Let's take a look at American cultural customs before immigrating to the United States.

American culture is an extension of European culture in a sense, because American language, population composition, founding spirit and so on all originated from Europe. However, American culture is very different from European culture. Come and have a look with me.

According to regional differences, the United States is divided into the following regions: New England, the middle of the Atlantic, the south, the midwest and the west coast. The west coast can also be divided into Pacific coastal States and mountain States. Domestic cultural differences are mainly regional differences, but the culture and living habits in the region are basically the same (just like China is divided into northeast, north, northwest, south, southeast and southwest).

1. "Bible Belt"

Refers to the southeastern and south-central States of the United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and other States with a high proportion of blacks. Because there are a large number of evangelical Protestants in this area, the folk customs are very conservative and they are very enthusiastic about religion. The proportion of people who go to church is much higher than that in other parts of the United States. In the American TV series TBBT (The Big Bang Theory), Sheldon is often teased about his hometown and his mother's living habits because he comes from conservative southern Texas.

2. St. Patrick's Day

Every year on March 17, St Patrick's Day, the Chicago River in Chicago will be dyed green, and a parade will be held on Fifth Avenue in New York. People all over the country will wear at least one green dress, trousers, shoes, bags and even hats. St Patrick's Day is an official Christian festival to commemorate St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It's also Ireland's National Day. Because green is the color of the Irish flag, every year on this day, Irish people and Irish descendants all over the world will wear green to celebrate this festival. St Patrick's Day is mainly popular in the northern States of the United States, because the southern States have a high proportion of African-American population and relatively few Irish descendants.

3. "Soft drinks" (non-alcoholic drinks)

When Americans mention "soft drinks", people in different areas use different words. As shown in the figure below, people in New England and the West Coast (and a few central regions) covered by bright green refer to soft drinks as "soda carbonated water", people in the Midwest covered by black use "Pop" (soda), and people in the South covered by emerald green use "Coke" (coke).

4. American West Coast Literature and American East Coast Culture

The West Coast culture of the United States, represented by Silicon Valley, is dominated by technology and entrepreneurship, while the East Coast culture of the United States, represented by new york, is dominated by fashion, art/entertainment and media. People on the west coast are keen to talk about physical stunts such as sports, health and outdoor sports, while people on the east coast prefer indoor sports and love beauty.

In addition, there is an "8/6 phenomenon" (8/6 phenomenon), that is, women who can be rated as 8 points in the Silicon Valley Bay Area can only get 6 points at most in new york, because there are more men in the Bay Area, while there are more women than men in new york.

5. California's headache traffic

Speaking of California, where folk customs are free and ethnic diversity is very high, we have to mention California's headache traffic ... Except for the Bart system of public transportation in the Bay Area in northern Canada (similar to the subway, connecting San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Sacramento and other major cities in the Bay Area), there is basically no public transportation in other parts of California. In many parts of the United States, the leftmost lane of the expressway is defined as carpooling, which is a special passage for cars with more than two people. Highway 405 in the southern Canadian city of Los Angeles is called "the largest parking lot in North America", and the popularity and ownership of cars in California can be seen.

6. The United States has different cultures about "whether to take off your shoes when entering the door"

In the United States, whether to take off your shoes when entering the door varies according to different regional cultures. In most southern States and the District of Columbia, you don't have to take off your shoes when you enter the door. In most northern States, you must take off your shoes when you enter the door. Generally speaking, shoes are wet or dirty, and indoor carpets or floors are more expensive. Everyone must take off their shoes when they enter the door.

7. American tattoo culture

People from Hawaii generally have more tattoos than most people living in the continental United States. There are three main reasons for this phenomenon:

1) Religious conservatism has little influence on the Hawaiian Islands, and the folk customs are relatively free and open.

2) Due to the high immigration rate of Hawaii Island, the integration of Polynesian culture, East Asian culture and western tradition provides a more diversified pattern selection and development direction for tattoo culture in Hawaii.

3) The existence of the army has also promoted the prosperity of tattoo culture in Hawaii.

Generally speaking, the more open folk customs are, the higher the proportion of ethnic minorities (such as California and Oregon on the west coast and Florida, Texas and Nevada in the south), and the more popular tattoo culture is.

8. Differences of English words in different parts of the United States

People in China speak Mandarin with different words (for example, the word "Woxin" is a commendatory term in the southern population, indicating warmth and peace of mind; In the eyes of northerners, this is a derogatory term, meaning that Americans speak English in different ways.

9. American trains

In the United States, the general mode of travel is by plane, bus or car, and few people choose to take the train. At present, American railways are rarely used for passenger transport, and there are no railways or railway stations in quite a few areas. Even in areas with railway operation, the cost of taking a train is often higher than that of taking a bus or plane. Relatively speaking, the rail transit on the east coast is more developed. Of course, it can't compare with China, but it is much better than the central and western coastal areas where public transportation is almost zero. In California, where cars are highly popular, there is an interesting saying: in order to encourage residents to take the train, the government allows residents to buy a train carriage and put it in their yard to scribble their favorite patterns at will. If they want to take their own train, they will contact the government, and then the relevant departments will pull your train car to the tracks, and then they can go out to play on their own train with only one section.

10. The official language of the United States

Although it is customary to default that the official language of the United States is English, in fact, federal law does not clearly stipulate the official language of the United States; Only 28 states have legislated that English is the de facto official language at the state legal level. In addition, in New Mexico and Puerto Rico, Spanish also has the status of official language (because New Mexico is adjacent to the US-Mexico border and there are a large number of Mexican immigrants).