“老外”眼中的美国

文/By+Madeline+Stone+译/赵越

Foreigners， as well as others who happen to know people who are new to the US， have been using this Quora1） thread2） to share what they think makes America unique. Their answers to the question "What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America？" were pretty fascinating. We've picked out some especially interesting answers.

America is so huge that it would take weeks to see all of its major cities

"Foreigners cannot believe how vast the United States is. I am from the West Coast of the US and my Italian relatives come here thinking they can visit me in Seattle， plus also see New York City， Miami， the Grand Canyon， and Hollywood all in a week—by car. I can't get them to understand that it's 3000 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts."

—Candace Dempsey

"So much space. My God， America seems like such a big country. Look at the Netherlands： we are smaller than the state of Georgia. And in this country， land is expensive. It's a basic principle： if something is scarce， and many people want it， then it will be expensive. But in America， we have amazing amounts of land available and for such a low price."

—Chrys Jordan

In fact， everything seems bigger in America—especially portion3） size

"Food portion sizes which are ridiculous to my view. When I eat out with my husband or friends， we usually share. Not because we can't afford， but just because we do not need that much food. On the other hand I like the can-I-please-have-it-to-go thing for everything that left on the table， which is not so common in Europe， and especially in Eastern Europe， where I am from."

—Lana Kolupaeva

"It is easy to find obese4） people in USA. Some people are so obese that they require a special electric scooter5） to carry them around. This sighting can be seen easily in Walmart where obese people use scooters to shop more ... food. And yes， typical food portion in America is humongous6）. I can easily share one meal with another guy and do not feel hungry for hours to come."

—Aditya Lesmana

Still， Americans seem to be obsessed with sports and fitness

"I saw loads of people running/jogging on the sidewalks. A lot of people I knew cycled or ran marathons7） for 50 miles plus. This was a stark8） contrast though， to the average person I saw who was usually overweight."

—Triya Bhattacharya

The variety of goods sold at American supermarkets， especially Walmart， was unbelievable to many foreignersendprint