The following post just appeared on the internet, and it was so interesting that I wanted to share it with you. It’s self-explanatory.
So, I have been in Houston now for a little under 24 hours. This is not only just my first time in Houston, but it is also my first time in America! I moved here all by myself. I have no friends here and don’t know anyone (yet). I’ll be spending a year here, and I thought I’d like to post some of my observations that I come across. The plan is to just continue updating this post with new observations in the point-of-view of a Houston Newbie.
A little background about me: I am a Malaysian who was born and grew up in Kuala Lumpur. I spent two years in Melbourne, Australia attending college (which I eventually dropped out of). I then packed my bags and lived in Switzerland for 4 years where I obtained my bachelors degree (I both worked and studied). At one point during my time in Switzerland, I took a 3-month break and moved to Montpellier, France to learn French, before returning to Switzerland again and finalising my final term and graduating. Also during my time in Switzerland, I travelled throughout Europe on holidays to places such as Milan, Paris, Geneva, Barcelona, Reykjavik, London, Brussels, and more. As you can see, I am not only a tourist, but also a ‘nomad’. I have now moved to Houston, TX to begin a 1-year training program with an American company (but present all over the world). This is my observation so far:
• Having spent less than 24-hours here, the first thing I noticed coming out of the airport was: drivers here are, well, crazy! I mean, I thought drivers in Malaysia are crazy, but wow. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to the hotel in one piece. Or maybe its just the cab drivers here? Or just my cab driver yesterday? I don’t know, but there was lots of speeding and swerving during my cab ride.
• The response to “thank you”, I would assume is “you’re welcome”. But here in Houston, people tend to say “Uh-huh”/”Ahuh”. When I first heard it, I thought that the person was just being a little impolite, but it seems very common as the day went by. I don’t think its impolite anymore. I guess everyone just says that.
• Food here is cheap! I went to Chili’s in Galleria for dinner yesterday. I noticed that a bottomless bowl of chips is $3. Thats amazing! I had 4 beers and a burger and the bill came up to around $24 or something around that. I was so shocked! And this was Chili’s! I’m sure that there are other places that are even cheaper!
• I haven’t figured out the public transportation yet, but it seems like everyone drives here. Walking is pretty much a workout from the looks of it.
• It’s quite multicultural here. I love it! Just my experience in the mall alone showed me that Houston is a melting pot of cultures! This is amazing! And just a Google search for restaurants showed me the huge list of different cuisines available here! I cannot wait to try them all!
• Houston is not like what Texas is portrayed on TV. Well, not on my currently limited experience anyway. This is a huge city! And people are so friendly! (Well, accept for the fact that someone got shot yesterday near a mosque). I’m not gonna lie, I am still a little worried for my life moving here, but based on my experience so far, people here are super friendly!
That’s all I’ve really noticed so far. I’ll keep this post updated as I go along. Hopefully I come across more interesting things as I go along.