Quote:
Originally Posted by ChronoGrl
That might have been TMI, but, well, there it is. ;)
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Definitely not TMI, and exactly the sort of things that I was interested in hearing about :D. What it is like for a "normal" person to live in the USA (different parts of the USA).
You see, we see a lot of the USA on movies and television. But movies and television don't show you what a country is really like. They either show stereotypes, or "exciting" things.
It is interesting what you said about your University life. Very different to University in Australia. I went to one of the larger Universities in Australia, and I think it was far more education focussed than you describe. I wasn't into team sports at University, and honestly I could have gone through my whole 6 year degree without even realising that my University played any sports.
Sure, there were clubs/teams that you could join, but their activities all pretty much occurred away from the eyes and consciousness of those not involved or interested.
Mostly, people tended to involve themselves with their faculties and their friends. There were "groups" but it wasn't like there was a rich kids group, an Asian kids group etc. There were bands that played on campus, a few bars, stuff like that. There isn't any real "fraternity life" in Australian universities. There is on-campus accommodations, but they are just big buildings with lots of individual rooms (probably like dormitories at US universities?)
I know what you mean about saving for a house and spending frivilously. I was lucky that I bought a house as soon as I could, and just paying off the mortgage month to month meant that I could build up equity to buy a nicer house later. I know that there would have been no way that I could have had the discipline to save for the deposit for a nice house right away. Way too impulsive for that :) Good luck with it - it is nice to have something that is your own.
With regards to your previous post - it is similar here. There seems to be less and less difference between the two major parties. Here, though, we don't have a choice about whether we vote or not - everyone over 18 is forced to vote. If you don't, you get fined.