Observation of Kids and Elderly!

First of all, I'm sorry that I state my blog that late but there was something wrong with my laptop and my Blog was deleted...

Kids in America!
Unfortunately my hostfamily has no kids and in general, I don't have much to do with children here in Eau Claire! I visited friends of my hostfather once and there I saw that American Kids love to watch TV. It is unbelievable that they start watchin TV already early in the morning when they are having breakfast!
When I was in New York for a weekend I saw a lot of kids playing around on playgrounds! The parents participated actively and played with the kids.
I am in Chicago right now and when I was shopping I saw the shop " American Girl". I saw a lot of girls in this shop! Parents were really passionate with them and gave them as much time as they needed. Of course, most of the girls could also persuade their parents to buy them one or more things there.

Elderly people!
Elderly people are really important in the community. They are wise and the younger generation can definitely learn something from their experiences. Therefore, elderly people are treated really friendly here in America. It doesn't matter, which public transportation you use, but everybody offers the older people their seat if no other is free. Furthermore, when you go in the street, everybody is careful not to bump into an elderly person! What is more, elderly people are really welcome to answer your questions if you have any. They take themselves time to answer your question...so if you are busy, better ask somebody else.. :-) This leads me to my next point. Elderly Americans tend to be very talkative and start talking with you all of a sudden. They are very open and are really interested in things you tell them. They also like to share their experiences!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Family in America!

According to the results of my survey, Family is really important to all Americans. The American Dream is to have a house, a car and of course, a family that consists of a father, a mother and two children. Most of the Americans that I asked stated that a woman should stay at home at least two years after having a baby while the father brings home the bacon. Furthermore, marrying is very important for Americans. Marriages should not be arranged but everybody should find its love and share it with god by getting married. Of course, it is very important to approve of the person that a family member marries. It’s important to have the affirmation from the other family members. What is more, I asked the Americans concerning the attitudes towards equality of running the household. The results to that questionn were controversial. Some of the interviewed people responded immediately that in modern times male and female are equal and that everybody should contribute one’s part in regard to household and taking care of the children. However, some were totally against that statement and ponted out that the woman should take over all the responsibilities in the house. It really surprised me that all the Americans that I have interviewed responded immediately with “No” when I came to terms of divorce. According to them marriage is an alliance forever and therefore the decision of getting married needs to be carefully considered. Eventually I'd like to say that Americas' attitude towards Family is pretty similar to Austrians because Family is also very important to people in my country.