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Explain American customs to me!
1.) Thanks for the birthday greetings, and sorry I didn't reply earlier (probably won't today, either, as I'm really tired and will probably go to bed right after posting this admittedly fairly pointless entry) - I was actually not at home and hence without internet access for most of last week, and have been struggling to catch up with Stuff since. (I was visiting relatives up north. Yes, I did take some of my m.a. work with me.)
2.) Sometimes I come across odd English/American phenomena or customs in my internet reading; when something puzzles me, I tend to do some research - this is how I found out about the meaning of things like "baby shower", and "cooties", and other stuff that a dictionary won't explain properly because there's no equivalent.
So, over the last few days I've repeatedly encountered the phrase "back-to-school shopping". After some research, I am now more puzzled than I was before: it seems like a kind of ritual, and a largely nonsensical one, to me. Do Americans *actually* do this, in a kind-of-ritualised way? And is what I read of the shopping lists distributed by schools actually true? Do they really include things like zip-loc bags and sanitising wipes? Paper plates? *Disposable cameras*??? *75* pencils???? Not to mention the fact that apparently new clothes are expected for the first day of school after the holidays, and in many cases also a new backpack/school bag??? Some environmental websites I'm visiting occasionally were giving advice on back-to-school shopping, presenting the idea of *not* buying your child a new backpack/bag as something revolutionary and new... (this is actually what inspired me to do some research on the phenomenon of 'back-to-school shopping' in the first place - I couldn't quite believe that bit of advice; it felt like a joke.)
I have to admit I'm completely boggled. Is this a fair representation of the state of affairs, or is it an internet/media distortion? Help me, out, Americans on my flist!
2.) Sometimes I come across odd English/American phenomena or customs in my internet reading; when something puzzles me, I tend to do some research - this is how I found out about the meaning of things like "baby shower", and "cooties", and other stuff that a dictionary won't explain properly because there's no equivalent.
So, over the last few days I've repeatedly encountered the phrase "back-to-school shopping". After some research, I am now more puzzled than I was before: it seems like a kind of ritual, and a largely nonsensical one, to me. Do Americans *actually* do this, in a kind-of-ritualised way? And is what I read of the shopping lists distributed by schools actually true? Do they really include things like zip-loc bags and sanitising wipes? Paper plates? *Disposable cameras*??? *75* pencils???? Not to mention the fact that apparently new clothes are expected for the first day of school after the holidays, and in many cases also a new backpack/school bag??? Some environmental websites I'm visiting occasionally were giving advice on back-to-school shopping, presenting the idea of *not* buying your child a new backpack/bag as something revolutionary and new... (this is actually what inspired me to do some research on the phenomenon of 'back-to-school shopping' in the first place - I couldn't quite believe that bit of advice; it felt like a joke.)
I have to admit I'm completely boggled. Is this a fair representation of the state of affairs, or is it an internet/media distortion? Help me, out, Americans on my flist!