thing.

1. Don't spit on the floor.

2. Wear deodorant.

3. Personnel space. Americans don't want you in theirs. 

4. Don't go to the hospital if you have the sniffles, the doctor will not be amused.

5. Don't mention race, don't say...(nigger and whatever other offensive terms you've heard them say)

6. Don't mention people's looks unless it's positive. If you think someone's fat or whatever keep your mouth shut.

[Jacob]

I'd say a big thing is to be more direct when you want or expect something, and to expect people to be more direct.

If you're hanging out with American friends/ associates and you want to do something like share food/ share a bill/ go somewhere/  not go somewhere/ drive somewhere - say so directly. You can of course be polite about it - but be prepared to explicitly state what you want to happen. Americans aren't particularly big into talking around subjects, and even where they are they do so in ways that are different than Japanese.

If your students are old enough to worry about sex:

Unlike Japanese, Americans (and other Westerners) do not consider showering a necessary immediate preliminary action for sex. Thus, visiting someone and suggesting that you/they use the shower use the shower is not a blatantly obvious way to say "let's have sex now".

[Jacob]

The Japanese aren't spitters, but the personal space one is right on and Tim is DEFINITELY right on the race thing. Tell them to stay away from any reference to race unless it's unavoidable and then only use Black/ nationality/ white/ hispanic; definitely avoid jokes. If they're trying to be funny there's a 99% chance they'll get it wrong and piss someone off.

[Admiral Yi]

Don't slurp soup or noodles.

"Slurp" would make an excellent vocabulary word too.

[jimmy olsen]

Don't take food off of another person's plate.

[Darth Wagtaros]

If dining with Americans it is offensive to pull out their wallets/purses.  Guests are taken care of and it can be very offensive to argue the point.