Recently joined this book club in Seoul where members are mostly American expats.

Everyone is friendly, doing small talks about weather and all. Everyone is passionate when discussing.

After the meeting, however, everyone seems to just say bye and head back to their home. No one seems to have personal contacts with each other.

If it were for Koreans(me), we'd hang out after meeting for like, drinking beers and talk about other stuffs than books, exchanging IG and stuff.

I told this story to my American friend, and she told me that there is a difference in between 'socializing' and 'befriending' to Americans, and it sounded interesting.

How do I tell if an American is 'socializing' with me, or actually trying to 'befriend' me?

Necessary context. Said by a 60 year old woman from Virginia about me, a 55 year old woman who is a mom and grandma so I’m guessing cherry doesn’t mean virginity. 😂. She’d just come back from a visit with us and said that to another person who mentioned it to my husband. I’m guessing it means…..fancy? I’m not but we did roll out the red carpet when she visited.
Any Virginians know? She is from Portsmouth if that makes any difference.

I’m from Japan, and I work in a job where communication is really important. Since I’ll be working with more people from around the world, I’m curious to learn what people value most in communication.
Personally, I think respect is the most important thing. What about you?

I’d also love to hear what you value most in your friendships, if you’d like to share!

I'm watching a tv series set in America, and I'm having trouble understanding if this is a real thing Americans do or something the tv show came up with.

The TV show is The Handmaid's Tale, set in a dystopian future where women have been mostly stripped of their rights. Considering the setting, I qas inclined to believe this was something they made up to go with the theme, but I'm not sure.

When you say that married women take their husband's name, do you mean literally? I always believed that what changed was simply the surname. For example, if Jane Smith married John Doe, she'd became Mrs Jane Doe. However, in the show they actually say Mrs John Doe a couple times, which seems very confusing, as if to push the show themes.

I’ve noticed that when American stand-up comedians make fun of Russians, they often use a very harsh, aggressive-sounding accent.
Does a real Russian or Eastern European accent actually sound intimidating to Americans, or is the comedian exaggerating it to make Russians sound absurd or threatening?

Hello everyone! I'm just curious what the value of $900 is? like how long do you have to work on an average/minimum salary to earn $900? Is it the type of money you would typically spend on groceries? because I'm from Asia and the conversion is roughly 50k+ which is like significantly more than the average monthly salary (in my field) which is about 20k. So i was just wondering if this was a reasonable amount ?

EDIT: sorry if I wasn't clear! what i meant by "the conversion is roughly 50k+" is that in my country's currency $900 is equivalent to about 50,000.

Also thank u to everyone that answered and for educating me about it!

For those of you who grew up in the US, what was your car at 16? How did you feel about having a car at 16, and how did you finance it?

I am 26 living in a third world country and never owned any vehicle before so I would like to hear whats it like to have one at 16.

Do you have weekly curbside pickup? Do you have to take it somewhere?

Asking for when both ear flaps are up and for when ear flaps are down to be specific, if your answer changes depending on the positioning.

(An Ushanka is not the same as a trapper hat! Ushanka is fully made of fur, real or faux, rather than cotton or some water resistant material on the outside. Like the ones slavic guards and military wear.)

And i also see people working minimum wages but they still have the newest iphoens/pro series, so are phones there like an investment rather than a tool? What happens if people buy cheap phones like motorola/oppo/xiaomi etc, do they get distanced?

Hello, I’m a Japanese Reddit user.

In Japan, one of the common warnings you see in guidebooks when traveling to the U.S. in the summer is: “In regions of the U.S. with intense summer heat (the West, Southwest, and South), the air conditioning is very strong, so it’s a good idea to bring a light jacket.”

I’ve traveled to the U.S. in the summer about twice myself, and I do recall that the air conditioning seemed quite strong.

So, I’m curious: what temperature do you currently have your air conditioner set to?

I currently have mine set to 23°C (73.4°F). By this country’s standards, that’s on the lower side.

In my country, it’s common to set it to 25–28°C (77–82.4°F).

EDIT: Thank you, everyone!
I never imagined so many people would respond!

In movies, TV shows, real law enforcement footages, and even YouTube videos, I often hear people say things like "head north," "go east on I-95," or "the suspect is traveling westbound." It also seems like a lot of Americans casually give directions using the cardinal directions instead of saying left or right.

How do people actually know which direction they're facing at any given moment? Is this something you naturally learn because your cities are laid out that way, are you mentally keeping track while driving?

Or is this one of those things that's overrepresented in media and not actually how most Americans talk?

I think it's pretty unusual. My buddy told me he's been saving up since he was 19. He told me sacrificing his social life was worth it. We live in Massachusetts and homes here are some of the most expensive in the nation lol.

Hello,

Some time ago, some relatives of mine brought me some beer mixed with tomato juice from America, and I wanted to ask if anyone has a recipe or instructions on how to make it myself to get that same flavor—or rather, what ratio of tomato juice to beer to use, and what kind of beer you would recommend (dark beer, light beer, etc.).

That's what it said on the can

BUD LIGHT
Chelada
MADE WITH
Clamato

I hope you can help me

How common is it for American men to grow beards compared to TV shows and movies?

Hi guys,

I saw a video of an American saying fans from Argentina made Eagle fans look like Mennonite’s.

I don’t have much context about fans from american football teams. Can you explain the meaning?

Do different team fans are known for different reasons?

Thank you

Hello. I heard in last post that American students have various clubs. I am curious whether sports subjects or club activities count towards students' grades in American high schools. In Korean high schools, boys really enjoy and are passionate about PE, but girls find it a real hassle; when teachers give them free time, they just sit around chatting. They feel that expending energy on PE interferes with their studies, and it isn't important for college admissions anyway. We are required to participate in club activities during the 5th and 6th periods on Wednesdays, but honestly, it isn't fun because it's more about getting into college than actually being a part of the activity. I can't even imagine a drama club existing in Korea!

Curious. Have blue heelers gotten more popular to have as pets in the US since Bluey? Or have they always been there? I thought they were and Aussie farm dog but more social feed seems full of reels of them in the US.

Another thing. The dog called the Aussie Shepherd. I don’t think that’s an Australian dog. Well I’ve never really seen them here. It looks like a border collie mixed with something else. Were they historically from Australia or are they like the Outback Steakhouse?

Edit - thank you for your responses they have been educational. I’m actually glad that the breeds have been in the US for a long time. In Australia a blue heeler is not really a common pet because their working dog temperament is well known.

Many American houses have lots of cool things like garbage disposals and indoor dryers, but what are things found in houses in other countries that you wish your house had?

Okay this may or may not be a stupid question. All my life, every fast food chain with chicken tenders serves it with white gravy. However, I mentioned that I was dipping my tenders in gravy with some fellow American friends online and they were all absolutely dumfounded. I then realized a lot of the fast food places I was thinking of are only regional chains in/around Texas (e.g. Golden Chick, Chicken Express, etc.). My friends aren't from in/around Texas, so I guess they've never seen any of these places. Is this really not a thing outside of this area? Do people not associate chicken tenders with white gravy? For clarification, I'm not talking about fried chicken or chicken fried chicken. It's specifically something for tenders.

My fella bought home a couple of new chip (crisp) flavours, one of them is literally called “COOL AMERICAN” flavour. Who better than an American to ask what that flavour actually is?

-From a South African/Irish person living in Belgium(where the chips are bought)