Life in the American family. Personal experience

After I'm in Los Angeles, it's time to make a search for housing. An ordinary analysis of offers for motels, apartments and rooms showed that the "City of Angels", like all California, is very expensive place for life. For example, bed-place in

Of course, I applied to the AirBNB service, where from options less than $ 40 per day were except the tent in the backyard or a place in a half-chacted camper. Motels are completely silent - from $ 70 per day.

As a result, the most optimal option was the service for posting students with educational institutions - HomeStay. In my case, such a service provided GEOS School at which I visited the classroom. But it is not necessary to think that the Americans are all so good and quartered students just like that. In fact, this is the delivery of the room in the house, but the hotel also includes food.

Features on the selection of housing are assigned to a special division at school, and for the client this service costs $ 100. In essence, this is such a department with a couple of realtors who do not go anywhere, they do not sell anything, but simply send requests for people from their base. As a result of their complex mental activity, you have a proposal for American families, where you plan to settle.

At first, I was offered to share one room with another student, but then found an option with a room only for me, in the perception of the host part of the young, practically not speaking in English a statement. What was the surprise of the family, when a bearded man was declared at the age of slightly for thirty, who tried to talk with them on broken English with a funny Russian accent.

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My house for 3 weeks

Yes, I did not write about the price. The result is $ 285 per week, including meals. And this is the most affordable and high-quality accommodation in Los Angeles. Of course, with such a course, as now, all this is not so cool, but when I lived there, the ruble was noticeably stronger.

I got into the city of Carson to the wonderful Judy woman (72 years). She lives in his one-story house along with Grandmoman Brandon (the guy is housed in the backyard in the guest house). It turned out that Judi worked for more than 15 years in a graphical editor in the automotive edition: the covers, the vest of the articles, photographed, so that we quickly found common topics.

Judy's house is small, but cozy: spacious room, kitchen, work room and two bedrooms. Furniture, interior - country style. This is explained by the fact that Judy came from Arizona, where her father had a farm. She told that when he came to Arizona with his friend Danis (Japanese), his father always watched him very unreliable. It is amazing, but in the US still have "White States", such as Arizona. "Tolerance" do not recognize there.

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Judy and Danis

Judy is passionate about drawing, decor, glass work. Her whole house was hung with his own paintings, and her presents for Christmas she always makes out her herself. In this sense, Judy is a rare style of an American, which is perfectly prepared, a lot of things can make hands, confidently controls the car, is engaged in grandchildren and his only daughter.

Junior granddaughter - McCale. Never seen the real snow, although snow in California fell. Here it helps to decorate Judy a branch of ate, richly inflicting white foam on her. Snow from the canister.

By the way, it was easier to talk with children in English: they do not use complex verbal structures, and, as a rule, they say inappropriate, and in general it is better to understand you than adults.

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McCale (center) at the school concert

With the older grandson of Brandon, we communicated a little more. In his 23 years he is not engaged in PR, photography, design and beard growing. Brandon does not drink and does not smoke - it works in the port and goes to church. By the way, he recently made an offer to his young girlfriend. However, his mother, as I understood, is not delighted with the daughter-in-law on a national basis.

Once Brandon invited me to visit the home church - it is, in fact, a room in a private house where comrades are going to Sunday Church: read prayers, arguing about the problems and successes of humanity through the prism of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. All this happens in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. I was accepted warmly, I was wondering for a long time that a person from Cold Russia was brought to the light.

I wrote in Instagram under this photo, they say, and what are they in the evening beer in the bar do not drink, but do not understand what?

Subjectively, Americans are much more religious than Russians. I am not talking about the depth of religion, I'm talking about the popularity of the Church in the population. It is difficult to meet in California unbelievers. The number of all sorts of churches in Los Angeles simply rolls. Well, what to say, even in private houses they organize them.

Of course, the church is modest here than with us. It can be a small and unsightly building with bare walls, a small scene and school chairs - as an assembly hall in a provincial music school.

In one of the Sundays, I visited Freedom Church in Torrance with Judy and McCail. All the action is broken, so let's say, for three acts: a few musical compositions when the hall sings together with VIA (vocal-instrumental ensemble), then the priests of the priest and again the song block comes. Children after the music part are discharged into a special hall, where they are engaged in animators.

What is interesting, in the church there is a regular priest (in the photo), but the priests from other organizations are invited regularly. When I was in Freedom Church, I got on the invited speaker, and the young man in a blue shirt and three children took the place of a private parishioner, from time to time leaving the microphone.

On this day, the leading priest was a former fireman. He told a heartbreaking story about how, together with his colleague, he fell under the fire on fire. Both were badly injured, and his colleague did not survive. The story raised the topic of responsibility for what happened, because it was he who led the subordinate to the burning building. As a result, everyone cried, embraced, and then with the music group sang optimistic songs.

As I understood, the church for Americans is important in terms of communications with each other. There is particularly not customary to be friends with families, in our understanding of this word - came once a week to the church, talked, shook, looked and diverged. Yes, according to guests, they also go, but less often than we, and, as a rule, are not delayed late.

After about two hours of service, everyone goes for lunch, which "turns out" from what everyone will bring. Since the Americans on the ethnic composition of the people are extremely "Penters", the table is also shot by a variety. True, not everyone prepares themselves like Judy, and often just buy ready.

But the Americans go to visit not with ready-made lunches from the nearest cafe, but with what they themselves have prepared. In Russia, for example, by tradition, the hosts are treated, and alcohol bring guests. It turned out that here everything is exactly the opposite.

Together with Judy I went to visit her friends with whom she meets about every 2-3 months. The contingent is extremely diverse: Mexicans, Japanese, Europeans, Africans, Gays, but at the same time, everything, as one, friendly, merry and open to communication.

In the photo - the owners of the house. A gray-haired man with a big bottle of wine and his wife Japanese, who better owns Spanish than English. The fact is that many Japanese fled from the war to the countries of South and Latin America, then by moving in the United States.

Well, how is the attitude of Americans to the Russians? If briefly, then the bar is treated with beer and recognized in love for Putin. Not all of course, but there are many. Obama, they say, we have a slim, here Putin is a real man. Of course, with the solar coast of the Pacific Ocean, they are visible.

I got acquainted with the guys in the bar on the pier. The girl Already jumped when he learned that I was from Russia. Everything was interested in how to take the place of the first lady. I advised it to do it through sports or journalism. Although her competition is too strong in his person it is clear who.

But not everything is so unequivocal. In the USA, as well as we, the central television brain flushing system is perfectly working, but, unlike our country, they do not make Russia here, and convince citizens that America does everything right in foreign policy. Do you feel the difference?

But they talk about it on the household level, more - about the weather, although in California the weather is stable as anywhere. For the month of life in Los Angeles, the rain was once and that night. All other days was sunny.

Continuation about life in the United States follows! In the near future I will write about the Mazda6 car, which I kindly issued to a test drive in Los Angeles with the assistance of the Russian office of the Japanese company, about the features of movement in the United States, a picturesque road along the Pacific Ocean (Pacific Cost Highway); I will tell about interesting cars, such as Dodge Ram, Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro, Fiat 500.

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